Position / Job Descriptions

[Eamonn 61]

Sometimes life is strange.

Earlier this week, I received a phone call from a man, who owned a Department Store in our district, he said that he wanted to get involved in Scouting. He is an Eagle Scout, and wanted to give something back.

I made an appiontment to meet him for coffee. We met today.

I thought that maybe he just wanted to give me a check. But as is normal, I was wrong. He wanted to get involved and really do something. As luck would have it,I had put together a packet, with an outline of all the programs and the district structure. He said that he wasn't sure what he wanted to do.

I was tempted to let him off the hook, and go home and think about it, but didn't. The more we talked, it became clear that Marketing was his thing. So he left our meeting with the idea of helping out with marketing, the packet and a copy of the Council calendar.

Tonight, I had a meeting with the head of our local United Way. I was "Milking " Her for contact people so that I could get my foot in the door of some of the local businesses. We got to talking about my earlier meeting and she let me have it. Deservedly so.

She asked if I had given the man a job description ? I had to say no.

The reason why ?

I don't have one.

I do have all the Highlights Books, but is there a basic list of Job Descriptions, out there someplace.

Your Help, would be great.

Thanks,

Eamonn

[dsteele 20]

Yeah-man (private joke) Actually, I meant Eamonn and no offense.

 

I'll have to check at the office, but there are guidelines "out there" for all kinds of job descriptions.

 

I know you're a district chairman and am assuming that you're looking at this guy as a possible district marketing chairman. My recommendation is that you sit down with a pad of paper and brainstorm what you would like this individual to do for your district/council. Then take the sheet and meet with your district executive or bring it up at the next key three. A lot of times the movement seems to be ambiguous with job descriptions because of so many variances locally. I've written and helped write many job descriptions because the cookie cutter ones didn't meet our particular needs at the time.

 

Here's the process I recommend:

 

Develop a list of marketing needs. Decide which ones this individual is capable of helping your district to achieve. Get input from others including your district executive. Have him run it by his supervisor. Then ask the individual to do it.

 

Elements of a job description (by Dave Steele's experience)

 

Position concept

Who (volunteer wise) he/she reports to

Specific desired achievements.

 

Then you follow up with the tools they need to achieve those accomplishments. By saying you in the previous sentence, I mean yourself through your leadership to the district, the district executive through his/her resources, and the district committee through the resources of the district.

 

And, unlike the United Way person, I would not have chided you for not having the job description when you met with the person. Sometimes you need to feel out needs and desires only before hitting them up with a request. Also sometimes, you have no clue what the person wants to do in Scouting. As the song goes, "getting to know you, getting to know all about you . . ."

 

Sometimes the banker wants to plan the camporee and sometimes the plumber wants to run the FOS campaign. In my professional time, I tend to gravitate toward membership, unit growth and unit service. In my volunteer time with Kiwanis -- I'm a finance guy. A change is nice.

 

DS

[scoutldr 732]

We used to have Position Description pocket cards (an entire sheet covered all the positions in a Pack or Troop), available for purchase. Are these still available?

[dsteele 20]

Some of the pocket cards are still available, but I'm not sure which ones.

 

I never liked the pocket cards. They always seemed too far reaching in terms of expectations placed on volunteers. I prefer to ask the volunteer to do what I need him/her to do and only what I need him/her to do.

 

The old philosophy was to ask for everything and accept what you get, but I prefer to ask for what I need and find other channels for those who will not or can not do the job. I suppose from a volunteer perspective that both have their negatives, but I find that honest recruiting leads to the best program for our youth.

 

I also consider every position description to be a draft. When I go over it with a possible volunteer, we talk about each point. If he/she indicates that they can't or won't do a job (I forgot to mention that I always recruit in tandem with a volunteer) we cross it out, or if it's an agreed-upon (between myself and the recruiting volunteer) deal-breaker, we fall back.

 

 

Job descriptions are a tool for all concerned. Keep them workable.

 

DS