How Can You Improve Your Job Requisition Approval Process?

Improve your hiring outcomes by improving your job requisition process.

Let’s discuss how.

What’s a Job Requisition?

When a department manager needs to hire a new employee, they submit a job requisition.

A job requisition starts the hiring process. With the requisition, the department manager asks for approval for the new employee. If the requisition is denied, the process doesn’t go any further. The denied requisition is stored in the HR software.

The job requisition standardizes the process of filling a position. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) have templates for creating job requisitions. Plus tools to manage the approval process.

A job requisition includes the following:

• Requisition reference number
• Job title
• Type of employment (full-time, temporary, contract, etc.)
• Name of hiring manager making the request
• Job description
• Department or team the employee will be a part of
• Salary, hourly wage, or pay grade, benefits
• Type of position: new hire or replacement
• Hiring budget approval
• Fill/start date
• Whether the job description is new or existing

Why Is It Important To Have a Formal Job Requisition Process?

Human Resources professionals understand the importance of standardization. Formalizing and documenting is vital for end-to-end processes and all the sub-steps.

The job requisition process is no different. And the fact that it comes first is not insignificant. Any multi-step operation needs to start on the right foot. Otherwise, it will need to be corrected down the line. At that point, you’ve wasted time and money.

Few things are as important as the quality of the employees on your team. Formalization ensures the process is done correctly. It sets expectations for everyone involved. And you can’t improve a process until you identify exactly what is going on.

Let’s talk about best practices for creating job requisitions.

How Do I Write a Job Requisition?

1. Follow The Approval Process

Job requisitions may need to be approved by Human Resources. In some companies, upper management needs to sign off on new positions. Follow your company policies before proceeding.

2. Justify The Need

Why do you need a new employee? Is it a new position? Is it because someone quit or was promoted? How is the position tied to KPIs? Make a timeline for the job responsibilities. Define exactly what is expected.

3. Write a Good Job Description

A job description is a detailed listing of required qualifications and experience, job duties, and other necessary information about the position. It also includes the salary range, benefits, and information about the company.

Will the requisition be filled by an outside recruiting agency? Remember that they don’t have your institutional knowledge. Include all the necessary details.

We cover how to create a job description thoroughly in our How To Hire Your Next Employee Series. Follow the steps to write a spot-on description for your requisition.

Job Requisition Glossary

If you are new to the hiring process, it’s helpful to understand the HR-speak as it relates to job requisitions.

Open Requisition: An active requisition that hasn’t been filled or closed.

Closed Requisition: A requisition that has been filled or closed for other reasons.

Core Competencies: The knowledge and skills that are essential to the job role.

Hard Skills: Skills, experience, or qualifications that are easily quantified. Examples; Certified Public Accountant, Python programming expertise, licensed EMT.

Soft Skills: Behavioral traits necessary to perform the job responsibilities. Examples; leadership, creative problem solving, conflict resolution.

ApplicantStack Manages Job Requisitions

Yes, we have a tool for that, too! The job requisition workflow automates the approval process. Assign tasks to the appropriate members of the hiring team. Complete and document each step in a centralized location. ApplicantStack brings transparency and accountability to your requisition process. When a requisition is approved, the open position seamlessly transitions to the next workflow in the hiring stage.

You can try out the ApplicantStack job requisition function (and all the integrated hiring workflows) free for 15 days.

By Liz Strikwerda