The Art of Requisition: Management for Organizational Success

Job requisitions provide the basis for finding the right employee for an open position within your organization. An effective job requisition clearly articulates why you want to hire a new employee and the benefits this will bring to the organization.  By understanding how to approach job requisition management strategically, you can optimize your recruitment processes and attract the right talent to drive organizational success.

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What is a job requisition?

When you want to hire a new employee, a job requisition is a formal document you submit to request additional staff on your team. This request can be to fill a vacated position or to open a new role entirely within your organization. 

For example, if you were on a software development team at a start-up company, you might begin with a small team of three or four. As the start-up grows and requirements change, your original team might need help to handle the workload as effectively. If you and your team decided adding more personnel would be an effective way to boost productivity and meet demands, you would submit a job requisition to begin the process of bringing someone new to the team.

The recruitment process can’t begin until the job requisition has been approved. This typically involves a review from the human resource department before a final sign-off from the leadership team. If you need to fill a position quickly, writing a strong and effective job requisition is vital to streamline the process and avoid delays.

Read more: What Is Talent Attraction?

Tracking your job requisition

While each organization will have its own methods, companies usually have a way to track the status of the job requisition online. Typically, you will see three options:

• Open: The job requisition is active. 

• Filled: The company has selected a candidate for the position.

• Closed: HR canceled the job requisition with the position unfilled. 

What does a job requisition include?

A job requisition should include all the necessary information for your human resources department to hire an appropriate person. Continuing the example from the previous section, imagine you need to expand your software development team to handle a higher workload. On the job requisition, you might clarify the job responsibilities of the new role, the expected salary range, required skills, and information to help identify the right candidate. You would also include information about why this new hire is necessary and how it would benefit the company. You should also include information about the position duration, start date, and official position title.

As you might imagine, if you sought a highly experienced software developer and HR hired someone without a programming background, this wouldn’t be particularly helpful for the needs of your team. On the other hand, if you sought an entry-level developer to help with basic tasks and a senior-level developer joined your team, this could be equally difficult to navigate. The job requisition is your time to clarify everything about the position and your team’s needs to avoid obstacles down the line.

Job requisition snapshot

Before creating a job requisition, you should do some homework to ensure you have a clear idea of each of the following descriptors and that you and your team are on the same page. Consider the following checklist:

• Department you’re hiring for

• Person in charge of hiring for the new position

• Reason for hiring

• Salary expectation and range

• Proposed start date

• Contract duration (temporary versus non-temporary)

• Contract type (full-time versus part-time)

• Desired candidate skill set and qualifications

• Job description with detailed tasks and roles

• Timeline for hiring

Using an applicant tracking system (ATS)

Many organizations use applicant tracking systems (ATS), which is software that tracks the recruitment and hiring process. This software typically has a built-in job requisition system and automated functions throughout the recruitment process. 

If your company uses ATS, you will follow the standard procedure when creating a job requisition. If your company does not use an ATS, consider looking into available software and how it might benefit your recruitment efforts. ATS systems often have built-in tools to help you source more qualified candidates, increase engagement on your posts, and lower hiring costs over time.

Types of job requisition

You create a job requisition any time you hire a new employee, whether for a new position or to fill an empty existing position. Each has its own purpose and requires slightly different emphasis within the job requisition.

New hires

Typically, you create requisitions for new hires when you clearly need expansion within the company or a new project requiring additional resources. New hires usually involve more steps in the requisition process than existing positions. When bringing in a new position, you might find legal or financial concerns surrounding where the new position will fit into the larger company organization. A job requisition can anticipate any challenges in this area before moving to the next stage of the hiring process.

Existing positions

You use this type of requisition when an existing role becomes vacant due to employee turnover. The requisition goal is to hire a new person to take over the former employee's responsibilities. Because the company approved this position and an employee occupied it, the job requisition process might be more streamlined than for new hires. If you need to change the role responsibilities or pay for the existing position, indicate that in your requisition.

Read more: Understanding Attrition and Its Implications for Business

Tips to create an effective job requisition

When writing a job requisition, you want to clearly indicate why this new hire should be a high priority for your organization. You should discuss how the role will influence business productivity, engage key stakeholders early in the process, and define goals the candidate will help meet to boost overall company success.

If you have buy-in from your coworkers and management within the organization, your requisition is more likely to be approved quickly. If you can, have your colleagues sign the job requisition to support the urgency of your request.

Learn more on Coursera.

Creating effective job requisitions requires a deep understanding of organizational needs, strategic alignment, and effective communication across departments. A job requisition outlines the requirements for a new position, making it an essential step in ensuring your workforce meets your company's demands. 

On Coursera, you can find a wide range of courses, Specializations, and Professional Certificates that can enhance the skills of HR professionals. Consider starting with the HRCI Human Resource Associate Professional Certificate, which can help your team build the skills to navigate the recruitment process effectively.

With Career Academy from Coursera, you can attract frontline talent, support internal mobility, and prepare workers for in-demand, digital jobs. Featuring a curated catalog of guided tutorials and projects focused on high-value digital skills and tools, Career Academy offers competitive career development opportunities with training programs from industry leaders like Google, Salesforce, Intuit, Meta, and Ashok Leyland, among many others. Explore Coursera for Business to learn how to provide the technology training your business needs to be competitive.

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