How POET and Functional Job Descriptions Become the Foundation of a Hire-to-Retire MSK Strategy

Post-Offer Employment Testing (POET) is often introduced with a narrow goal in mind: reducing early injuries, confirming job fit, and protecting the organization during hiring.

Those outcomes matter — but they only scratch the surface.

When POET is treated as a standalone requirement, its value is limited to the moment of hire. When it is built on accurate Functional Job Descriptions and connected to a broader musculoskeletal (MSK) strategy, it becomes something else entirely: a foundation for how work is designed, supported, and sustained over time.

Most Organizations Meet POET at the Hiring Door

For many employers, POET lives squarely inside the first 30–90 days. Once the employee is onboarded, POET disappears from view.

That approach is understandable — but it misses the reality of physically demanding work. Most MSK injuries are not caused by a single moment. They develop gradually through repetition, force, awkward postures, and fatigue.

The real challenge is not starting the job safely. It is staying healthy in the job over time.

Functional Job Descriptions: The Quiet Infrastructure

The most overlooked asset in a well-designed POET program is not the test itself. It is the Functional Job Description (FJD) beneath it.

Accurate FJDs define the physical reality of work and create a shared reference point across the organization. The same job data used to support POET can also inform onboarding expectations, ergonomic risk identification, early symptom triage, modified duty decisions, return-to-work planning, and job redesign conversations.

When the work is clearly defined, decisions across the employee lifecycle become more consistent and more effective.

POET as the First Data Point — Not the Last

When POET is viewed as the first data point in an employee’s MSK journey, the strategy changes.

Instead of asking whether a candidate passed a test, organizations begin asking how the demands of the job affect people over time — and what systems are in place to support them.

POET does not address wear and tear on its own. What it does is establish clarity at the moment of hire, creating a baseline for prevention and early intervention.

Beyond the First 90 Days: Where Real Risk Lives

The highest MSK risk often emerges well after onboarding is complete.

The effects of repetition, force, fatigue, and exposure accumulate. This accumulation is where organizations that stop at POET plateau, and those that build upon it differentiate.

When Functional Job Descriptions and POET data are leveraged beyond hiring, they support proactive ergonomics, early symptom reporting, targeted onsite or near-site MSK support, and more informed return-to-work decisions.

From Program to Platform

Organizations seeing the greatest long-term impact are not adding disconnected programs. They are connecting the ones they already have.  

In this model: 

• Functional Job Descriptions define the work
• POET confirms alignment at hire
• Early intervention prevents escalation
• Treatment is informed by job demands
• Data supports decisions from hire to retire

POET becomes part of an integrated MSK platform rather than a compliance requirement.

The Competitive Advantage Isn’t the Test

The competitive advantage is not that an organization tests. It is that it understands the work and acts on that understanding consistently.

When POET is elevated from a box to check into a building block, hiring becomes clearer, injuries become more preventable, employees feel supported, and safety and productivity begin to reinforce one another.

A More Durable Way Forward

POET works best when it is not treated as the finish line.

Paired with accurate Functional Job Descriptions and connected to prevention and early intervention, it becomes the front door to a healthier, more resilient workforce.

Not because it does everything — but because it makes everything else work better.