Staffing is an important management function through which positions in an organisation are filled by qualified people.
The function of staffing may be very simple in case of a sole proprietorship concern where the owners run it with help from a few hired hands. As the size of the concern goes up when the business expands, more and more people are required to run it efficiently.
A concise definition of staffing has been offered by Koontz and Weihrich in their book entitled ‘Essentials of Management’.
According to them, “Staffing means filling positions in the organisation structure.” Making this concept of staffing more clearly they further state, “The management function of staffing is defined as filling and keeping filled, positions in the organisation structure.”
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In the words of Koontz and O’Donnell, “Every enterprise should be vitally concerned about the quality of its people, especially its managers. The function of staffing has to do with manning the organisation structure to assure that an enterprise can be competently operated.”
The performance of the staffing function is not only essential for a large enterprise but it is equally essential for a small business too. Candidly, for any organisation whether business or non-business staffing function is a must. Without it no organisation exists.
Learn about:- 1. What is the Meaning of Staffing? 2. Definition of Staffing 3. Need 4. Elements 5. Nature 6. Importance 7. Steps 8. Aspects of Personnel Management 9. Techniques.
Staffing: Meaning, Definition, Need, Elements, Nature, Importance, Steps, Aspects and Techniques
Staffing – What is the Meaning of Staffing?
Staffing is an important management function through which positions in an organisation are filled by qualified people. The function of staffing may be very simple in case of a sole proprietorship concern where the owners run it with help from a few hired hands. As the size of the concern goes up when the business expands, more and more people are required to run it efficiently.
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In a partnership firm, the partners help in running the firm. Operating a partnership firm may not require expertise beyond a certain level, and if the partners possess the required experience and expertise, they may need less staff which can be sourced locally.
However, when a business organisation grows in size due to the expansion of its market base, the complexity of running it increases manifold. This dynamic state requires more and more staff to look after each function and sub-function to enable the organisation maintain a steady pace of growth.
The responsibility of the management lies in identifying the nature of job or functions that exist within the organisation. Then after, it has to figure out the size of the manpower needed at each work station of every department. This process is called manpower forecasting. After this, the management has to determine the required educational qualification, experience, and other attributes it may deem fit for a candidate to qualify as its employee.
Once the organisation structure is developed, the next step is to fill in the job positions in the organisation. In an organisation, it is the people who carry out the various jobs which are needed for its functioning. They are the most important resource of the organisation. They supply the talent, skills, knowledge, and experience to achieve the organisational goals and objectives.
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In fact the performance of the organisation largely depends on the quality of its people. Staffing is an important function of management and it involves the building of the organisational workforce. Staffing is concerned with ensuring that the organisation has the right number of people and the right kind of people at the right places, at the right time and that they are doing the right things.
Staffing – Definitions
Staffing is one of the very important functions of management. It is a continuous and universal function in all organisations. It includes determination of man power needs, recruitment, selection, placement, training and promotion of the employees.
Staffing is important not only for the industry for it may determine its productivity and profitability, but it is equally important for the workers, for it greatly influences not only the physical and mental conditions of the worker but also the members of his family. Good staffing is a boon to the society because good people are hard to find, hard to develop and hard to keep.
The managerial function of staffing involves manning the organisation structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of the personnel to fill the roles assigned to the employers/workforce.
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Staffing, in common parlance, is manning the organisation structure. It is an act of matching the people with the jobs— right people at the right jobs.
According to Ernest Dale, “Keeping the jobs filled with right people is the staffing phase of the management job…” In this way, staffing involves recruitment, selection, training, development, promotion, compensation, etc. of subordinate managers.
In the words of Koontz and O’Donnell, “The managerial function of staffing involves manning the organisation structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of personnel to fill the roles designed into structure.”
The term staffing has been defined by S. Benjamin as “the process involved in identifying, assessing, placing, evaluating and directing individuals at work.”
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“Staffing relates to the recruitment, selection, development, training, compensation of subordinate managers.” – Theo Haimann.
“Staffing is the function by which managers build an organisation through the recruitment, selection, and development of individuals as capable employees.” – McFarland.
A concise definition of staffing has been offered by Koontz and Weihrich in their book entitled ‘Essentials of Management’. According to them, “Staffing means filling positions in the organisation structure.” Making this concept of staffing more clearly they further state, “The management function of staffing is defined as filling and keeping filled, positions in the organisation structure.”
The above definitions of staffing give the following characteristics of it:
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1. Staffing is a managerial function, an essential element of management.
2. It is goal-oriented.
3. Staffing function is performed within the enterprise.
4. It is intangible in nature.
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5. It is concerned with matching the people with the jobs.
6. It is a process, not an isolated function.
7. It is concerned with total management system.
8. The staffing function is performed by all the managers at all the times.
9. The efficiency of staffing varies from one enterprise to another, and from one time period to another even within an enterprise.
Staffing – 7 Major Reasons or Factors which Make Staffing a Must
Staffing occupies a very significant place in the organisation structure of an enterprise. It is the most dynamic element of the enterprise. It is because of the fact that it is the quality of the people particularly the managers which decides the progress and prosperity of an enterprise. And staffing is purely concerned with the people.
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In the words of Koontz and O’Donnell, “Every enterprise should be vitally concerned about the quality of its people, especially its managers. The function of staffing has to do with manning the organisation structure to assure that an enterprise can be competently operated.” The performance of the staffing function is not only essential for a large enterprise but it is equally essential for a small business too. Candidly, for any organisation whether business or non-business staffing function is a must. Without it no organisation exists.
Here, we present, in brief, the major reasons or factors which make staffing a must:
1. A Tool of Management:
Staffing is a vital tool of management. It is, therefore, an important function of managers. Without the performance of staffing function, the performance of other managerial functions, such as, planning, organisation, etc. will be virtually impossible. The whole machinery of management revolves around the efficient performance of staffing function. In particular, in a going concern staffing is a continuous managerial function. It may be noted that staffing is also influenced by other managerial functions.
2. A Key to Growth and Prosperity:
Staffing is a key to organisational growth and prosperity. It is because of the fact that the success or failure of an enterprise, to a greater extent, depends on the quality of the people working in the enterprise. The plan to establish new factories, the plan to expand the existing enterprise, the plan to exploit new markets, the plan to expand market share and maximise profits all hinge upon the efficiency and effectiveness of human resources of an organisation.
Theo Haimann has aptly remarked, “It has been said that more important than production genius, more important even than having sufficient money in the bank, is the right kind of people in making a successful company.”
3. A Vital Asset:
The staffing function deals with human resources. Human resources are a vital asset of the organisation. But it is impossible to measure the worth of human resources in financial terms. Of all the human resources, the manager is the most important. Undoubtedly, the group of managers making up the organisation are the most valuable asset of the organisation, but this asset has no place in the balance sheet. The managers are so valuable that they can turn a poor organisation into an efficient one; a loss making organisation into a high profit earning organisation; and a small organisation into a big one.
4. A Source of Manpower and its Development:
Staffing is a source of manpower; it is a means of development of human resources; and it is concerned with the compensation plan. In fact, the scope of staffing function is very wide. It includes manpower planning, recruitment, selection, training and development, performance appraisal, promotion, transfer, compensation, etc. Without performing staffing function these tasks cannot be accomplished. Keeping in view the gigantic task, staffing is considered a separate managerial function.
5. A Part of Total Management System:
The function of staffing is so important that it has become an integral component of total management system. According to Koontz and Weihrich, ‘the well-trained managers create an environment in which people, working together in groups, can achieve enterprise objectives and at the same time accomplish personal goals…staffing requires an open system. It is carried out within the enterprise, which, in turn, is linked to the external environment.’
6. A Sound Base for Future:
Staffing acts as a sound foundation for future. With the help of effective manpower planning, an enterprise may make necessary arrangements to meet the challenges of the future. According to William B. Given, Jr., “The future of any business depends more on the people in it than on any other single element.” Similarly, Theo Haimann has also remarked that “a business cannot be successful for any length of time unless it is capable of bringing in and developing the right kind of people for managerial duties.”
7. A Base for Better Industrial Relations:
Effective staffing creates a better industrial relations in the enterprise. It helps in building a closer personal relationships between the various managers and subordinate managers which, in turn, help in developing good relationships with other personnel in the enterprise. The long term relationships may culminate into sincere friendship. It is not found in any of the other managerial functions.
Apart from the above, an efficient staffing policy assists in recruiting efficient staff members and in proper selection, training, placement and development of staff members. Thus, it helps in increasing the efficiency of workers which, in turn, increases production and productivity. The workers are also benefited as they get more wages and other incentives.
Staffing – 12 Major Elements
Staffing phase of management includes all those activities which are concerned with the procurement, development compensation, integration and maintenance of managerial personnel.
The following are the major elements or functions of staffing:
1. Developing job descriptions.
2. Preparing job specifications.
3. Determining manpower requirements.
4. Making recruitment or getting applicants for the jobs.
5. Selecting the best qualified among those who seek the jobs.
6. Making provisions for transfers and promotions.
7. Providing training for improving skills and performance.
8. Making correct or appropriate placement.
9. Formulating suitable compensation plans.
10. Maintaining sound management-worker relationship.
11. Appraising the performance.
12. Making adequate provision for retirement.
According to McFarland, “Staffing activities consist of appointing individuals to vacant or newly created organisational positions, either by attracting them as candidates for employment from outside the organisation, or by moving them into the position by promoting or transferring them from within the organisation.” It may be observed that staffing has recently been recognised as a distinct and separate managerial function. Earlier, it was a part of organising function.
Staffing – Nature of Staffing Function
The nature of staffing are as follows:
(i) Managerial function – Staffing function is normally the sub-function of the organising function. All other functions of the management (planning, organising, directing, coordinating, and controlling) depend upon the employees of the organisation which are made available through the staffing function.
(ii) Pervasive – It is carried out in every organisation and at all the levels of the management in the organisation. It is the duty of every manager to perform the staffing activities such as – selection, training, performance appraisal and counselling of employees.
(iii) People centered – Staffing is concerned with people at work. It deals with employees as individuals and as groups. It has to deal with the varying needs of people. Knowledge and understanding of human psychology is necessary for efficient management of personnel.
(iv) Continuous activity – Staffing function is to be performed continuously. This is due to the fact that the function of staffing continues throughout the life of the organisation. In a running organisation, every manager is engaged in various staffing activities. He is to guide and train the workers and also evaluate their performance on a continuous basis.
(v) Scope – The scope of staffing function is very wide. It includes various activities like recruitment, selection, placement, training, etc. Staffing function is required everywhere.
(vi) Placing right men at the right job – The function of staffing helps in placing right men at the right job. It can be done effectively through proper recruitment procedures and then finally selecting the most suitable candidate as per the job requirements.
As is clear from the above, staffing is a management function being performed by each manager in one’s own department. But to perform this function at the departmental level, assistance is given by the Human Resource Department or Personnel Department so that a manager can discharge one’s responsibilities. For example, performance appraisal is generally not done by HR Department but by the supervising manager. However, after evaluation of appraisal, further course of action would be suggested by the HR Department.
Staffing – Importance
Human resources of an organization are considered the most vital assets because people make other resources moving to perform relevant organizational functions- production, marketing, finance, etc. In the present world, human resources are being used as a means for developing competitive advantage.
In this context, Sumantra Ghoshal has observed as follows- “A growing number of managers in India and abroad have begun to recognize that fundamental basis of competition has begun to change. The scarce resource, and primary source of competitive advantage, is no longer physical or financial capital, but human capital.”
Looking at the role of human resources in organizational effectiveness and increasing competition in human resource market, more and more companies are strengthening their staffing function.
Thus, the importance of staffing can be gauged in the following context:
1. Filling Organizational Positions:
A basic problem being faced by organizations throughout the world, including India, is the acute competition for good quality human resources. Brian Friedman, consultant on human resources with Arthur Anderson, has called the situation as global talent war. With increasing competition for human resources, the cost of acquiring them has increased manifold.
We find a paradox in Indian situation in which there is abundant supply of unskilled labour but acute shortage of good quality managerial and technical personnel. In such a situation, there is need for systematic staffing so that the organization can fill its various positions with personnel of good quality.
2. Developing Competencies:
It is not sufficient that various organizational positions are filled but there should be development of competencies among personnel because of changing nature of environment in which nature of job profiles keeps on changing. In this changing job profile situation, the rate of skill obsolescence is very high. Therefore, there is a need for developing competencies among personnel on continuous basis. For making employees competent, newer training and development techniques are being evolved.
3. Retaining Personnel:
Apart from acquiring and developing personnel, retaining them in the organization is equally important. Employee turnover, particularly at the managerial level, is a big problem. Though this problem is being experienced by all types of organizations to some degree, knowledge-based organizations — those engaged in information technology, consulting, investment banking and so on — are more prone to such a problem.
For example, Guru Bakshi, Vice President (HR) of Metamor Global Solutions Limited engaged in software development, has observed that “the IT industry has one of the highest employee turnovers, with employees constantly looking for more money and opportunities abroad.” In order to retain their employees, organizations are adopting many methods having long-term implications besides persuading the employees to remain with them.
4. Optimum Use of Human Resources:
In filling organizational positions through staffing, an attempt is made that there is match between job and employee performing the job. This feature covers all jobs and all employees. Because of this match, there is optimum use of human resources.
5. Efficient Use of Other Resources:
Various organizational departments/divisions are allocated physical and financial resources, besides human resources. When there is match between a position and the position holder, physical and financial resources are used efficiently as the position holder knows well how these resources may be utilized in the most efficient way.
6. Employee Satisfaction:
Staffing leads to employee satisfaction in several ways: feeling of an employee that he is doing a job which matches him, development of the employee on continuous basis, availability of promotion avenues, incentives for better work performance, etc. This satisfaction leads to heightened employee morale and his productivity goes up.
7. Improved Organizational Performance:
Proper staffing leads to improved organizational performance in the following ways- (i) matching jobs and job performers leads to better utilization of organizational resources resulting in improved performance; (ii) satisfied human resources; achieve better results; and (iii) retaining human resources leads to decreased cost of recruitment, selection, and development of employees. The above three features are because of staffing.
Staffing – 8 Steps Involved in Staffing Process
Step # 1. Determination of Manpower Requirements:
The very first step in staffing is to plan the manpower inventory required by a concern in order to match them with the job requirements and demands. Therefore, it involves forecasting and determining the future manpower needs of the concern.
Step # 2. Recruitment:
Once the requirements are notified, the concern invites and solicits applications according to the invitations made to the desirable candidates.
Step # 3. Selection:
This is the screening step of staffing in which the solicited applications are screened out and suitable candidates are appointed as per the requirements.
Step # 4. Orientation and Placement:
Once screening takes place, the appointed candidates are made familiar to the work units and work environment through the orientation programmes. Placement takes place by putting right man on the right job.
Step # 5. Training and Development:
Training is a part of incentives given to the workers in order to develop and grow them within the concern. Training is generally given according to the nature of activities and scope of expansion in it. Along with it, the workers are developed by providing them extra benefits of in depth knowledge of their functional areas. Development also includes giving them key and important jobs as a test or examination in order to analyse their performances.
Step # 6. Remuneration or Compensation:
It is a kind of compensation provided monetarily to the employees for their work performances. This is given according to the nature of job- skilled or unskilled, physical or mental, etc. Remuneration forms an important monetary incentive for the employees.
Step # 7. Performance Evaluation:
In order to keep a track or record of the behaviour, attitudes as well as opinions of the workers towards their jobs. For this regular assessment is done to evaluate and supervise different work units in a concern. It is basically concerning to know the development cycle and growth patterns of the employees in a concern.
Step # 8. Promotion and Transfer:
Promotion is said to be a non-monetary incentive in which the worker is shifted from a higher job demanding bigger responsibilities as well as shifting the workers and transferring them to different work units and branches of the same organisation.
Staffing – 3 Major Aspects of Personnel Management Concerned with the Staffing Function
Personnel management today is playing an important role in running of the business, its dimensions as well as internal and external relations. More and more young and qualified persons are looking for new challenges. They are also a committed lot. Whereas some organisations are plagued by inefficiency, others are finding it difficult to find suitable persons and still others are losing a large number of qualified persons to multinationals.
Here we shall state three major aspects of Personnel Management concerned with the Staffing Function of management.
These are:
1. Performance Appraisal;
2. Compensation; and
3. Labour Relations.
1. Performance Appraisal:
Undertaking job analysis and developing job descriptions helps the employee in better understanding his duties. In these circumstances performance appraisal also becomes easy and capability checks can be applied.
2. Compensation:
It expresses a kind of relation based on the employee’s contribution to the company and wages received by him. Employees must be paid competitive wages and compensation for extra work or production. It must be also based on the principle of equity and justice.
3. Labour Relations Role of Staffing Function:
Labour relations function of personnel management involves knowledge of labour rules, regulations and attending to their problems and grievances. The efficiency of the Staffing function depends upon the faith managements and workers have placed on each other. Organisations are known for their caring attitude. In this direction staffing function is increasingly assuming greater and greater degree of importance specially when organisations grow in size.
Personnel experts help in determining requirements of the larger size, direct and guide other departments in maintaining balance between their staff requirements and specific job descriptions. The personnel managers also help both the employees and the departmental heads in choosing the right people and right place to work.
Staffing – Top 5 Techniques according to Hairman
According to Hairman, the techniques involved in staffing consist of:
1. Planning,
2. Recruitment and Selection,
3. Placement,
4. Training, and
5. Induction.
Technique # 1. Planning:
Planning has two important aspects that of ‘quantitative planning’ and ‘qualitative planning’. The former takes care of the numbers of staff to be appointed, the later of their competence.
For quantitative planning it is essential to take stock of the actual needs of the organisation before putting appointment process into motion. Understating and overstating are two essential aspects that need careful consideration. Qualitative planning must be consistent with the needs of the job—its description and its specifications.
Technique # 2. Recruitment:
These are two separate processes requiring great expertise, insights and selection. Recruitment means starting the process of adding new staff and selection consists of choosing the best ones. Though both go together recruitment precedes selection and sometimes it may be necessary to cancel the later process for reasons of changed situation or the recruits not meeting the standards etc.
Technique # 3. Placement:
Most business organisations often ignore the professional skills required for this process. Placing the right person on the right job requires giving advice and information to the selected persons and placing him/her on the job to reduce absenteeism, accident rates etc.
Technique # 4. Training:
In the domain of Human Resource Development (HRD), training is a continuous process to produce job-satisfaction and career promotion chances for the employees and skill development and customer satisfaction for the organisation.
Technique # 5. Induction:
This involves giving a kind of internal tour of the department and an orientation course for enhancing the job-knowledge and its requirements. The employee is now introduced to his other colleagues, superiors and given various other details connected with efficient discharge of duties.