M5: Definition and Nature of Staffing

STAFFING DEFINED
According to Harold Koontz, staffing is defined as follows: staffing means filling and
keeping filled, positions in the organization structure.,, In other words, staffing is the process of
acquiring, deploying, and retaining a workforce of adequate number and quality to generate
affirmative impacts on the organization’s effectiveness.
Every organization must have staffing systems that direct the acquisition, deployment
and retention of its workforce.
Acquisition activities engage external staffing systems that administer the preliminary
acceptance of applicants interested in organization. Acquiring workforce entails:
1. planning for the statistics and kinds of people required
2. setting up job requirements in the form of the qualifications or KSAOs (knowledge, skill,
ability, and other characteristics) looked-for to carry out the job effectively
3. creating the types of rewards the job will offer
4. doing external recruitment promotions
5. employing selection tools to assess the KSAOs that appiicants have
6. choosing who among the applicants are the most qualified and will be given job offers and
7. placing together job offers that applicants will confidently accept
Deployment means the placement of new hires on the real job they will hold.
Specific work units or geographic location may not be completely apparent at the time of hire.
Deployment may take the nature of work assignments inside the current job, lateral transfers,
relocation or temporary assignments"
Deployment of Staff makes achievable realignment of human resources to new work
assignments or Job responsibilities to face altering business requirements or to offer
opportunities to add skills and experience.
Retention systems on the other hand, seek to supervise the unpreventable flow of employees
out of the organization. Sometimes these outflows are uncontrolled on the part of the employee,
like layoffs or the sale of a business unit to another business. Other outflows are voluntary in
that they are initiated by the employee,like leaving the organization to take another job or
leaving the organization to follow one spouse to a new geographic location.

Staffing is really an essential part of human resource management. It facilitates procurement

and placement of the right people for the right jobs. The nature of staffing function is
discussed below:
People centered staffing is people centered and is vital in all types of organizations. It is
concerned with the entire types of personnel starting from top to bottom of the organization.
The broad classification of personnel
n'ray be as follows:
a. Blue collar workers (those working on the machines and engaged. in loading,unloading etc.)
and white collar workers (clerical employees).
b. Managerial and non-managerial personnel.
c. Professionals (such as Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Lawyer,etc.).
Responsibility of every manager Staffing is a primary function of management. All managers
are always engaged in performing the staffing function. He is dynamically associated with
recruitment, selection, training and appraisal of his subordinates.

Human Skills - Training and development of human resources is also a concern of staffing
functions. Each manager must apply human relations skills in giving assistance and training to
the subordinate. Human relations skills are also indispensable in performance appraisal,
transfer and promotion of subordinates. The human relations in the organization will be pleasant
if the staffing function is implemented correctly.

Continuous Function - Staffing function is to be accomplished alwavs. it is evenly vital both in

old and new organizations. In a new organization, there has to be recruitment, selection and
training of personnel. In an established organization every manager is occupied in different
staffing activities. He is to direct and coach the workers and also appraise their performance orr
a continuous basis. Also, staffing function continues, throughout the life of an organization due
to the transfers and promotions that take place.

IMPORTANCE OF STAFFING
It is of paramount significance for the organization that the right kinds of people are hired. They
should be provided with sufficient training to minimize wastage.
they must also be encouraged to demonstrate higher productivity and quality by extending them
incentives. In truth, effective performance of the staff function is indispensable to take in the
following benefits:

1.​ Efficient performance of other functions - Staffing function is the most vital managerial
act alongside planning, organizing, directing and controlling. The operations of other
functions rely upon the manpower which is obtainedable through staffing function. if an
organization does not have capable personnel, it can't complete other important
functions correctly.

2.​ Effective use of technology and other resources - It is the human factor that is
instrumental in the effective utilization of latest technology, capital, material etc. the
management can ensure right kinds of personnel by performing the staffing function. In
every organization all the resources like money, material, and machines are utilized
properly through manpower. Thus, it is very important that all the personnel or
employees in an organization must be assigned at the job based on their ability, talent,
aptitude and specializations which can only be possible through a good staffing system.

3.​ Optimum utilization of human resources - All organizations spend money on recruitment,
selection, training and development of employees. In order to acquire the optimum
output from the personnel the staffing function should be done in a well-organized way.
4.​ Development of human capital- The management is mandated to verify the manpower
requirements well ahead of time. In addition it has to train and develop the current
 personnel for career advancement. This will meet up the necessities of the company in
upcoming years.
5.​ Motivation of human resources - The behavior of individuals is formed by numerous
factors like education level, needs, and socio-cultural factors. It is the reason why the
human aspect of organization has become extremely essential. The workers can be
motivated through financial and nonfinancial incentives.
M6: RECRUITMENT
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION STRATEGY
.Having an effective recruitment and selection strategy is vital to the success of any
organization. The recruitment and selection function can grow to be a pricey and stressful
process if not undertaken in an organized and practical manner.
A Recruitment and selection strategy:
1.​ guarantees the organisation has the required skills' knowledge and attributes to meet up
existing and potential strategic and operational needs
2.​ makes certain supply meets demand requirements
3.​ amplifies the pool of prospective applicants
4.​ Develops the selection process through making sure that only those applicants that meet
the necessities of the position are chosen for more examination
5.​ be able to impact on the possibility that an appropriate candidate will consent to a job
offer
6.​ enhances organizational effectiveness

Recruitment
Recruitment is looking for and acquiring a pool of prospective candidates with the
preferred knowledge, skills and experience to let an organisation select the most proper people
to fill job vacancies against defined position descriptions and specifications.
​ The purpose of the recruitment process is to find out the widest pool of applicants in
order to provide the greatest opportunity to pick the best people for the required roles in an
organisation.

The starting point in recruitment is to know very well the nature of the job to be filled and the
qualification looked for. It is best that the company knows the job-descriptions and job
specifications. Job description is the details of the work the jobholder must do. while, the job
specification is the statement of the personal characteristics needed to execute with the job
description as reference. A job specification normally includes the education, experience,
knowledge and skills required to perform the job productively.

Recruiting individuals to fill particular posts within a business can be done either internally or
externally . Internal recruitment is searching for qualified people from existing employees to fill
open positions. Employees recruited internally could either be looking for lateral moves or
promotion . Lateral moves are job changes that do not require major changes in responsibility or
authority levels. Managers could often recommend present employees for lateral moves or
promotion. Temporary workers could be another source of probable full-time workers.

Big companies usually utilize their current employees as recruiters. Nomination coming
from satisfied employees is a good source of recruitment. With current employees nominating
their relatives, friends, acquaintances and even neighbors can make it easy for the company to
explain the culture of the organization to these prospects. Former employees who left the
company for good reasons could also become effective recruiters for any organization.
The advantages of internal recruitment are the following:
1. Interested individuals within knowledge of how a business operates will need shorter periods
of training and time for "fitting in" due to familiarity in the goals, structure, culture, rules and
norms of the organization.
2, The managers of the organisation already know the candidates in terms of their skills and
abilities, as well as their actual behavior on the job.
3. Internal promotion acts as an incentive to ail staff to work harder within the organisation.
4. From the firm's perspective, the strengths and weaknesses of an insider will have been
evaluated. There is always a risk affixed to hiring an outsider who may only be a success on
"paper".
On the other hand, the disadvantages of recruiting from within are as follows:
1. There is a limited pool of candidates internally.
2. The person who has been promoted will have to be replaced.
3. An insider may be less likely to formulate the necessary criticisms essential
to get the company working more effectively.
4. Promotion of one person in a company may upset someone else.

External recruitment is looking for qualified people from outside who have not worked
previously in the organization to fili open positions' - External recruitment makes it possible to
draw upon a wider range of talent and provides the opportunity to bring new experience and
ideas into the business. There are several ways through which managers can recruit from
outside the organization like advertisements in newspapers and magazines, internet, career
fairs in school or referrals from friends. The scanning of social networking sites are also effective
source of tracking down passive candidates. Walk-ins or job hunters coming to an organization
and inquiring about employment possibilities is another type of external recruitment.

The advantages of extemal recruitment include the following:

1. Having access to a potentially huge pool of applicants'
2. Able to attract people who have skills, knowledge and abilities that an organization needs to
attain its goals.
3. Being able to bring in novices who have a new approach to solving problems.
4. Being able to bring in novices who have up-to-date on the latest technology.
while, the disadvantages of recruiting outside of the organization are,
1.​ Relatively high cost of extemal recruitment.
2.​ Externally recruited people need to receive more training for more knowledge about the
inner workings of the organization.
3.​ There is uncertainty whether they will be good performers if employees recruit externally.