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Chapter 5: Staffing

MANAGERS OFTEN CONSIDER human resources as their organization’s most important resource. Very few administrators would argue with the fact that human resources are very important for the efficient and effective operation of a company. To emphasize their importance, human resources are also called human capital, intellectual assets, or management or company talents. These terms imply that human resources are the drivers of the organization’s performance; hence, staffing is a crucial function of managers.

In this chapter, we define the concept of staffing and discuss the various processes involved in systematic staffing.

Lesson 1: Nature of Organizing

Staffing, according to Dyck and Neubert (2012), is the Human Resource function of identifying, attracting, hiring, and retaining people with the necessary qualifications to fill the responsiblities of current and future jobs in the organization. The number of managerial personnel or non-managerial human resources needed by an organization depends upon the size and complexity of its operations, its plans for branching out or increasing products, and turnover rates of both types of human resources, among others. Besides considering their number, the qualifications for the individual positions must be identified, so that the best-suited individuals for the job positions may be selected for hiring.

The Management and Non-managerial Human Resources Inventory

Awareness of the management potential within an organization can be accomplished with the use of an inventory chart, also called management succession/replacement chart. This chart is similar to the general organization chart used by the company but limited to managerial positions and the names of potential successors (promotable, satisfactory but not promotable, dismissed, etc.). Recruitment by external means may follow if there are no qualified successors.

The need for non-managerial human resources may be ascertained by the use of a general organization chart to identify vacant job positions that need to be filled or by direct reports from department/unit heads or supervisors. Managers need not make detailed succession planning, as these job positions are less sensitive. Suggestions for internal replacements or successors for vacant non-managerial positions are usually done as the need arises. External recruitment also follows if no one within the organization is fitted for the job position that was declared vacant.

Staffing has two main components: recruitment and selection. The process of identifying and attracting the people with the necessary qualifications is called recruitment while selection is choosing who to hire.

Staffing steps include:

1.) the identifying of job position vacancies, job requirements, as well as work force requirements;

2.) checking internal environment of the organization for human resources;

3.) external recruiting;

4.) selecting those with essential qualifications for the job opening;

5.) placing the selected applicant;

6.) promoting;

7.) evaluating performance;

8.) planning of employee’s career;

9.) training of human resources; and

10.) compensating human resources

External and Internal Forces Affecting Present and Future Needs for Human Resources

Present and future needs for managers and other human resources are affected by both external and internal forces. External forces include economic, technological, social, political, and legal factors. For example, economic progress in a particular country may bring about increased needs and wants among people, resulting, in turn, in increased demand for certain products, followed by the expansion of the company and its workforce, as well as increased demand for managers. Information explosion coming from the Internet, from business publications, or from the labor department of countries may give either encouraging or discouraging long-term trends in the world labor market, thus causing an increase or a decrease in demand for managers and other human resources.

The firm’s goal and objectives, technology, the types of work that have to be done, salary scales, and the kinds of people employed by the company are among the internal factors or forces that affect staffing. For example: salary scales offered by a company may not be high enough to attract personnel who are really qualified for the job. Also, this may encourage fast managerial and labor turnover.

LESSON 2 Recruitment

In the event of a job opening, administrators must be careful when recruiting and choosing who to bring into the organization. They must see to it that their new recruit possesses the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in helping their company achieve their set goals and objectives and that he/ she is suited for the job position and the job design.

Recruitment may either be external or internal. In external recruitment, outside sources are considered in the process of locating potential individuals who might want to join the organization and encouraging them to apply for actual or anticipated job vacancies. Unsolicited applications and referrals from employment agencies and schools are examples of sources outside the company from which management could select an applicant who best fits the job opening.

In internal recruitment, filling job vacancies can be done through promotions or transfer of employees who are already part of the organization. In other words, recruitment is within the organization.

Methods of External and Internal Recruitment

External recruitment methods include:

Advertisements – through websites, newspapers, trade journals, radio, television, billboards, posters, and e-mails among others.

Unsolicited applications – received by employers from individuals who may or may not be qualified for the job openings.

Internet recruiting – independent job boards on the Web commonly used by job seekers and recruiters to gather and disseminate job opening information.

Employee referrals – are recommendations from the organization’s present employees who usually refer friends and relatives who they think are qualified for the job.

Executive search firms – also known as “head hunters;” help employers find the right person for a job. Such firms seek out candidates with qualifications that match the requirements of the job openings that their client company hopes to fill.

Educational institutions – good sources of young applicants or new graduates who have formal training but with very little work experience. For technical and managerial positions, schools may refer some of their alumni who may have the necessary qualifications needed for the said job positions.

Professional associations – may offer placement services to their members who seek employment. Employers may make use of the listings that they publish in their journals regarding members who are available for possible recruitment or hiring.

Labor unions – possible sources of applicants for blue-collar and professional jobs.

Public and private employment agencies – may also be good sources of applicants for different types of job vacancies for they usually offer free services while private ones charge fees from both the job applicant and the employers soliciting referrals from them.

As mentioned earlier, internal recruitment is done within the organization. Most managers prefer to follow a policy of filling job openings through promotions and transfer. In this way, they lessen the chances of losing the organization’s top performers. Recruitment may be done by using company bulletin boards, company intranet, company newsletters, and recommendations from department or unit heads, among others. Both external and internal recruitment have their own advantages and disadvantages.

External Recruitment Advantages

1. Advertising and recruiting through the Internet reach a large number of possible applicants, thus, increasing the possibility of being able to recruit applicants suited for the job.

2. Applicants who submit applications and resumes through their own initiative are believed to be better potential employees because they are serious about getting the job.

3. Employee referrals from outside sources are believed to be high quality applicants because employees are generally hesitant to recommend persons who are not qualified for job openings.

4. Executive search firms usually refer highly qualified applicants from outside sources because they make an effort to check applicants’ qualifications before recommending them to client firms who pay for their services.

5. Educational institutions know the capabilities and qualifications of their graduates, hence, increasing the chances of their ability to refer qualified applicants to potential employers.

External Recruitment Disadvantages

1. The cost and time required by external recruitment are the typical disadvantages of using this recruitment method. Advertising job openings and the orientation and training of newly hired employees from outside sources, as well as sorting out large volumes of solicited or unsolicited job applications present challenges in budgeting time and money.

2. Another disadvantage of external recruitment is the possibility of practicing bias or entertaining self-serving motives in the referral of friends and relatives by current employees and in the recommendation of private employment agencies of job applicants.

Internal Recruitment Advantages

1. Less expenses are required for internal recruitment advertising; newsletters, bulletin boards, and other forms of internal communication may disseminate information to current employees interested to apply for job openings within the company.

2. Training and orientation of newly promoted or transferred current employees are less expensive and do not take too much time since they are already familiar with company policies.

3. The process of recruitment and selection is faster because the candidate for transfer or promotion is already part of the organization.

Internal Recruitment Disadvantages

1. The number of applicants to choose from is limited.

2. Favoritism may influence a manager to recommend a current employee for promotion to a higher position.

3. It may result in jealousy among other employees who were not considered for the position. Some may also accuse the management of bias for choosing an employee who is perceived to be less qualified for the job opening.

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