After reading this article you will learn about:- 1. Meaning of Staffing 2. Features of Staffing 3. Importance 4. Principles 5. Essentials of Good Staffing Policy 6. Process.

Meaning of Staffing:

Staffing is the traditional management function of attraction and selection of the best people and putting them on job where their talents and skills can be best utilized, and retention of these people through incentives, job training and job enrichment programmes, in order to achieve both individual and organisational objectives. This emphasizes managing human and not material or financial resources.

Staffing is the function of human relationship in the organisational structure with competent staff. Staffing in that part of the management function which is concerned with people at work and with their relationship within the organisation.

Staffing may be defined as “that function of management, which is concerned with selecting, developing, maintaining and utilizing the manpower such that the objectives of the organisation are achieved economically and effectively. The objectives of individual employees of the organisation are accomplished to the highest degree possible, serving in the process the objectives of the community at large.”

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In simple words, staffing function relates to:

(a) Manpower planning.

(b) Recruitment, selection and placement of employees at the right places and at the right time, doing things which result in the organisation, individual employees and the society at large receiving maximum long-run benefits.

(c) Training and development through counselling and performance evaluation.

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(d) Employee welfare, including safety and health;

(e) Maintaining healthy labour relations;

(f) Framing suitable compensation policies;

(g) Maintaining effective discipline and control mechanism.

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Generally the staffing function is handled by Personnel Department or Human Resource Department. The personnel policies are formulated by the personnel department to achieve the maximum usage from personnel in the organisation.

These personnel policies and decisions are constantly changing due to the following considerations:

1. The social and legal pressure is high to increase the proportion of minority workers.

2. Affirmative action: Some organizations are obliged to give special considerations to minorities including women workers in order to compensate for past discrimination against them. This has been a result of special upheaval against a male-dominated society and business where women and minorities were not treated at equal level.

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This affirmative action may require more pre-assigned jobs for minorities and women.

3. The workers are shifting their idea of success.

4. The number of people who prefer to work only part- time is increasing. Even the full-time workers are trying to get fewer work week hours so that they can have more leisure time.

5. Education level of the total work-force is rising.

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6. There is a shift towards more skilled jobs. Due to advent of mechanization and specialisation and technological innovations, the number of unskilled jobs has been steadily decreasing giving rise to more skilled jobs requiring training and adoption.

7. Labour unions are becoming stronger and highly protective of the work-force and thereby personnel management policies are affected by union’s objectives and goals.

8. There are continuous social and technological changes.

Since a number of factors affect the formulation and execution of personnel policies, it is important that these policies be based upon sound principles which would ensure that equity and justice are accorded to all employees, “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work is adopted and opportunities are offered to all employees for job satisfaction and job enrichment.”

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Features of Staffing:

The following are the features or nature or characteristics of the staffing function:

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1. It is a universal function. It is the responsibility of every manager.

2. It is a continuous function performed by every manager to ensure successful functioning of his department and to develop his successors. Since staffing is a continuous function, it will be effective in realizing its goals.

3. It is a dynamic and never ending process. With changes in the size and environment of the organization, changes take place in personnel.

4. Human resources expects and deserves dignity. So the success of the staffing function lies in involving every individual in the organisation in the task of achieving organisational goals.

5. It is a difficult function with problems of social, philosophical and psychological nature.

6. Staffing is a management function.

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7. It in an integral part of management process.

8. Staffing is the pervasive function of management.

9. Staffing is concerned with the optimum utilisation of human resources.

Importance of Staffing:

1. Staffing function help in discovering of qualified and obtaining competent personnel for various jobs in the organisation.

2. Since the right person is recruited for the right jobs, it leads for maximum productivity and higher performance.

3. It promotes optimum utilization of human resources.

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4. It increases job satisfaction and morale of the workers through adequate remuneration for each job.

5. Since the staffing helps to ensure maximum utilization of human resources exist the labour costs per unit or production will be reduced.

6. It ensures the continuity and growth of the organization, through development managers.

7. It help, business activities are not disrupted at any time due to shortage of competent workers or excess of workers. Because it forecasts the correct staff requirements for the present and for the long-term.

8. It leads to efficient functioning of the organization due to systematic programmes for the selection, training and appraisal of employees are required by proper staffing function.

9. The use of latest technology can be achieved by the right person, selected in the organization.

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10. Employees now recognize the dignity of labour, there is awareness of the role of performing the staffing function well; management can show the significance it attaches to the human resource development.

Principles of Staffing:

The principles, which relate to the nature and purpose of staffing, selection, training and development and appraisal of managers, are given below:

(1) Principle of Staffing Objective:

The objective of staffing is to bring people with required skills into the organization and develop them into valuable organizational resource. The implementation of this principle will help in the undertaking of responsibilities of management by competent people and, thus ensure the long-term success of the enterprise.

(2) Principle of Staffing Responsibility:

The responsibility of the efficient planning and execution of the staffing function rests upon every manager at all levels of the organization. To be effective, specialized services of the personnel, department should be utilized to carry out the staffing responsibility.

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(3) Principle of Human Resources Planning:

In today’s complex and dynamic environment, human resources planning ensures that the organization has adequate supplies of managers. Planning for manpower is necessary both when managerial talent is in abundance or in scarcity.

(4) Principle of Recruiting Personnel:

To achieve the staffing objective, both internal and external sources of recruitment should be judiciously utilized. The more an enterprise is committed to the assurance of quality management, the more it will encourage open competition among all candidates for management positions.

(5) Principle of Training Objectives:

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The more precisely and carefully the training aims are stated, the more likely are the changes of accomplishing them. The training needs should be stated for different categories of personnel. This will ensure the measurement of the effectiveness of training efforts.

(6) Principles of Managerial Appraisal:

The more clearly verifiable objectives and required managerial activities are identified, the more precise is the appraisal of managers against these standards. This principle suggests that managerial performance appraisal should be based both on the criteria of verifiable objectives and evaluation of managers as managers.

Essentials of Good Staffing Policy:

1. It should take into account the interests of both employer and employee.

2. It should be consistent with the basic overall policies of the unit.

3. It should be complete in every respect.

4. It should be simple and precise.

5. It should be reasonably stable and permanent.

6. It should be flexible, in relation to changes in environment.

7. It should be responsive to prevailing trends in industry and society.

8. It should take into account variations in the capabilities, interests and attitudes of employees.

9. It should be uniformly applicable to all members of the organization.

10. It should be properly communicated to those for whom it is intended.

11. It should be acceptable to the employees.

The Process of Staffing:

The procedure or steps which are adopted in the managerial function of staffing process.

It consists of the following sequential steps:

1. Analyse the job by preparing job description, job specification and job analysis.

2. Estimation of manpower requirement,

3. Actual Recruitment:

This will assess all the internal and external sources from where the required personnel can be recruited.

4. Employee Selection:

This crucial step involves using such techniques as would identify and isolate the suitable people -who would eventually be selected.

5. Retention when the right people have been hired, they must be retained so that they stay with the organization for a long time. This step discusses such factors that are influential in maintaining the workforce.

6. Training and Development:

It consists of all such programmes that assists in the continuous growth and development of employees.

7. Performance Appraisal and Career Development:

This step involves devising methods that would judge an employee’s performance over a period of time and providing opportunities to employees to develop their careers and managerial talents. This can be shown in diagram 1.

8. Promotion and Transfer:

Staffing Process

Each of these steps is important for the maintenance, performance and growth of the organization, each step involves attending to the human assets and improving upon its quality.

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