Staffing Function:

Staffing function is assumed great importance in recent years due to increase in the
size of the organization, rapid advancement of technology and the complex behavior
of human beings. Staffing one of the managerial functions which is concerned with
assessment of the manpower requirement: recruitment, selection and placement of
personnel, training and development of personnel, and periodic appraisal of the
performance of the personnel. It deals with planning and managing manpower
resources. In other words, staffing in the process of obtaining, managing and
maintaining a work force capable of full-filling the goals of the organization.

Components of Staffing Function:

1. Job analysis: it involves the collection of job related information to prepare job
description and job specification. Job description includes detail information
about what a person has to do while being in specific job. Job Specification
indicates the qualification, training work experience and other personnel
requirement to perform a particular job.
2. Human resource planning: It involves an estimation of demand and supply of
manpower to fulfill current and future HR requirement of the organization.
3. Recruitment and Selection: Recruitment is the process of making a pool of
qualified candidates. It starts with the invitation of application and ends with
the development of a list of qualified candidates. Selection involves the
process of reviewing application blanks, organizing interviews and test and
informing candidates.
4. Training and Development: Training and development is required to develop
the skill and ability to motivate employees to work. Depending on the training
needs, of the employees on the job( inside the organization) and off the job
(outside the organization) training in organized.
5. Performance Appraisal: It is a process of evaluation employees’ performance
related strength and weaknesses. Performance is measured against criteria
set previously. The result of evaluation is used for determining training needs,
making promotion decision and providing reward based on the
employees’ performance.
6. Compensation and Benefits: Compensation is for rewarding people through
pay, incentives and benefits for the work done. Compensation and benefits are
great source of motivating employees, so the packages must be adequate,
equitable and acceptable to the employees.
7. Health and Safety,
8. Employee relation.
 Input Process Output

 Knowledge & Skill  Acquisition  Commitment

 Experience  Development  Competencies
 Business Strategy  Motivation  Congruence
 Technology  Maintenance  Efficiency
 Rules & Regulation

Importance of Staffing Function:

1. It ensures the proper management of human resource in the organization

(right people in right place at right time)
2. Staffing ensures the recruitment and selection of the right type of people.
(Attract right people (qualified people) for vacancies)
3. It provides planning for effective utilization of efforts and potentialities of
individuals and groups.
4. It organizes a proper division of tasks of an organization in accordance with a
sound plan into function and position.
5. It provides services to the entire organization.
6. It ensures social justice by uniform application of the rules and regulation.
7. It maintains friendly job relationship by providing opportunities for self-
development through training and promotion program.
8. It ensures fair term of work and pleasant work environment.

Objectives of Staffing function:

1. To select the right kind of people to undertake various kind of jobs.

2. To achieve an effective utilization of human resources.
3. To establish and maintain an adequate organizational structure.
4. To secure the coordination and integration of the individual and groups.
5. To generate maximum development of individual and groups.
6. To recognize and satisfy individual needs and groups goals.
 7. To maintain high morale and better human relation.

Staffing – A Function of Management

  Satyendra

  September 1, 2015

  1 Comment

  Employees, Management, Manpower, Recruitment, Remuneration, Selection, Staffing, Tra

ining And Development

Staffing – A Function of Management

Staffing is a critical organizational function which consists of the

process of acquiring, deploying, and retaining a workforce of sufficient
quantity and quality to create positive impacts on the effectiveness of
the organization.  It is one of the significant functions of the
management.

In an organization, it is the people which carry out the various jobs

which are needed for its functioning. They are the most important
resource of the organization. They supply the talent, skills, knowledge,
and experience to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. In
fact the performance of the organization largely depends on the
quality of its people. Hence the staffing function of the management
is an important function and it involves in the building of the
organizational workforce. In staffing, the management is faced with
the challenge of not only finding the right person for each job but also
to match the personnel with the jobs identified and to provide for their
long-range growth and welfare as members of the organization.

Staffing is that part of the process of management which is

concerned with acquiring, developing, employing, appraising,
remunerating and retaining people so that right type of people are
available at the right positions and at the right time in the
organization. In the simplest terms, staffing in management is ‘putting
people to jobs’.

Staffing apparently cannot be done once and for all, since people are
frequently leaving, getting fired, and retiring. Often too, the
transformations in the organization generate new positions, and these
must be filled. In fact, the process of staffing is also the never-ending
process in the organization. The first step in the process of staffing is
to understand the job requirements. It is concerned with determining
two aspects namely (i) the number, and (ii) the type of personnel
required. This can be done by preparing a human resource plan in the
organization.

Four building blocks for the staffing function the organization are (i)
the division of work, (ii) the departmentalization, (iii) the hierarchy, and
(iv) the coordination.

Definition of staffing

Staffing is defined as, “filling and keeping filled, positions in the

organizational structure. This is done by identifying work-force
requirements, inventorying the people available, recruiting, selecting,
placing, promoting, appraising, planning the careers, compensating,
training, developing existing staff or new recruits, so that they can
accomplish their tasks effectively and efficiently.”

The definitions of the staffing function as given by the different

management experts are given below.

“The managerial function of staffing involves manuring the

organizational structure through proper and effective selection,
appraisal and development of personnel to fill the roles designed into
the structure.” – Koontz and O’ Donnell

“Staffing relates to the recruitment, selection, development, training,

compensation of subordinate managers.” – Theo Haimann

“Staffing is the function by which managers build an organization

through the recruitment, selection, and development of individuals as
capable employees.” – McFarland

Nature of the staffing function

The following points describe the nature of the staffing function.

 Staffing is an important managerial function. Staffing function is normally the sub function

of the organizing function. All the five functions of the management viz. planning, organizing,

directing, coordinating, and controlling depend upon the employees of the organization

which are made available through the staffing function.

 Staffing is a pervasive activity. It is carried out in every organization and at all the levels of

the management in the organization.

 Staffing is a continuous activity. This is due to the fact that the function of staffing continues

throughout the life of the organization.

  The basis of staffing function is the efficient management of personnel.  The process

involved in the staffing function in the organization is efficiently managed by a system or

with well-tried procedures.

 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.

 All the levels of management are involved in the function of staffing though the personnel

department coordinates it.

Importance of staffing

The staffing function is a very important function of the management

due to the following reasons.

 Staffing helps in discovering and obtaining competent personnel for various jobs.

 It helps in the optimum utilization of the human resources.

 It helps in developing professionals in every field of organizational activity.

 It helps to improve the quantity and quality of the output by putting the right person on the

right job.

 It helps in developing competencies in the organization to face the challenges.

 It helps to improve job satisfaction of the employees and hence their morale.

 It facilitates higher productive performance of the organization by appointing right man for

right job.

 It reduces the cost of manpower by eliminating the wastage of the human resources.

 It facilitates growth and diversification activities in the organization.

 It provides for the development of the employees and through them it ensures continuous

survival and growth of the organization.

Process of staffing function

The process of the staffing function involves human resource

planning i.e. estimating the size and nature of the personnel required
for the recruitment and selection of the best candidates to train, to
induct, to reward and to have regular and effective communication
with them. The process of staffing consists of the following steps (Fig
1).

 Manpower planning – It is the very first step of the staffing function. It involves forecasting

and determining the future manpower needs of the organization. It is the estimation of the

required manpower keeping in view the present and future needs of the organization. It is

regarded as the quantitative and qualitative measurement of work force required by the

organization. It involves in creating and evaluating the manpower inventory after considering

the development of the required talents among the existing employees through their

promotion and advancement.

 Recruitment – Once the requirements are known, the organization invites and solicits

applications from the desirable candidates. Recruitment is a positive process of searching

for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for the jobs in the organization. It is

the process of creating the application pool. It is the process to attract maximum number of

applicants so as to have more options for the selection. In other words, recruitment stands

for discovering the source from where potential employees are likely to be selected. The

scientific recruitment leads to greater productivity, better wages, higher morale, reduction in

the employees’ turnover and better reputation for the organization. For the process of

recruitment high skills are not essential.

 Selection – It is the screening step of staffing in which the solicited applications of those

candidates which are not found suitable as per the requirements of the notified post are

screened out. It is the process of elimination of the candidates who appear unpromising for

the post. It is the process of picking the best amongst the application pool. The purpose of

selection process is to determine whether a candidate is suitable for employment in the

organization or not and involve rejection of the candidates not found suitable. Selection

process needs high skills since only those are to be selected that are fit for the job. The chief

aim of the process of selection is choosing the right type of candidates to fill in various

positions in the organization. Selection process requires exactness. A well planned selection

procedure is of utmost importance for the organization.

 Placement and orientation –Once selection process is over, the selected candidates are

appointed. After this, the placement of the appointed employees takes place by putting right

man on the right job. It means putting the appointed employee on the job for which he is

selected. Orientation is the introduction of the appointed employee with the job. He is made

familiar to the work units and work environment through the orientation programmes.

 Training – After appointment of an employee, the most important and established part of the

personnel programme is to impart training to the new comer. With the rapid technological

changes, the need for training employees is being increasingly recognized so as to keep the

employees in touch with the new developments. Training is generally given according to the

nature of activities and scope of expansion in it. It is given to acquaint the appointed

employees with the processes and the procedures which they are required to follow for the

job. It provides the appointed employees benefits of in depth knowledge of their functional

areas. It is necessary that the organization has a systematic training programme otherwise

employees will try to learn the job by trial and error which can prove to be a very costly

method.

 Development – A sound staffing policy in the organization calls for the process of the

development of the employees so that they can take higher responsibilities. The process of

development is for preparing the employees for variety of jobs. It widens their outlook and
 enhances their conceptual ideas. It opens promotional avenues for them and thus provides

for their growth in the organization. With the avenues of growth available the employees do

not get frustrated and remains motivated and this helps in getting enhanced output from

him.

 Promotion – Promotion implies upgrading of an employee to a higher position involving

increase in rank, prestige or status. It generally consists of shifting the employee to a higher

job which requires bigger responsibilities. Generally increase in pay and enhancement of

powers accompanies promotion but it is not essential ingredients. Promotion can be given

to the employees in the same department in which they are working or by transferring them

to different department where similar job opportunities are available to them.

 Transfer – It normally implies movement of the employees from one job to another without

any increase in pay, status or responsibilities. Usually employees are transferred to different

work units and branches of the organization. Normally transfer takes place between jobs

paying approximately the same salaries but sometimes employees are also transferred

during their promotion. Employees of the organization who have been identified for taking up

of higher positions in the organization are being transferred to different departments so that

they can learn intricacies of the functioning of different departments. This helps them when

they take up positions in the higher management.

 Appraisal – it is normally done in order to keep a track or record of the behaviour, attitudes

as well as opinions of the employees towards their jobs. Appraisal of employees reveals as

to how efficiently the employee is performing in his job. Appraisal of the employees is also

done to know their aptitudes and other qualities necessary for performing the job assigned

to them. The qualities for which the employees are generally apprised through performance

appraisal include (i) ability to do work, (ii) spirit of cooperation, (iii) job knowledge, (iv)

discipline and sincerity, (v) managerial ability, (vi) self-confidence, (vii) initiative, (viii) problem

solving abilities, and (ix) intelligence etc. The main objective of performance appraisal is to

improve the efficiency of the employees by mobilizing their best possible efforts and through

them achievement of the objectives and the goals of the organization.

  Remuneration- 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.

Fixation of remuneration is the most difficult and complex function of the management since

there are no definite or exact means to determine the correct wages. Job evaluation is one of

the systematic techniques to determine the worth of the job but much remains to be done in

this regard.

 STAFFING

Staffing may be defined as

“that function ofmanagement, which is concerned withselecting, developing, maintaining

andutilizing the manpower such that theobjectives of the organization are achievedeconomically

and effectively. Theobjectives of individual employees of theorganization are accomplished to

thehighest degree possible, serving in theprocess the objectives of the community atlarge (wright,

1998).

STAFFING AS AN ADMINISTRATIVEFUNCTION

Staffing is said to be the selection of individualsfor specific job functions and charging them

withthe associated responsibilities. Staffing is themanagerial function of recruitment,

selection,training, developing, promotion andcompensation of personnel. It involves estimatingthe

number and types of personnel required,recruiting and developing them, maintaining andimproving

their competence and performance(MekayP.F., 2006).

STAFFING AS AN ADMINISTRATIVEFUNCTION
•Staffing can also be seen as a criticalorganizational function which consists of theprocess

acquiring, deploying and retaining aworkforce of sufficient quantity and quality tocreate positive

impact on the effectiveness ofthe organization. It is one of the significantfunctions of the

management.

Staffing function is the most importantmanagerial act along with planning,organizing, directing

and controlling. Theoperations of these four functions dependupon the manpower which is

availablethrough staffing function (BarrickM.R., 2000).