Meaning and importance of staffing
Staffing means filling the positions in an organisation and keeping them filled with the right people. It also means training, appraising and paying them so they stay skilled and happy.
Importance
- Finds competent people for every job.
- Puts the right person in the right job, so performance is higher.
- Helps the firm survive and grow by planning for future needs.
- Uses people well: no shortage and no extra staff.
- Improves job satisfaction and morale through fair pay and promotion.
Staffing as a part of Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management (HRM) is the wider work of managing people in a firm: hiring, training, pay, welfare, safety, records and good relations with workers and unions. Staffing is the core part of HRM. In a small firm, each manager does the staffing for his team. In a big firm, a separate HR department helps all managers. So staffing is both a function of every manager and a job of the HR department.
Staffing process
- Estimating manpower needs: how many people, with what skills, are needed (workload and workforce analysis).
- Recruitment: searching for people and inviting them to apply.
- Selection: choosing the best from the applicants.
- Placement and orientation: giving the person the job and introducing them to the place, people and rules.
- Training and development: building skills for now and the future.
- Performance appraisal: checking how well the person works against set standards.
- Promotion and career planning: moving good workers to higher posts and planning their growth.
- Compensation: pay and benefits, direct (salary, bonus) and indirect (leave, insurance).
Sources of recruitment
Internal sources
- Transfer: moving a worker to another job of similar pay and status.
- Promotion: moving a worker to a higher post with more pay and duties.
Good: cheap, quick, motivates staff, less training needed. Weak: no fresh talent or ideas, limited choice, may cause jealousy, not possible for a new firm.
External sources
- Direct recruitment: notice at the gate; people come for unskilled or casual jobs.
- Casual callers: applications that people send on their own, kept on file.
- Advertisement: newspapers, radio, TV.
- Employment exchange: government office that matches job seekers and jobs.
- Placement agencies and management consultants: find skilled and senior staff for a fee.
- Campus recruitment: hiring from colleges and institutes.
- Recommendations of employees: present staff suggest people they know.
- Labour contractors: supply unskilled workers.
- Web publishing: job websites and the company's own site.
Good: wide choice, fresh talent and ideas, competition. Weak: costly, slow, may upset present staff who hoped for promotion.
Selection process
- Preliminary screening: removing applicants who do not meet basic needs, using forms and short talks.
- Selection tests: intelligence test, aptitude test (ability to learn a skill), personality test, trade test (present skill) and interest test.
- Employment interview: a face-to-face talk to judge suitability.
- Reference and background checks: checking past employers and references.
- Selection decision: the final choice from those who passed.
- Medical examination: checking fitness for the job.
- Job offer: a letter of appointment with the joining date.
- Contract of employment: written terms: pay, duties, hours, leave, rules.
Recruitment is positive (it invites many people). Selection is negative (it rejects most of them).
Training and development
Training increases the skills and knowledge needed for a particular job. Development is the overall growth of a person for future roles. Education is wider still: it builds general understanding.
Benefits
To the firm: less waste, fewer accidents, more output, better managers, less staff turnover. To the worker: better skills, higher pay, more confidence, better career.
| Basis | Training | Development |
|---|---|---|
| Aim | Skill for the present job | Growth of the whole person |
| Time | Short | Long, continuous |
| Focus | Job-oriented | Career-oriented |
On-the-job and off-the-job methods
On-the-job methods (learning while doing the real job)
- Induction training: a short programme to welcome a new employee and introduce the firm, people, rules and job.
- Apprenticeship programme: a learner works for a fixed period under a master worker, common for electricians, plumbers and mechanics.
- Internship training: a joint plan of a college and a firm; students work for a time to mix theory with practice.
- Coaching: a senior guides and corrects a junior.
- Job rotation: moving a trainee from one department to another.
Off-the-job methods (learning away from the real work)
- Vestibule training: the same machines are set up in a separate room, so trainees practise without disturbing real work. Used when machines are costly or mistakes are risky.
- Classroom lectures, films, case studies, computer modelling and programmed instruction.
On-the-job is cheaper and real, but may disturb work. Off-the-job is safer and focused, but costs more and is less real.
Try it
Your class needs a new class monitor. Write the post needs (estimate), put up a notice (recruit), set a 3-question test and a short chat (select), and plan day 1 for the winner (induction). Count how many students applied and how many were left after each step, just like the funnel in the 3D.
Key formulas and definitions
- Staffing process: estimate → recruit → select → place and orient → train → appraise → promote → pay.
- Recruitment = inviting applicants (positive). Selection = choosing the best (negative).
- Internal sources: transfer, promotion. External: ads, campus, exchanges, agencies, web and more.
- On-the-job: induction, apprenticeship, internship, coaching, job rotation. Off-the-job: vestibule, classroom, case study, films.
Worked examples
1. A bank moves a clerk from its Delhi branch to Jaipur at the same pay. Which source of recruitment is this?
Internal source, transfer.
2. An airline trains new pilots in a flight simulator before real flights. Which method is this?
Vestibule training (off-the-job), because practice is done on a copy of the real equipment away from real work.
3. A company got 500 applications; 200 passed screening, 60 passed tests, 20 were interviewed and 5 were selected. What percent of applicants were selected?
5 ÷ 500 × 100 = 1%.
4. A firm hires 30 engineering students from IIT for 8 weeks each summer. Name the source and the training method.
Source: campus recruitment. Method: internship training, a joint plan of the institute and the firm.
5. Why is recruitment called positive and selection negative?
Recruitment tries to attract as many applicants as possible. Selection rejects the unsuitable ones until only the best remain.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up recruitment and selection. Recruitment invites; selection chooses.
- Calling vestibule training on-the-job. It uses the same machines but in a separate place, so it is off-the-job.
- Thinking training and development are the same. Training is job-focused; development is person-focused.
- Putting the medical exam before the interview. In the usual order it comes after the selection decision.