CHAPTER 6- STAFFING

Meaning- Staffing function is concerned with bringing right and efficient people in
the organisation. Thus, “Staffing consists of Manpower planning, recruitment,
Selection, training, compensation, promotion and Maintenance of Managerial
personnel.”

Need and Importance of Staffing

1. Obtaining Competent Personnel: Proper staffing helps in discovering and

obtaining competent personnel for various jobs.

2. High Performance: Proper staffing ensures higher performance by putting

right person on the right job.

3. Continuous Growth: Proper staffing ensures continuous survival and growthof

the enterprise through succession planning for managers.

4. Optimum Utilization of Human Resources: It prevents underutilizationof

personnel and high labour costs by avoiding over-staffing. It also avoids
disruption of work by indicating in advance the shortages of personnel.

5. Improves Job Satisfaction: It improves job satisfaction and morale of

employee through objective assessment and fair reward of their contribution.

Human Resource Management (HRM)

The function of Human Resource Management is to provide skilled human elementsto

the enterprise. Therefore big enterprises create a separate department called HRD.
This department works under H.R. Managers.

Definition: Human Resource management is the recruitment, selection,

development, utilization, compensation and motivation of human resources of the
organization.

Staffing as a part of Human Resource Management

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 Staffing

Human Resource
Manegement

Human Resource Management includes many specialised activities and duties which the
human resource personnel must perform.
These duties are:
i) Recruitment, i.e., search for qualified people
ii) Analysing jobs, collecting information about jobs to prepare job descriptions.
iii) Developing compensation and incentive plans.
iv) Training and development of employees for efficient performance and career
growth.
v) Maintaining labour relations and union management relations.
vi) Handling grievances and complaints.
vii) Providing for social security and welfare of employees.
viii) Defending the company in law suits and avoiding legal complications.

Process Of Staffing

1. Estimating Manpower Requirement: It involves the following:

Means understanding how many personas are needed and of what type
(i.e., skills required) in the organisation.

Understandign the manpower requirements necessitates—

• Workload Analysis : It would enable an assessment of the number and

types fo human resources necessary for the performance of variousjobs
and accomplishment of organisational objectives.

• Workforce Analysis : It estimates the number and type of human

resources available. It would reveal whether the organisation is under-
staffed, over-staffed or optimally staffed. Neither over-staffing nor under-
staffing is a desirable situation.

2. Recruitment:It refers to identification of the sources of manpower availability

and making efforts to secure applicants for the various job positions in an
organization.

3. Selection:It is the process of choosing and appointing the right candidates

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 for various jobs in an organization through various exams, tests & interviews.

4. Placement and Orientation:When a new employee reports for duty, he isto

be placed on the job for which he is best suited. Placement is very important
process as it can ensure “Right person for right job”.

Orientation/Induction is concerned with the process of introducing a new

employeeto the organization. The new employees are familiarized with their
units, supervisorsand fellow employees. They are also to be informed about
working hours, procedurefor availing leave, medical facilities, history and
geography of organization and rules/regulations relating to their wages etc.

5. Training and Development:Systematic training helps in increasing the skills

and knowledge of employees in doing their jobs through various methods.

Development involves growth of an employee in all respects. It is the process

by which the employees acquire skills and competence to do their present
jobs and increase their capabilities for higher jobs in future.

6. Performance Appraisal:It is concerned with rating or evaluating the

performance of employees. Transfers and promotions of the staff are based
on performance appraisal.
7. Promotion and Career Planning: Promotions are an integral part of
people’s career. They refer to being placed in positions of increased
responsibility. They usually mean more pay, responsibility and job
satisfaction. It becomes necessary for all organisations to address career
related issues and promotional avenues for their employees. Managers need
to design activities to serve employees’ long-term interests also. They must
encourage employees to grow a and realise their full potential.
8. Compensation: Compensation, refers to all forms of pay or rewards going
to employees. It may be in the form of direct financial payments like wages,
salaries, incentives, commissions and bonuses and indirect payments like
employer paid insurance and vacations. Direct financial payments are of two
types : time based or performance based. A time based plan means salary
and wages are paid either daily, weekly or monthly or annually. Performance
based plans means salary/wages are paid according to piecework. All
organisations need to establish wage and salary plans for their employees.
Besides there are some other factors also which influence the design of any
pay plan, like legal (labour laws), union, company policy and equity.
There are three aspects of staffing: recruitment, selection and
training.

It needs to be kept in mind that several factors such as supply and

demand of specific skills in the labour market, unemployment rate,

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 labour market conditions, legal and political considerations, company’s
image, policy, human resource planning cost, technological
developments and general economic environment etc., will influence
the way recruitment, selection and training will be actually carried out.

RECRUITMENT

(A) Recruitment:Recruitment may be defined as the process of searching for

prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the
organisation.

(B) Sources of Recruitment

(A) Internal Sources

(B) External Sources

(A) Internal Sources of Recruitment

Internal sources refer to inviting candidates from within the organisation.

Following are important sources of internal recruitment: -

1. Transfers:It involves the shifting of an employee from one job to another,

from one department to another or from one shift to another shift.

2. Promotion:It refers to shifting an employee to a higher position carrying

higher responsibilities, prestige, facilities and pay.

Advantages of Internal Sources Recruitment: -

(1) Employees are motivated to improve their performance.

(2) Internal recruitment also simplifies the process of selection & placement.

(3) No wastage of time on the employee training and development.

(4) Filling of jobs internally is cheaper.

Limitation of Internal Sources

(1) The scope for induction of fresh talent is reduced.

(2) The employee may become lethargic.

(3) The spirit of competition among the employees may be hampered.

(4) Frequent transfers of employees may often reduce the productivity of the
organisation.

External Sources of Recruitment

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When the candidates from outside the organisation are invited to fill the vacant job
position then it is known as external recruitment. The common methods of external
sources of recruitments are:

1. Campus recruitment: Colleges and Institutes of Management and

Technology have become a popular source of recruitment for technical,
professional and managerial jobs. Many big organisations maintain a close
link with them to recruit qualified personnel for various jobs.

2. Management consultants and placement agencies: Management

consultants help the organisations to recruit technical,, professional
andmanagerial personnel. They specialise in middle level and top level
executive placements. They maintain data of persons with different
qualifications and skills. Placement agencies compile bio-data of a large
number of candidatesand recommend suitable names to their clients. They
charge fee for their services.

3. Employment exchanges: Employment exchanges run by the government

help to match personnel demand and supply by serving as link between job-
seekers and employers. It is suitable for unskilled and skilled operative jobs.
4. Advertisements (Newspapers, Journals and Televisions): Most of the
senior positions of industry and commerce are filled b'y this methad.
Advertisement in newspapers.or trade journals is generally used when a
wider choice is required. The practice of telecasting of vacant posts over TV
(Doordarshan and other channels) is also gaining importance these days.
5. Direct recruitment: A notice is placed on the noticeboard of the enterprise
specifying the details of the jobs available. Job-seekers assemble outside the
premises of the organisation on the specified date and selection is doneon the
spot.The practice of direct recruitment is followed usually for casual vacancies
ofunskilled or semiskilled jobs. Such workers are known as casual workers.
They are paid remuneration on daily wage basis.

Suitability: It is suitable for filling casual vacancies when there is a rush of

work orwhen some permanent workers are absent.
6. Labour contractors: Labour contractors (who are themselves employeesof
the organisation) maintain close contacts with labourers. On payment of
commission, they can provide the required number of unskilled workers at
short notice.
7. Casual callers: A company gets applications on and off even without declaring
any vacancy. However, as and when the vacancy arises, the company makes
use of such applications.
Advantage: It reduces the cost of recruiting workforce in comparison to other
sources.

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8. Recommendations of employees: Many firms encourage their employeesto
recommend the names of their relatives and friends for employment. Such
applicants are likely'to be good-employees because their background is
sufficienctly known.

9. Web publishing: Internet is becoming a common source of recruitment.

There are certain websites specifically designed for the purpose of providing
information about job-seekers and job providers, e.g., www.naukri.com,
www.jobstreet.com, etc.

Merits of External Sources

1. Qualified Personnel:By using external sources of recruitment the

management can attract qualified and trained people to apply for the vacant
jobs in the organisation.

2. Wider Choice:The management has a wider choice in selecting the people

for employment.

3. Fresh Talent:It provides wider choice and brings new blood in the
organisation.

4. Competitive Spirit:If a company taps external sources, the staff will have to
compete with the outsiders.

Limitations of External Sources of Recruitment

1. Dissatisfaction among existing employees:Recruitment from outside may

cause dissatisfaction among the employees. They may feel that theirchances
of promotion are reduced.

2. Costly process:A lot of money has to be spent on advertisement therefore

this is costly process.

3. Lengthy Process: It takes more time than internal sources of recruitment

SELECTION

Selection is the process of discovering the most suitable and promising candidates
and eliminating the least promising ones to fill up the vacant positions. It is a negative
process.

PROCESS OF SELECTION

Process of Selection

Preliminary Selection Employment Reference Selection Medical Job Contract of

Screening Test Interview Check Decision Exam Offer Employment

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The successive stages in selection process are:

1. Preliminary Screening:After applications have been received, they are

properly checked as regarding qualification etc. by screening committee. A
list of candidates to be called for employment tests is made and unsuitable
candidates are rejected altogether.

2. Selection Tests: These tests include,

Types of selection tests

(i) Intelligence test: It measures the level of intelligence quotient of an

individual. It is an indicator of a person's learning ability or the ability to make
decisions and judgements. (Example: used for selecting a school teacher.)

(ii) Aptitude test: It is a measure of individual's potential for learning new

skills. It indicates the person's capacity to develop. (Example: used for
selecting a computer engineer or a chartered accountant.)

(iii) Personality test: Personality tests provide clues to a person's emotions,

reactions, maturity, value system, etc. These tests judge the overall
personality. (Example: used for selecting a public dealing officer.)

(iv) Trade test: These tests measure the existing skills (professional
knowledge and proficiency) of the individual. (Example: used for selecting a
computer operator.)

(v) Interest test: Interest tests are used to know the pattern of interest or
involvement of a person (Example: used for selecting an interior decorator.)

3. Employment Interviews: The main purpose of interview is

(a) to find out suitability of the candidates.

(b) to seek more information about the candidate.

(c) to give the candidate an accurate picture of job with details ofterms and
conditions.

4. Reference Checks:Prior to final selection, the prospective employer makes

an investigation of the references supplied by the applicant. He undertakes a
thorough search into candidate’s family background, past employment,
education, police records etc.

5. Selection Decisions:A list of candidate who clear the employment tests,

interviews and reference checks is prepared and then the selected candidates
are listed in order of merit.

6. Medical/Physical Examination:A qualified medical expert appointed by

organization should certify whether the candidate is physically fit to the
requirements of a specific job. A proper physical exam will ensure higher
standard of health & physical fitness of employees thereby reducing

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 absenteeism.

7. Job Offer:After a candidate has cleared all hurdles in the selection procedure,
he is formally appointed by issuing him an Appointment Letter. The broad
terms and conditions, pay scale are integral part of Appointment Letter.
8. Contract of Employment:After getting the job offer, the candidate has to
give his acceptance. After acceptance, both employer and employee will sign
a contract of employment which contains terms & conditions, pay scale,leave
rules, hours of work, mode of termination of employment etc.

Training

Training is the act of increasing the knowledge. Technical skills and abilities of an
employee for doing a particular job efficiently and effectively. Both existing employees
and new employees get acquainted with their jobs and this increases their current
job related skills.

Development

Development is overall growth the employee. It seeks to prepare employees for

handling more responsible and challenging jobs and developing their hidden talents
and qualities. It helps in shaping attitude of the employees.

Benefits of Training

(A) To the Organisation

(i) Systematic Learning: Training is a systematic process of learning. Itis

better than hit and trymethod which leads to wastage of money & efforts.

(ii) Higher Profits: Increases employees productivity both in terms of

quantity and quality learning to higher profits.

(iii) Reduce absenteeism and employee Turnover: Training increases

employee’s capability and morale. Employees do not think of leaving the
organisation as they know that they can perform their job better.

(iv) Minimises the need of Supervision: It increases the efficiency and

skills of employees thus reducing the need of supervision and control.

(B) To the Employees

(i) Better Career Options: Improved skills and knowledge due to training
lead to better career options of the employees.

(ii) Better Earning Capacity: Better performance by an employee help

him to earn more.

(iii) Increases morale of employees: It increases the satisfaction level

and morale.

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 (iv) Check Accidents: It makes the employees more efficient to handle the
machines. Thus, they are less prone to accidents.

Comparison of Training and Development

Basis Training Development

1. Definition It means imparting It means growth of an employee

skills and knowledge in all respects.
for doing a particular job.

2. Purpose It is concerned with It seeks to develop competence

maintaining and and skills for future
improvingcurrent job performance.
performance.
3. Methods It is imparted through on It is imparted through off-the-
the job methods. jobmethods.

4. Initiative The boss takes the The individual takes the initiative
initiative for imparting for self-growth and
training to his development.
subordinates.
5. Duration Training programmes Development takes place over
are organised for a larger period of time.
short term.

6. Nature Job oriented Career oriented.

7. Level of Non-managerial personnel Managerial personnel

person
involved

Training Methods

(A) On the Job Method:It refers to the methods that are applied at the work
place, where the employee is actually working. It means “learning while
doing”.It is economical and less time consuming.

The following are the methods of On-the job training:

1. Apprenticeship Training:Under this, the trainee is placed under the

supervision of an experienced person (master worker) who imparts him
necessary skillsand regulates his performance. The trainee is given stipend
while learning so that he/she can enjoy “earn while you learn” scheme.

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2. Internship Training:Under this method an educational institute enters into
an agreement with industrial enterprises for providing practical knowledge toits
students by sending them to business organizations for gaining practical
experience.

3. Induction training is a type of training given to help a new employee in

settling down quickly on the job by becoming familiar with the people, the
surroundings, the job and the business. The duration of such type of training
may be from a few hours to a few days. The induction provides a good
opportunity to socialize and brief the newcomer with the company’s overall
strategy, performance standards etc. If carefully done, it saves time and cost
(in terms of effectiveness or efficiency etc.).

(B) Off the Job Method: They are used away from the place of work. It means
“learning before doing”. It is provided by experts either from within or from
outside the organisation. It is more expensive and more time consuming.
Vestibule Training: The training is given a classroom, where actual work
environment is simulated wherein employees are trained on dummy models
instead of using original equipment. This method is extremely useful when
employees are required to handle expensive, delicate and sophisticated
equipment.

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