Ch – 6 STAFFING

Staffing is the managerial function of filling and keeping filled the positions in the organisation
structure. In an existing enterprise, staffing is a continuous process because new jobs may be
created and some of the existing employees may leave the organisation. It is necessary for every
organisation that they must appoint the Right person at the right position. Manpower is the most
important asset in the organisation 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 growth of the enterprise
through succession planning for managers.
4. Optimum Utilization of Human Resources: It prevents underutilization of 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 elements to 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.
Human Resource Management (HRM) includes many specialised activities and duties which the
human resource personnel must perform. These duties are:
1. Recruitment i.e. searching for qualified people.
2. Analyzing job, collecting information about jobs to prepare job descriptions.
3. Developing compensation and incentives plans.
4. Training and development of employees for efficient performance and career growth.
5. Maintaining labour relations and union management relations.
6. Handling grievances and complaints.
7. Providing for social security and welfare of employees.
8. Defending the company in law suits and avoiding legal complications.

Steps in Staffing Process

1. Estimation of manpower requirement. It involves determining the number and type of
employees required. It would necessitate workload analysis and workforce analysis.
• Workload Analysis : It would enable an assessment of the number and types of human
resources necessary for the performance of various jobs and accomplishment of
organisational objectives.
•Workforce Analysis : It estimates the number and type of human resources available. It
would reveal whether the organisation is understaffed,over-staffed or optimally staffed.
Neither over-staffing nor understaffing is a desirable situation.
2. Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to
 apply for jobs in the organisation. Recruitment is a positive process because there is no
rejection. Aim/objective is to attract more and more candidates for the vacant job.
3. Selection is the process of choosing from among the pool of the prospective
candidates developed at the stage of recruitment. Selection is a negative process
because the candidates are required to take a series of employment tests and
interviews. At every stage, many are eliminated and a few move on to the next stage
until the right type is found.
The selection process serves two important purposes:
(i) It ensures that the organisation gets the best among the available, and (ii) It enhances
the self-esteem and prestige of those selected and conveys to them the seriousness with
which the things are done in the organisation
4. Placement and Orientation: Orientation is introducing the selected employee to other
employees and familiarizing him with the rules and policies of the organization.Placement refers to
the employee occupying the position or post which the person has been selected.
5. Training and Development: Training is the process of improving the skills and knowledge of
employees to do the current job. It is to enable the employee to do the job better. It is a job-
oriented process. Development means to acquire skills and competence for handling higher jobs
in future. It is to enable the overall growth of the employees. It is a career-oriented process.
6.Performance Appraisal: Performance Appraisal means evaluating an employee’s current
and/or past performance as against certain predetermined standards. The performance appraisal
process includes defining the job, appraising performance, and providing feedback.
7.Promotion and Career Planning: Promotion means shifting/placing an employee to a higher
position carrying higher responsibility, facilities, status and pay. Career planning includes all
activities associated with promotion of employees.
8.Compensation refers to all forms of pay or rewards 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: (a) Time
based wage plan (b) Performance based wage plan.
Internal sources of recruitment
1. Transfers: Transfers involve shifting of an employee from one job to another, one department to
another or from on shift to another, without a substantive change in the responsibilities and status
of the employee. It may lead to changes in duties and responsibilities, working condition etc., but
not necessarily salary.
2. Promotions: Promotions involve shifting an employee to a higher position, carrying higher
responsibilities, facilities, status and pay. This practice helps to improve the motivation and
increases loyalty and satisfaction level of employees.
Merits of internal source of recruitment
1. Employees are motivated as promotion at a higher level may lead to a chain of promotions at
lower levels in the organisation.
2. Internal sources simplify the process of selection as
the candidates are already known to the organisation.
3. People recruited from within the organisation do not need induction training as the employees
are already familiar with the organisation.
4. These sources help in adjustment of surplus staff in those departments where there is shortage
of staff.
5. Filling of jobs internally is economical as compared to external sources of recruitment.
6. Transfer is a tool of training the employees to prepare them for higher jobs.
Limitations of internal source of recruitment
1. It is an incomplete source. No organisation can fill all its vacancies from internal sources
(because the existing staff may be insufficient, or they may not fulfill the eligibility criteria of the
 jobs to be filled.)
2. The spirit of competition among the employees may be hampered because employees are likely
to expect automatic promotion by seniority.
3. It reduces the scope of fresh talent.
4. A new enterprise cannot use internal sources of recruitment.
5. There is limited choice of candidates

External Sources of Recruitment

1. Casual callers: It is an external source of recruitment in which a list of job seekers is
prepared and screened to fill the vacancies as they arise, from the database of unsolicited
applications kept in the office. It reduces the cost of recruitment.
2. Labour Contractors: It is an external source of recruitment in which a Labour Contractor
maintains close contacts with labourers and provides the required number of unskilled workers
at short notice. Labour contractors who recruit the workers are employees of the organisation
who recruit the workers.
3. Direct recruitment: It is a source of external recruitment in which a notice is placed on the
notice- board of the enterprise specifying the details of the jobs available. Unskilled or semi-
skilled job-seekers assemble outside the premises of the organisation on the specified date and
selection is done on the spot. Such workers are called badli workers; payment on daily wage
basis; suitable when there is rush of work or some permanent workers are absent.
4. Advertisement: It is a source of external recruitment in which vacancies are advertised in
newspapers or trade and professional journals to search for qualified and experienced personnel.
It gives the management a wider range of candidates from which to choose. Most of the senior
positions in businesses are filled by advertising by this method. Disadvantage: It may bring in a
flood of response, and many times from quite unsuitable candidates.
5. Campus recruitment: Recruitment of technical, professional and managerial jobs from
educational institutions (e.g. colleges and institutes of management and technology).
6. Placement agencies and Management consultants: Placement agencies compile bio-data of
a large number of candidates and recommend suitable names to their clients. They charge fee for
their services. Management consultancy firms help the organisations to recruit technical,
professional and managerial personnel. They specialise in middle level and top level executive
placement.
7. Recommendations of employees: Applicants introduced by present employees, or their friends and
relatives may prove to be a good source of recruitment.
8. Employment exchanges: Employment exchanges help to match personnel demand and supply by
serving as link between job-seekers and employers. They are suitable for unskilled and skilled
operative jobs. Disadvantage: The records of employment exchanges are often not up-to-date and
many of the candidates referred by them may not be found suitable.
9. Web publishing: Internet is becoming a common source of recruitment, e.g., www.naukri.com
Merits of external sources of recruitment
1. The management can attract qualified and trained people to apply for vacant jobs in the
organisation.
2. Management has a wider choice while selecting the right candidates.
3. External sources bring fresh talent in the organisation.
4. Competitive spirit: If a company taps external sources, the extisting staff will have to compete with
the outsiders. They will work harder to show better performance.
Limitations of external source of recruitment
1. It may lead to dissatisfaction among existing employees as they may feel that their chances of
promotion are reduced.
2. It is a lengthy process as the vacancies have to be notified and applications received before
selection.
3.It is a costly process as a lot of money is spent on advertisement and processing of applications.
Steps involved in the selection process.
1. Preliminary Screening: Preliminary screening helps the manager eliminate unqualified or unfit
job seekers based on the information supplied in the application forms.
2. Selection Tests: An employment test is a mechanism (either a paper and pencil test or an exercise)
that attempts to measure certain characteristics of individuals, such as intelligence, aptitude, etc.
3. Employment Interview: Employment interview is a formal, in-depth conversation conducted to
evaluate the applicant’s suitability for the job. Theroleof the interviewer is to seek information and
that of the interviewee is to provide the same. Though, in present times, the interviewee also
seeks information from interviewer.
4. Reference and Background Checks for the purpose of verifying the information and gaining
additional information. Previous employers, known persons, teachers and university professors can
act as references.
5. Selection Decision from among the candidates who pass the tests, interviews and reference
checks. (The views of the concerned manager will be generally considered in the final selection
because it is he who is responsible for the performance of the new employee.)
6. Medical Examination which includes a medical fitness test which the candidate is required to
undergo. (The job offer is given to the candidate being declared fit after the medical examination.)
7. Job offer: Job offer is made through a letter of appointment, which contains the date by which
the appointed candidate must report on duty.
8. Contract of employment: After the job offer has been made and candidate accepts the offer,
certain documents need to be executed by the employer and the candidate–the attestation form
and a contract of employment (regarding terms and conditions of employment, pay, hours of work,
leave rules, etc.)

Types of Selection/Employment Tests

1. Intelligence Test measures to level of intelligence
quotientofanindividual.Itisanindicatorofaperson’slearning ability or the ability of make decisions
and judgements.
2. Aptitude test is conducted to measure an individual’s potential for learning new skills. It
indicates the person’s capacity to develop.
3. Personality Test provides clues to a person’s emotions, reactions, maturity, value systems etc.
These tests probe the overall personality. Hence, these are difficult to design and implement.
4. Trade test: These tests measure the existing/ actual skills possessed by the individual. They
measure the level of knowledge and proficiency in the area of professions or technical training.
5. Interest tests are used to know the pattern of interests or involvement of a person

Importance of Training
Benefits of training to the organisation
1. It avoids wastage of efforts and money as training is systematic learning, better than hit and
trial methods.
2. It enhances employee productivity both in terms of quantity and quality leading to higher
profits.
3. It equips the future manager to take over in an emergency.
4. It reduces employee turnover as it increases employee morale and reduces absenteeism.
5. It helps in obtaining effective response in a fast changing environment.
Benefits to Employees
1. It may lead to promotion and career growth of the employees due to improved skills and
knowledge.
2. It helps employees to earn more due to improved performance.
3. It reduces accidents as employees will be more efficient to handle machines.
4. It increases satisfaction and morale of the employees.

Methods of Training

On-the-job training methods are used at the workplace. It means ‘learning while doing’. E.g.,
Apprenticeship training. Off-the-job training methods are used away from the work place. It
means ‘learning before doing’. E.g., Vestibule training.

1. Apprenticeship Training: Apprenticeship Training is a method of training in which the trainee

is kept under guidance of a master worker for a prescribed period of time. It is designed to acquire
a higher level of skill. People who want to enter skilled trades e.g. plumbers, electricians, iron
workers, motor mechanic etc. are often required to undergo such training.
2. Internship Training: Internship Training is a joint programme of training between education
institutions and business firms. Besides carrying out regular studies, the trainees also work in some
factory or office to acquire practical knowledge and skills.
3. Vestibule training: This training is given with the help of similar equipment and machine. But
the training is conducted away from actual work place. It is used where the employees are
required to handle sophisticated machinery.
4. Induction Training : It is the training technique used to introduce new employee to the
organisation and the organization to the employees. In this training, the new employee is taken
around the orgainsation to familarise him with the subordinates, superiors and the surroundings.

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