CHAPTER 5

1. CHAPTER 5 STAFFING

2. Introduction • The success of any organisation doesn’t depend upon the physical and financial resources but it depends upon the utilization of these resources by human resources. So, hardworking efficient people are the most important asset of an organisation for its success. Staffing function is concerned with the bringing right and efficient people in the organisation

3. Meaning • Staffing is a managerial function of filling and keeping filled positions in the organisation structure which is achieved by identifying number of employees required followed by recruitment, selection, placement, promotion, appraisal and development of personnel.

4. Need and Importance of staffing • Staffing function gives more emphasis on the human elements such as attitude, aptitude, commitment, loyalty while selecting the right person for the right job. • Researches on various aspects of staffing such as recruitment, selection, compensation, incentives, training and development are utilized for better results. • Staffing function has been assumed on greater importance these days because of rapid development of technology, increasing size of organisation and complicated behaviour of human beings. • It ensures the optimum utilization of human resources by way of avoiding surplus of workforce and prevents under utilization of personnel.

5. Need and Importance of staffing • It avoids disruption of work by indicating in advance the shortage of personnel. • This function improves the job satisfaction and morale of the employees through objective performance appraisal and fair rewarding system. • All other resources will become waste if there is no right kind of personnel working in the organisation

6. Staffing as part of Human Resource Management • In small organisation, no doubt, the number of personnel will be less as well as the volume of staffing activities and its complexity will be limited to certain extend (i.e. confined to recruitment, selection, compensation and welfare). So, it will be possible for all the line mangers to perform all duties related to employees in small organisations.

7. Staffing as part of Human Resource Management • But, as organisations grow into large size and number of persons employed increases, the duties related to human resources will become more complex and the volume of human resource activities will extended to large extend such as Estimation of human resource requirement, Recruitment, Selection, Training, Development, Maintenance, Compensation, Incentive plans, Protecting health and physical conditions, Liaison with government and trade unions, Providing social security, welfare activities, Review and audit of personnel policies etc. So, separate department called as human resource department consisting of specialized experts is very much required in large organisation.

8. Evolution of Human Resource Management • The evolution of human resource management can be understood from the following points. • Due to the emergence of industrial revolution, trade union activities became very active. • The trade union activities forced the management to appoint a separate person, called as Labour welfare officer, who will act as a link between employer and employees and his role was limited up to the welfare of employees only. • Then, due to the introduction of factory system, large number of labourers was employed under one roof which further forced the management to appoint one more person known as personnel officer who was given responsibility of Recruitment, Selection and Placement of persons

9. Evolution of Human Resource Management • Then, as a final stage, due to the importance of human relation approach and frequent changes taking place in the various factors of business environment, the employees had to be trained, developed and updated to latest knowledge in order to take the challenges of the organisation. • So, this requirement of human relation approach led to replacement of personnel manager to human resource manager who has to be assisted by various experts in different fields such as Sociology, Psychology, Economy, Anthropology, Technology etc. All were collectively grouped under a department called as “Human Resource Management

10. Brief explanation of various stages in staffing process • 1. Estimating the manpower requirements:- • For the purpose of understanding the manpower requirements, the organisation has to do two analysis such as workload analysis and workforce analysis. • Workload analysis means the assessment of number and type of human resources necessary for the performance of various jobs and accomplishment of objectives. • Workforce analysis would reveal the number and type of human resource presently available within the organisation as well as helps to understand whether the organisation is overstaffed or understaffed. A situation of overstaffing will make the organisation to for employee removal or transfer whereas a situation of understaffing would necessitates the organisation to start the recruitment process

11. Brief explanation of various stages in staffing process • Here, the important thing is that before going for recruitment stage, organisation has to develop the two important statements mentioned below: • Job Description which consists of the nature and characteristics of the various jobs. • Desirable profile of the occupant of the job which consists of desirable qualifications, experiences, personality etc.

12. 2. Recruitment • Recruitment is defined as the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation. • The organisation has to disclose the contents of job description and desirable profile of the occupant developed in the previous stage in the advertisement called “situation vacant”. The advertisement may be displayed in the Factory gate or in print media or flashed in electronic media. Both internal sources and external sources of recruitment should be explored.

13. 3. Selection • Selection is the process of choosing from among the pool of prospective job candidates developed at the stage of recruitment. • Selection serves two important purposes mentioned below: • Organisation gets best among the available • Enhances the self-esteem and prestige of those selected. Selection involves the series of tests and interviews, employment contract which is a statement containing the terms and conditions of employment.

14. 4. Placement and Orientation • Placement means putting the selected candidates on right job. It is the process of matching the candidates with the most suitable jobs. The placement is done after considering various factors such as skills required, location of job, employees knowledge, marital status, home town, interest etc.

15. Placement and orientation • Orientation means introducing and familiarizing newly appointed candidates through following manners: • Brief presentation about the history of the company • Introduction of superiors, subordinates and his colleagues • Taken around the work place • Familiarizing the policies, rules and regulations • Various facilities available.

16. 5. Training and Development • Training means act of improving knowledge and skills for doing a specific job. The employees are imparted training to improve their performance and to update their knowledge to match the requirement of external environment. • Development means growth of a person in all respects. It is a process by which managers and executives acquire not only skills and competence of present job but also the capabilities for future tasks of increasing difficulty and scope

17. THREE ASPECTS OF STAFFING • Following three aspects of staffing will be discussed in details • Recruitment • Selection • Training and Development

18. 1. RECRUITMENT • Meaning and Definition:- • Recruitment means inducing or attracting more and more candidates to apply for vacant job positions in the organisation. • Recruitment has been defined as the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in organisation.

19. Process of Recruitment • The various activities involved in the process of recruitment are given below: • Identification of the different sources of labour supply • Assessment of their validity • Choosing the most suitable source or sources • Inviting applications from the prospective candidates

20. Sources of Recruitment • There are two important sources of recruitment: • Internal source of recruitment • External source of recruitment

21. 1. Internal source of recruitment • It means the filling up of vacant job positions of the organisation by using the existing employees of the organisation and no outsiders are permitted. • Two methods of internal source of recruitment have been discussed below

22. (a) Transfer • Transfer involves shifting of an employee from one job to another or from one department to another or from one shift to another without any substantive change in the status, responsibilities and salary. Mainly the place of working is changed. E.g.: Transfer of clerk from Accounts department to Purchase department. • Transfer can be used in the organisation for following purposes; • Shortage of suitable personnel in one branch or department may be filled through transfer from other branch or department • To avoid the termination of employees as an act of punishment • To remove individual problems and grievances • To train the employees for learning different jobs

23. (b) Promotion • Promotion refers to the shifting of employee from the lower job position to the higher job position carrying higher responsibilities, increasing authority level, status, prestige, pay and facilities. • The main objective of promotion is to improve the motivation, loyalty and satisfaction level of the employees.

24. Merits of Internal source of recruitment • A promotion at higher level may lead to a chain of promotion at lower levels. This motivates the employees, which lead to increase the commitment level, loyalty and satisfaction of employees. • It simplifies the process of selection and placement • It is a more reliable way of recruitment since the candidates are already known to the organisation. • People recruited within organisation do not need orientation program. • Shortage of personnel can be adjusted by transferring personnel from surplus department. • It is more economical and fewer amounts spent in training as well

25. Demerits of Internal source of recruitment • The scope of induction of fresh talent and infusion of new blood will be reduced. • Frequent transfers may reduce the productivity of employees • Employees may become lethargic if they are sure of time bound promotion. • A new enterprise can not use the internal source and no organisation can fill all its vacancies from internal sources. • There will be only limited choice

26. 2. External sources of recruitment • When the candidates from outside the organisation are invited to fill the vacant job position, then it is known as external recruitment • Common methods of external sources of recruitment is discussed in the following slides

27. 1. Direct Recruitment • Sometimes the organisations paste notice specifying the details of jobs available at the gate of their office, factory or workshop. The people who are interested in those jobs walk in for interview. This method is inexpensive and suitable for unskilled or semi skilled job positions, e.g. Sweeper, peon, casual workers etc. Generally, they are paid remuneration on daily wage basis

28. 2. Casual callers • Generally, large organisations maintain an application file consisting of unsolicited applications which the job seekers leave with reception as well as the applications of suitable candidates who were not selected in previous year’s selection process. This application file is considered as waiting list. Whenever there is a job vacancy, the suitable candidates from the waiting list are called It is also an inexpensive

29. 3. Advertisement • The most common and popular method of external recruitment is advertising in newspapers and trade and professional journals. Through advertisement, more information about the organisation and job can be given. It gives the management wider range of candidates. • For the job of an accountant, the advertisement can be given in chartered accountant journal and for unskilled and lower rank positions, the advertisement can be given in local or regional newspapers. But, for senior positions and skilled jobs, advertisement is given in national level reputed newspapers

30. 4. Employment exchanges • Employment exchanges act as middlemen between job seekers and the organisation having vacant job positions. The job seekers leave their Bio-Data with the employment exchanges and when organisation approach employment exchanges, suitable candidates are sent. Thus, employment exchanges help to match personnel demand and supply. Government employment exchanges charge no fees whereas private employment exchanges charge commission.

31. 5. Placement agencies and management consultants • In technical and professional areas, private agencies and professional bodies appears to be doing remarkable work on selecting suitable personnel from external sources. These agencies compile Bio-Data of a large number of candidates and provide the organisation specialized and efficient people who can occupy managerial, technical and professional job positions. These agencies are having many experts who are specialized in manpower requirements and charge fees or commission for their services

32. 6. Campus recruitment • Many big organisations maintain a close liaison with the universities, colleges, management institutes and vocational schools to recruit qualified personnel for technical, professional and managerial jobs. Senior managers of organisations visit various professional institutions to prefer fresh graduates, because they can be molded according to the requirement of the organisation. E.g. MBAs, Computer programmers, Engineers are generally selected in campus recruitment

33. 7. Recommendations of employees • Many firms encourage their employees to recommend the names of their relatives, friends and other known people to fill the vacant job positions. The organisations prefer such recommendations by trusting the goodwill of the present employees. The organisations can catch hold of existing employees if there is any problem with the new employee recommended by him.

34. 8. Labour Contractors • The contractors are the people who keep in touch with the labour in villages and rural areas and whenever there is vacancy or requirement for labour in factory or in construction site, they bring the labourers from villages as well as from outskirts of city areas and supply them to businessmen. The labour contractors charge commission for the same. This method is suitable only for unskilled workers and labourers.

35. 9. Web publishing • In internet, there are certain websites specifically designed and dedicated for the purpose of providing information about both job seekers and job openings in various organisations. These websites can be visited by job seekers as well as by the companies. E.g. Naukri.com, Monster.com, Jobstreet.com etc.

36. Merits of External source of recruitment • With external recruitment fresh and new talent come to the organisation. • Through external recruitment the organisation gets wider choice. • By using external recruitment the management can get qualified and trained persons. • Through external recruitment when outsiders join the organisation, this develops a competitive spirit in existing employees of organisation.

37. Demerits of external recruitment • The morale of existing employees goes down or falls. • the new employees may not adjust in the rules and regulations of the organisation which means more chances of turnovers • It is expensive as to invite the outsider to apply for the job, companies have to bear heavy burden of advertising. • External recruitment takes long time to select suitable personnel

38. 2. SELECTION • Meaning:- • Selection can be defined as discovering most promising and most suitable candidate to fill up the vacant job position among the pool of prospective job candidates developed at the stage of recruitment.

39. Process of selection • In selection, the number of rejected applicants is generally more than the selected candidates that are why selection is considered as a negative process. The important steps in the process of selection are as follows;

40. 1. Preliminary Screening • The selection process begins with screening and detailed investigation of the applicants. While scrutinizing the applications, the managers compare the qualifications and capabilities specified in application form with the requirement of vacant job position. The applications proving the match between both only will be considered for the next stage in selection and the remaining unsuitable applications will be rejected.

41. 2. Selection Tests • The types of test to be conducted depend on the requirement of the organization. The common types of tests conducted by the organizations are given below: • (a) Intelligence test: This is one of the important psychological test used to measure the level of IQ, person’s learning ability or the ability to make decisions and judgments, person’s alertness in terms of reasoning, memory, comprehension etc. • (b) Aptitude test: These tests are designed to measure the potential of individuals to acquire new skills, capacity to develop in future. • (c) Personality test: This test provides clues to a person’s emotional balance, his/her reactions, maturity and value system etc. It has to be designed and implemented with utmost care. • (d) Interest test: Interest test is used to know the pattern of interest or involvement of a person in a particular kind of work.

42. 3. Employment interview • Interview is a formal, in-depth conversation conducted to evaluate the applicants’ suitability for the job. There are some qualities which can be judged only through a face-to –face talk with candidates. The interviewer is to seek information about the interviewee by asking job related and general questions

43. 4. Reference and Background checks • Many employers request names, addresses and telephone numbers of references of at least two responsible persons for the purpose of verifying information and gaining additional information on an applicant. Previous employer, University professors, known persons can act in references

44. 5. Selection decision • The personnel department will send the list of the selected candidates who have passed tests, interviews and reference checks. But, the final selection has to be made by the concerned departmental manager. Because, it is he who is responsible for the performance of the new employee.

45. 6. Medical Examination • After the selection decision, the candidate is required to undergo medical fitness test conducted by the panel of doctors prescribed by the organization. If the result of medical fitness is positive, then only job offer will be given.

46. 7. Job Offer • Job offer is made through a letter of appointment. Such a letter generally contains date by which the appointee must report on duty. The appointee must be given reasonable time for reporting.

47. 8. Contract of Employment • It is a written document consisting of job title, duties, responsibilities, date when continuous employment starts and the basis of calculating service, rates of pay, allowances, working hours, leave rules, grievance procedures, disciplinary procedures etc. It has to be signed by the employee

48. 4. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT • Meaning of Training:- • Training is the process of improving the job knowledge and skills of employees so as to enable them to perform well. It is an organized activity wherein people acquire knowledge and skills for doing a specific job

49. Meaning of Development:- • Development is the process by which managers and executives acquire not only skills and competence in their present jobs but also capabilities for future tasks of increasing difficulty and scope. It refers to overall growth of the employees.

50. TRAINING 1. Teaching technical skill only 2. Suitable technical staff 3. Development of skills already possessed by the employees 4. Focuses on present requirement of organization 5. Superior takes initiative DEVELOPMENT Teaching technical, human and conceptual skills. Suitable for managerial staff Development of hidden qualities of employees Focuses on future requirement of organization. Individual takes initiative Distinction between Training and Development