STAFFING
DEFINITION
Any effort by stakeholders through planning and execution to
provide a business entity with the right persons defined by their set of skills
for a job role; either existing or new, at the right time to drive forward the
mission of the business can be defined as staffing, recruitment and selection,
hiring, personnel management or talent management. This all-important
responsibility is often and in many cases the role of the Human Resource
Manager but in recent modern businesses it is a strategic management
responsibility though the HR head leads it. Though simple a task, it requires a
great deal of precision. It involves recognizing the need of an employee for a
role (existing or new) at the right time, scouting for the right fit, and getting(transitioning) the person into the role
smoothly (effortlessly) for the smooth running of the business.
STAFF NEED ANALYSIS
Some recruitments are needless others are engaged but on the
wrong terms, and a few are successfully brought on board but at the wrong time.
Yet other great talents have been placed in the wrong roles. Some recruitments
fail because the wrong person hired the employee. There is much more to
realizing the need for an additional staff and going for one. Every business
starts with a set of employees to handle various roles from the specific skill
set the individuals possess and grow the numbers as the business grows. Sometimes,
for financial reasons, some businesses combine two or more roles for an
individual all in the interest of the state of the firm.
At the start of any business, there should be a simple idea
of how many employees are needed to run the business fully, from such a
document, they are then guided as to how to fill in the very core roles for the
business to start then gradually fill in the other roles as the firm matures.
Aside from this staff need analysis, another time for
employment is when an employee resigns. This does not mean that someone should
be hired in his or her place immediately. Management should first assess the
role left vacant to see if, from the start of the business, those who have
understudied this staff in the role can replace this staff. Another means is
having someone in a similar rank add up to this role or one from a lower rank
with an appreciable qualification. If none is found with these qualifications
and abilities, then the firm can look outside to hire a new staff.
Any recruitment effort that is not advised by a performance management report is most likely to err. Every performance appraisal is done with a rationale to get to know the well-performing employees, realize the skill gaps, organize appropriate training for them, and award those excelling. This document becomes very relevant when there is a need for an employee to come on board. The least performing and unwilling to learn after efforts to drive growth is the first to let go at this time for replacement.
1.
Establish the need for an employee.
2.
Assess if the role can be merged with another
role or added to that of another well-performing staff.
3.
Promote a lower-ranking staff with an
appreciable qualification and hire another lower-ranking employee.
4.
Hire a qualified individual on a short-term
contract basis and make permanent the contract if the performance is great.
SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT
The specific sources used by an organization depend on
factors such as the nature of the job, industry practices, budget constraints,
and the organization's recruitment strategy. It encompasses methods through
which job seekers are connected with job opportunities. The vacancy and job
role determine which sources of replacement should be considered.
Internally:
Internal recruitment can be cost-effective and also boost
morale and loyalty among employees because of an open opportunity for career
elevation. Most employees look forward to advancing their career in the firm
they work in and so anytime there is a vacancy, they look forward to benefit
from such opportunities. This is not a plus for the employee only, but the
business as well. It allows for easy continuity.
Internal recruitment sources include:
1.
Promotion. Where employee ranks within
the organization are elevated to higher positions
2.
Job rotation or Transfer. Shifting
employees between departments is another way to fill roles with internal staff
especially if their roles are related.
3.
Employee Referrals. Encouraging current
employees to recommend qualified candidates for open positions in the
organization. In specific industries, employees do know other good hands that sometimes
become game changers when given the opportunity.
4.
Past Employees. Rehiring competent retired
employees on a part-time basis can be a great interim strategy until a
substantial staff is employed.
Externally:
Externally, recruitment can instill new ideas and new
perspectives into the company and gain access to skilled labor. After all
internal considerations are made and the recruitment must come from outside, management
should cautiously approach the process.
We must say also that, when the firm is driving a new wind of change of culture, external recruitment is the best. It allows for change and transformation in how work is done, especially when there is a change of leadership or new stakeholders come in and want to turn the fortunes of the company around.
External recruitment sources include:
1. In-House
Talent Pools. Keeping a database of potential candidates who have
previously applied or expressed interest in working for the organization. Don’t
lose track of the almost fits.
2.
Educational Institutions. This is a
practice that is dying out in recent times but if management would engage
faculty members in engaging the best students and allow them in for some
intentional internships, they would be a good outlet to look at.
3. Recommendation.
HR consulting firms are one of the best sources for hiring excellent hands.
4.
Social Media. Using social media
platforms like LinkedIn and a few other corporate sites are good places to engage
with potential candidates, although it may be time-consuming if you want to
have the best.
THE SELECTION
In the event of having to choose between two or more
qualified individuals for a role, it is so easy to settle on the one with the most
experience or with the highest educational qualification because it appears
that be the easiest and most obvious choice to make. Beyond the above, allow us
to share a few more things to consider when making that final decision.
FOR INTERNAL STAFF
1.
The ‘hungriest’ employee
2.
Highest integrity
3.
One with the highest leadership skills
4.
The longest-serving
5.
The youngest and healthiest
FOR EXTERNAL STAFF
1.
Highest integrity
2.
Entrepreneurial experience
3.
A level of experience in the role
4.
A learner
5.
The youngest and healthiest
STAFFING TIPS
1.
Allow for internships in the firm
2.
Take in National Service Persons and train them
well
3.
Establish a great working relationship with all
interns and NSS persons
4.
Assign lower-ranking staff to understudy key
employees above them
5.
Regularly assess the relevance of all job roles
ONBOARDING & INTEGRATION
Some great talents are lost from the very onboarding
program. All new settlers in a new environment begin to look for the nearest
exit when they meet hostility and disorganization. The facilitator of the
orientation program must be the best of communicators who well understand the
trade of the firm and possibly have stayed with the firm for some time.
This is the period new entrants begin to grow their love and
commitment to the organization and get woven into the fabric of the team. They
are first introduced to the culture of the business by words and most
importantly by action. Certainly, the wrong person from the organization will
end up positioning the ‘newbie’ to assumptions and speculation as they start to
work and this causes the business avoidable losses.
As much as possible, management should design and test-run
an efficient orientation program ensuring the outcome is the best that helps a
new entrant appreciate the vision and mission of the business.
In addition to onboarding a new employee, we want to
establish clearly that it is also very important for an internally recruited
staff to undergo orientation. It is easy to assume those who already work
within the walls of the firm understand the business and its intricacies but
this can be very erroneous. Especially with upward recruitment (from the lower
to an upper-level), orientation is very important because the demands of a
management or senior executive role is definitely not the same as an entry
level role. Errors committed at the entry-level of a firm are not as costly as
ones made at a higher level. The higher the rank, the greater the cost of error
to the firm.
THE LABOR LAW
Human Resource Management is a highly legally regulated practice,
hence, almost every tenet of the practice must conform to the provisions of the
laws of the country of practice. With regards to recruitment, there are a
number of requirements for an applicant to be engaged by a firm for a working
relationship. For example, the Ghanaian Labor Act 2003 has provisions on
various aspects of recruitment including age, gender, race, considerations for
minority groups, nationality among others. it is therefore imperative for every
Human Resource Team to consult the laws of their land when embarking on
recruitment.
JOB SEEKERS’ CORNER
The only way a cat will miss out on a piece of fish is for
the fish to look, unlike a fish. How well-packaged
are you for the job role you seek? A lot has been shared in this work and the
easiest thing to do is to conform to these strategies and get into the right
network. Volunteering roles at firms are a great way to learn specific skills
you may never acquire from school, and this has been a means by which some
people have landed various jobs.
Thank you for reading. This month is a month dedicated to sharing
on WORKFORCE PLANNING so do pass by every Friday to read our latest work.
10TH MARCH, 2024
THE COLLEGE BUSINESS CONSULT
thecollegebc@gmail.com
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Thank you for sharing