UNIT FIVE

THE STAFFING FUNCTION

At the end of this chapter you will be able to:

Introduction
This unit discusses one of the most important function of management, staffing. The meaning
and significance of staffing is provided in this unit. The procurement functions of staffing
illustrated and described one by one in this unit. More focus is give for recruitment and selection
functions. Moreover, it explores training and development functions of staffing. It also illustrates
the maintenance and utilization functions of staffing such as performance appraisal, promotion,
transfer, demotion and separation.
Definition staffing:
The managerial function of staffing is defined as filling and keeping filled positions in the
organizational structure through identifying work-force requirement, inventorying the people
available recruiting, selecting, placing, promoting, appraising, compensating the training and/or
developing both candidates and current job holders to accomplish their tasks effectively and
efficiently.
Staffing processes
1) Human Resource Planning /Man power planning/: It is the process of determining the need
of the right man at the right time to the right job. It is the process of determining the need of the
provision of adequate human resources to the job in the organization. It is designed to ensure that
the personnel need of the organization will be constantly and appropriately met. It is
accomplished through analysis of internal factors such as current and expected skill needs,
vacancies, and departmental expansions and reductions; and external environmental factors such
as the labor market, the government regulation, the labor union; etc. As a result of this analysis,
plans are developed for executing the other steps in the staffing process. This helps an
organization to determine the need of employees for short term or for long term.
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 The necessity of human resource planning

 A good human resource plan would help the management in recruiting and selecting the
skilled and qualified personnel to carry out the activities of the organization effectively
and efficiently.
 People leave organizations for a number of reasons like retirement, transfer, better
opportunities in other organizations and it is the duty of the human resource department
to replace them.
 Labor turn over and absenteeism seem among workers are also factors which make
human resource planning important.
 In order to meet the requirements of expansions and diversification programs of the
organization human resource planning is important.
 The present situation of fast-paced change in technology and changing needs of the work
force has also necessitated creation of an effective human resource plan to cope up with
future uncertainties.
 It will help the management in identifying the areas where there are surplus personnel.
These surplus personnel can be transferred to other departments or can be assigned some
other duties.
There are four basic steps in human resource planning:
a) Planning for future needs. How many people with what abilities will the organization need to
remain in operation for the foreseeable future?
b) Planning for future balance. How many people presently employed can be expected to stay
with the organization? The difference between this number and the number the organization
will need leads to the next step.
c) Planning for recruiting and selecting or for lay off. How can the organization attain the
number of people it will need?
d) Planning for development. How should the training and movement of individuals within the
organization be managed so that the organization will be assured of a continuing supply of
experienced and capable personnel?
The organizational internal environment (such as its strategic plan) as well as its external
environmental will broadly define for managers the limits with in which their human resource
plan must operate. Once there broad limits have been established, managers can begin to
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compare their future personnel needs against the existing personnel situation in order to
determine what recruitment, training and development procedures they will need to follow. The
fact that the internal and external environments of an organization change means that managers
must monitor these environments to keep their human resource plan up to date.
2) Recruitment:
It is the process of reaching out and attempting to attract potential candidates who are capable of
and interested in filling available positions of an organization. It is concerned with developing a
pool of job candidates, in line with the human resource plan. It is an intermediary activity
between manpower planning on the one hand, and selection of employees on the other hand.
An important part of the recruiting process is developing a written statement of the content and
the location (on the organization chart) of each job. This statement is called the job description
or position description. This statement lists the title, duties and responsibilities for that position.
Once this position /job description has been established/determined and accompanying hiring or
job specification, which defines the background, experience, and personal characteristics an
individual must have in order to perform effectively in the position, is developed.

Sources of Recruitment:
Sources of supply are the places, agencies, and institutions to which recruiters go to seek
potential candidates. These sources of supply are generally categorized in to two.

Internal Recruitment: this involves recruitment within the organization; it could be through
promotion lateral transfer, demotion.
Advantage:
 It is usually less expensive to recruit or promote from within than to hire from outside the
organization.
 It may faster loyalty and inspires greater effort among organization members.
 Individuals will already be acclaimed to the organization and may therefore need less
initial training and orientation.
Disadvantage
 It limits the pool of talent available to the organization.
External recruitment: It involves recruitment outside the organization. The major alternative
sources are: Direct application, Employee referrals /word of mouth/, Advertising
Educational institutions, Private/public employment agency and
Other sources such as professional associations.
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The advantages of external sources are:
 Management can get the best professionals available in the market with the required
experience, skill, education etc.
 Recruitment can be done which might include all sections of the society
 Fresh blood can be pumped in to the organization personnel who are creative and who are
specialists can be attracted.
The disadvantages can be:
 Adequate time and money needs to be spent on training and induction
 Chances of brain drain or the employees being recruited by other organizations increase
 The whole process of external recruitment is more expensive than internal.
3) Selection
It can be defined as the process of determining from applicants which one fills best for the job
description and specification which is offered to the job within the organization. It involves
evaluating and choosing among job candidates. The role of recruiting is to locate job candidates;
the role of selection is to evaluate each candidate and the pick the best one for the position
available. Application forms, resumes, interviews, employment & skill tests, and reference
checks are the most commonly used aids in the selection process.
Selection is the mutual process whereby the organization decides whether or not to make a job
offer and the candidate decides on the acceptability of the offer.
4) Orientation and socialization /induction/
It is designed to provide a new employee with the information he/she needs in order to function
comfortably and effectively in the organization. Typically, socialization will convey three types
of information.
(i) General information about the daily work routine;
(ii) A review of the organizations history, purpose, operations, and products or services, and
how the employee's job contributes to the organizations needs, and
(iii) A detailed presentation, perhaps in a brochure, of organizations policies, work
rules, and employee benefits.
The purposes of induction & orientation

 Reduce the start-up cost - enable a new employee to meet performance standards sooner.
 Reduce anxiety - employee fear of failure on the job can be avoided, and he develops
self-confidence.

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  Decrease turn over - provision of all kinds of information during the entry time make new
employee stable in the organization.
 Save time to supervision - reduce the time of a supervisor to supervise and observe the
performance of an employee.
5) Training and Development Function
Organizing human resources is a dynamic activity. Job demands change, which requires altering
and updating an employee's skills. Therefore, managers are involved in deciding when their
subordinates may be in need of training. Thus, training is a process designed to maintain or
improve current job performance; development is a process designed to develop skills necessary
for future work activities.
Reasons for Training:
 To orient new employees: while schools and training institutions provide general education
in many skills new employees require additional training to acquaint them with specific
situation of the organization and the job.
 To improve performance: training will help to improve performance by increasing
productivity, improving quality, reducing turnover, reducing labor cost, etc.
 To maintain current performance: sometimes individuals holding a position or doing a job
may get obsolete so train these employees will help to maintain current performance.
Training Methods:
There are two different types of training techniques.
(i) On-the-job training (ii) Off-the-job training
(i) On-the-job training: involves learning methods and techniques by actually doing a job
(performing the work) and increasing the levels of skills of the employee. The employee usually
learns under the supervision of the immediate boss or co-worker who has greater knowledge and
skills about the job. It is widely used, because it is economic and convenient; and no special
facilities, equipment and training places are required and the employee produces and contributes
to the organizational objective and at the same time he learns job rotation and job instruction
methods are few of the techniques used in on the job training. It is convenient for small number
of trainees. Some of its disadvantages are:
 It creates disinterest of employees, employees have dual responsibility.
 It is not convenient for large number of employees.
(ii) Off-the-job training: This technique involves participation of employees in a series of
events removed from the actual performance of the organization and the work situation.
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Advantages:
 It creates interest of employees: because employees are removed from their routine
activities and are moved to new environment.
 It is convenient for large number of employees (trainees).
Disadvantages:
 It is expensive- there are costs for trainers, facilities, and also the employee does not
contribute during the training.
 There is a problem of transfer of knowledge from the training situation to the actual
situation of the job.
Vestibule training, classroom instruction / lectures, films and simulation exercises are the more
popular techniques of off-the-job training.
6) Maintenance and utilization
1. Performance Appraisal: It is the process used to determine whether an employee is
performing according to what is designed or intended. It helps to formally evaluate the
adequacy of recruitment and selection and suggests whether or not the employee will need to
be replaced, or trained. The many purposes of performance appraisal can be summarized in
the following key points:
 Performance appraisal should lead directly to increased productivity.
 It helps in salary administration
 It plays a vital role in determining an employee for promotion.
 Appraisals are used as a vehicle for bringing about employee development.
 Performance appraisal results are used extensively in human resource research.
2. Transfer: It is a shift of a person from one job, organization level, or location to another. The
transfer may be a promotion, demotion, or a shift to another same level position /lateral
transfer/. Lateral transfer: refers to the movement of an employee from one job or position
to another without involving any significant change in the employment and status.
3. Promotion: refers to a shift for advancement of an employee to a higher job with more
employment and prestige, higher status, and higher responsibility. The possibility of
advancement often serves as a major incentive for superior performance, and promotions are
the most significant way to recognize such superior performance. Therefore, it is externally
important that promotions be fair i.e., based on merit and free from favoritism. Demotion:
refers to a shift of an employee to a lower position in the hierarchy due to inefficiency, and
incompetence to fulfill assigned tasks.
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 7) Separation
The final operative function of human resources management is separation of the employee from
the organization in order to return him/her to society. In this section, we shall review three
processes of separation: the retirement of older employees; the layoff or release of qualified
younger employees no longer needed by the organization; and the discharge of employees who do
not meet the organization’s expectations.
1) Retirement
Retirement has been characterized by some as a “role less role.” With a society built on a work
ethic, the move from a productive work role on one day to a role less role on the next has
stimulated the belief that retirement leads to mental and physical illness and, sometimes, premature
death. Whether cause or effect, it is evident that retirement is a major event in one’s life cycle, and
the organization has a major responsibility in facilitating the transition from one stage to the other.
One of the key issues of modern times is whether the decision to retire should be made by the
organization or be left to the employee concerned. In Ethiopia retirement is mandatory. It is fixed
by law at the age of 60.

2) Layoff
In the free enterprise system, there are many occasions when a qualified employee will be released
from employment (laid off) because the organization no longer requires his/her services. Layoff
can be temporary as the firm adjusts to variations in market demand for its products. It can also be
permanent as the firm goes out of business or transfers to a distant location. Layoff is a very
difficult problem not only for the employee but the company and the union as well. Since layoff
involves the loss of income, the employee and the union are prone to restrict the company’s
freedom of decision. The company typically wishes to take advantage of the layoff to retain its
most able employees, and let the more marginal ones go. On the other hand, the employee and the
union try to regulate layoff decisions through seniority systems. It is generally found in practice
that seniority is a stronger factor in layoff than it is in promotion decisions.

3) Discharge
Perhaps the most stressful and distasteful method of separation is that of discharge. The employee
is deemed to be fundamentally unsatisfactory in terms of performance and/or attitude. The labor
force in unionized organizations is protected by organized labor unions whose contracts typically
provide for grievance processing. In addition to union restrictions on the right of discharge, there
are other major sources that reduce employer freedom to discharge. The employer cannot base a
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discharge on union membership or activity, race, religion, nationality, age, sex, and the like. This is
legally prohibited. Discharges because of disloyalty, insubordination, and the like are considered
legal.