STAFFING FUNCTION OF MANAGEMENT - RECRUITMENT & SELECTION

Introduction

 Staffing is the third sequential function of the admininstrative and management process. If planning serves as the backbone of an organization and organizing is concerned with giving shape to this backbone, then staffing may be considered as the function which gives life to this entity of backbone and shape.

Definition

Staffing involves choosing competent and suitable personnel for different positions in the organization. "Staffing may be defined as the management function of employing and developing human resources for carrying out various managerial and non-managerial activities of the organization. The function is concerned with attracting, acquiring and activating the human resources for achieving the organizational goals. Staffing also involves upgrading the quality and usefulness of the members of the organization for obtaining better performance from them."

FEATURES OF STAFFING FUNCTION/PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

 The nature of the personnel management has been highlighted in its following features:

 (i) Inherent Part of Management:

Human resource management is inherent in the process of management. This function is performed by all the managers throughout the organization rather than by the personnel department alone. If a manager is to get the best of his people, he must undertake the basic responsibility of selecting people who will work under him. He must also take interest in training and motivating the employees and in appraising their performance for improving their quality.

 (ii) Pervasive Function:

 Personnel management is a pervasive function of management. It is performed by all managers at various levels across all departments in the organization. In other words, every manager from managing director to the foreman is required to perform the personnel function on a continuous basis.

 (iii) People Centered:

Personnel management is people centered and is relevant in all types of organizations. It is concerned with all categories of personnel from top to the bottom of the organization. The broad classification of personnel in an industrial enterprise may be as follows

: – Blue-collar workers (i.e. those working on machines and engaged in loading, unloading, etc.) and white-collar workers (i.e. clerical employees).

– Managerial and non-managerial personnel. – Professionals (such as Company Secretary, Lawyer, etc.) and non-professional personnel.

 (iv) Personnel Activities or Functions:

Personnel management involves several functions concerned with the management of people at work. It includes manpower, planning, employment, placement, training, appraisal and compensation of employees. For the performance of these activities efficiently, a separate department known as Personnel Department is created in most of the organizations.

 (v) Continuous Process:

 Personnel management is not a ‘one shot’ function. It must be performed continuously if the organizational objectives are to be achieved smoothly. To quote G.R. Terry. “The personnel function cannot be turned on and off like water from a faucet; it cannot be practiced only one hour each day or one day a week. Personnel management requires a constant alertness and awareness of human relations and their importance in everyday operations”.

(vi) Based on Human Relations:

 Personnel management is concerned with the motivation of human resources in the organization. The human beings can’t be dealt with like the physical factors of production. If the personnel function is performed properly, the human relations in the organization will be cordial.

Staffing as part of Human Resource Management

 It is a function which all managers need to perform. It is a separate and specialised function and there are many aspects of human relations to be considered. It is the job of managers to fill positions in their organisation and to make sure that they remain occupied with qualified people. Staffing is closely linked to organising since after the structure and positions have been decided, people are required to work in these positions. Subsequently, they need to be trained and motivated to work in harmony with the goals of the organisation. Thus, staffing is seen as a generic function of management.

The staffing function deals with the human element of management. Managing the human component of an organisation is the most important task because the performance of an organisation depends upon how well this function is performed. The success of an organisation in achieving its goals is determined to a great extent on the competence, motivation and performance of its human resource.

As the organizations grow and number of persons employed increases, a separate department called the human resource department.

Human Resource Management includes many specialised activities and duties which the human resource personnel must perform. These duties are:

• Recruitment i.e., search for qualified people 
• Analysing jobs, collecting information about jobs to prepare job descriptions.
• Developing compensation and incentive plans.
• Training and development of employees for efficient performance and career growth. 
• Maintaining labour relations and union management relations.
• Handling grievances and complaints.
• Providing for social security and welfare of employees.
• Defending the company in law suits and avoiding legal complications.

FUNCTIONS OF A HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER

 Following are the functions of a Human Resource Manager

A. Managerial Functions The Human Resource Manager is a member of the management. So he must perform the basic managerial functions of planning, organising, directing and controlling in relation to his department. These functions are briefly discussed below:

 (i) Planning:

 (ii) Organising:

 Once the personnel manager has established the objectives and developed the plans and programmes to achieve them, he must design and develop organization structure to carry out the various operations. The organization structure basically includes the following:

– Grouping of personnel activity logically into functions or positions;

 – Assignment of different groups of activities to different individuals;

 – Delegation of authority according to the tasks assigned and responsibilities involved;

– Coordination of activities of different individuals.

(iii) Direction:

The plans are to be put into effect by people. But how smoothly the plans are implemented depends on the motivation of people. The direction function of the personnel manager involves encouraging people to work willingly and effectively for achieving the goals of the enterprise. In other words, the direction function is meant to guide and motivate the people to accomplish the personnel programmes. The personnel manager can motivate the employees in an organization through career planning and salary administration by boosting employees’ morale, developing cordial relationships, providing safety requirements and looking after the welfare of employees.

(iv) Controlling:

Controlling is concerned with the regulation of activities “A” in accordance with the plans, which in turn have been formulated on the basis of the objectives of the organization. Thus, controlling completes the cycle as it leads back to planning. It is the observation and comparison of results with the standards and correction of deviations that may occur

B. Operative Functions

The operative functions are those tasks or duties which are specifically entrusted to the personnel department under the general supervision of personnel manager. These are concerned with employment, development, compensation, integration and maintenance of personnel of the organization. The personnel department performs the following operative functions:

 (i) Employment:

The first operative function of personnel department is to employ the right kind and number of persons necessary to achieve the objectives of the organization. This involves recruitment, selection, placement, etc. of the personnel. Before these processes are performed, it is better to determine the manpower requirement, both in terms of number and quality, of the personnel and assess the existing strength to understand the gap and plan accordingly. Recruitment and selection depend on the sources of supply of labour and the devices designed to select the right type of people for various jobs. Induction and placement of personnel for their better performance also come under the employment or procurement function.

(ii) Development:

 Training and development of personnel is a follow up of the employment function. It is a duty of management to train each employee properly to develop his technical skills for the job for which he has been employed, and also to groom him for the higher jobs in the organization. Proper development of the personnel is necessary to increase their skills in performing their jobs and in satisfying their growth need. A good training programme should include a mixture of both types of methods.

(iii) Compensation:

This function is concerned with the determination of adequate and equitable remuneration of the employees in the organization for their contribution to the organizational goals. The personnel can be compensated both in terms of money as well as by receiving non-monetary rewards. Factors which must be borne in mind while fixing the remuneration of personnel are their basic needs, requirements of jobs, legal provisions regarding minimum wages, capacity of the organization to pay, wage levels afforded by competitors, etc. For fixing the wage levels, the personnel department can make use of certain techniques, like job evaluation and performance appraisal.

(iv) Maintenance:

 Merely appointment and training of people is not sufficient; they must be provided with good working conditions so that they like their work and the work-place, and thus maintain their efficiency give their best to the enterprise. Working conditions certainly influence the motivation and morale of the employees. These include measures taken for health, safety, and comfort of the workforce. The personnel department also provides for various welfare services which relate to the physical and social well-being of the employees. These may include provision of cafeteria, rest rooms, counselling, group insurance, education for the children of employees, recreational facilities, etc.

(v) Motivation:

 Employees work in the organization for the satisfaction of their needs. In many of the cases, it is found that they do not contribute towards the organizational goals as much as they can. This happens because employees are not adequately motivated. The personnel manager helps the various departmental managers to design a system of financial and non-financial rewards to motivate the employees.

(vi) Personnel Records:

Personnel department maintains the records of the employees working in the enterprise. It keeps full records of their training, achievements, transfer, promotion, etc. It also preserves many other records relating to the behaviour of personnel, like absenteeism and labour turnover, and the personnel programmes and policies of the organization.

(vii) Industrial Relations:

 These days, the responsibility of maintaining good industrial relations is mainly discharged by the personnel managers. The personnel managers can help in collective bargaining, joint consultation and settlement of disputes, if they arise. This is because personnel manager is in possession of full information relating to personnel and has the working knowledge of various labour enactments

 (viii) Separation:

 Since the first function of personnel management is to procure the employees, it is logical that the last should be the separation and return of that person to society. Most people do not die on the job. The organization is responsible for meeting certain requirements of due process in separation, as well as assuring that the returned person is in as good shape as possible. The personnel manager has to ensure the release of retirement benefits to the retiring personnel in time.

C. Advisory Functions

 Personnel/Human resource manager has specialised education and training in managing human relations. He is an expert in his area and so he can give advise on matters relating to human resources of the organization. He offers his advise to:

 (i) Top Management:

 Personnel manager advises the top management in formulation and evaluation of personnel programmes, policies and procedures. He also gives advice for achieving and maintaining good human relations and high employee morale.

(ii) Departmental Heads:

Personnel manager offers advice to the heads of various departments on matters, such as manpower planning, job analysis and design, recruitment and selection, placement, training, performance and appraisal.

 Staffing process-

Estimating the Manpower Requirements:

Understanding manpower requirements is not merely a matter of knowing how many persons we need but also of what type.

(ii) Recruitment:

 Recruitment may be defined as the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation. The information generated in the process of writing the job description and  the candidate profile may be used for developing the ‘situations vacant’ advertisement. The advertisement may be displayed on the factory/ office gate or else it may be got published in print media or flashed in electronic media. This step involves locating the potential candidate or determining the sources of potential candidates.

(iii) Selection:

 Selection is the process of choosing from among the pool of the prospective job candidates developed at the stage of recruitment. Even in case of highly specialised  jobs where  the choice space is very narrow, the rigour of the selection process serves two important purposes:

 (i) it ensures that the organisation gets the best among the available, and

 (ii) it enhances the self­esteem and prestige of those selected and conveys to them the seriousness with which the things are done in the organisation.

(iv) Placement and Orientation:

Joining a job marks the beginning of socialisation of the employee at the workplace. The employee is given a brief presentation about the company and is introduced to his superiors, subordinates and the colleagues. He is taken around the workplace and given the charge of the job for which he has been selected. This process of familiarisation is very crucial and may have a lasting impact on his decision to stay and on his job performance. Orientation is, thus, introducing the selected employee to other employees and familiarising him with the rules and policies of the organisation. Placement refers to the employee occupying the position or post for which the person has been selected.

(v) Training and Development:

What people seek is not simply a job but a career. Every one must have the opportunity to rise to the top. The best way to provide such an opportunity is to facilitate employee learning. Organisations have either in -house training centers or have forged alliances with training and educational institutes to ensure continuing learning of their  employees.

(vi) Performance Appraisal

After the employees have undergone a period of training and they have been on the job for some time, there is a need to evaluate their performance. All organisations have some formal or informal means of appraising their employee’s performance. Performance appraisal means evaluating an employee’s current and/or past performance as against certain predetermined standards.

(vii) Promotion and career planning

  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’ long­term interests also. They must encourage employees to grow and realise their full potential. Promotions are an integral part of people’s career.

(viii) Compensation  All organisations need to establish wage and salary plans for their employees. There are various ways to prepare different pay plans depending on the worth of the job. Basically the price of the job needs to be determined.

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.

RECRUITMENT

Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and encouraging them to apply for the jobs in an organization. It aims at securing as many qualified applicants for jobs as possible so as to decrease the hiring ratio. Both Internal and external sources of manpower are used depending upon the types of personnel needed.

Meaning of Recruitment

 The process of identification of different sources of personnel is known as recruitment. According to Edwin B. Flippo, “Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates (or employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization”. It is a linking activity that brings together those offering jobs and those seeking jobs. Dale S. Beachobserved, “Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate manpower resources. It involves the creation of a pool of available labour upon whom the organization can draw when it needs additional employees.” Recruitment is a positive function as it results in collection/pool of applicants in response to the vacancy advertised.

Sources of Recruitment

 As shown below, the various sources of recruitment may be grouped into the following two categories: – Internal sources (recruitment from within the enterprise)

 – External sources (recruitment from outside)

Internal Sources

The internal sources of recruitment include personnel already on the pay-roll of an organization. It also includes personnel who were once on the pay-roll and wish to return, or whom the company may like to re-hire, like those who left their jobs voluntarily or were laid off. Recruitment from internal sources so as to fill up vacancies by transfer, promotion, or re-hiring previous employees, offers several advantages: – Selection and placement of existing employees are simple and economical.

– The employer is in a better position to appraise the skill and capability of present employees accurately.

 – It improves employee morale as internal promotions provide opportunities for advancement.

 – It promotes loyalty among the employees.

 – Persons already employed can be more easily inducted and trained for new jobs.

 However, recruitment from within the organization often leads to in-breeding and prevents the ‘infusion of new blood’ into the organization. As promotion is based on seniority, internal recruitment involves the danger that unsuitable employees may get promoted and the really capable persons may be left behind. In any case, it narrows down the area of selection and does not provide equal opportunity to all qualified persons to be considered for the jobs. Besides, recruitment at lower levels have to be made from outside the organization.

External Sources These sources lie outside the organization, and usually include:

– Persons introduced and recommended by present and former employees or trade unions;

 – Employment Exchanges and private employment agencies;

 – Open advertisements;

– Educational, technical and professional institutions;

– Contractors and jobbers;

 – Gate hiring of unskilled workers;

 – Casual applicants; and

 – Temporary or badli workers.

Encouraging present employees to recommend candidates for employment helps management both in finding suitable candidates and in maintaining goodwill among employees. But this may also encourage family cliques and inner circles of close friends. In general, external recruitment through open advertisement provides a wider scope for selection from among a large number of candidates with requisite skill and competence. It proves to be most useful for filling up managerial positions requiring technical and professional qualifications.