What are the functions of staffing in the Organisation explain with examples?

Staffing is a critical organizational function which consists of the process of acquiring, deploying, and retaining a workforce of sufficient quantity and quality to create positive impacts on the effectiveness of the organization.  It is one of the significant functions of the management.

In an organization, it is the people which carry out the various jobs which are needed for its functioning. They are the most important resource of the organization. They supply the talent, skills, knowledge, and experience to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. In fact the performance of the organization largely depends on the quality of its people. Hence the staffing function of the management is an important function and it involves in the building of the organizational workforce. In staffing, the management is faced with the challenge of not only finding the right person for each job but also to match the personnel with the jobs identified and to provide for their long-range growth and welfare as members of the organization.

Staffing is that part of the process of management which is concerned with acquiring, developing, employing, appraising, remunerating and retaining people so that right type of people are available at the right positions and at the right time in the organization. In the simplest terms, staffing in management is ‘putting people to jobs’.

Staffing apparently cannot be done once and for all, since people are frequently leaving, getting fired, and retiring. Often too, the transformations in the organization generate new positions, and these must be filled. In fact, the process of staffing is also the never-ending process in the organization. The first step in the process of staffing is to understand the job requirements. It is concerned with determining two aspects namely (i) the number, and (ii) the type of personnel required. This can be done by preparing a human resource plan in the organization.

Four building blocks for the staffing function the organization are (i) the division of work, (ii) the departmentalization, (iii) the hierarchy, and (iv) the coordination.

Definition of staffing

Staffing is defined as, “filling and keeping filled, positions in the organizational structure. This is done by identifying work-force requirements, inventorying the people available, recruiting, selecting, placing, promoting, appraising, planning the careers, compensating, training, developing existing staff or new recruits, so that they can accomplish their tasks effectively and efficiently.”

The definitions of the staffing function as given by the different management experts are given below.

“The managerial function of staffing involves manuring the organizational structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of personnel to fill the roles designed into the structure.” – Koontz and O’ Donnell

“Staffing relates to the recruitment, selection, development, training, compensation of subordinate managers.” – Theo Haimann

“Staffing is the function by which managers build an organization through the recruitment, selection, and development of individuals as capable employees.” – McFarland

Nature of the staffing function

The following points describe the nature of the staffing function.

• Staffing is an important managerial function. Staffing function is normally the sub function of the organizing function. All the five functions of the management viz. planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling depend upon the employees of the organization which are made available through the staffing function.
• Staffing is a pervasive activity. It is carried out in every organization and at all the levels of the management in the organization.
• Staffing is a continuous activity. This is due to the fact that the function of staffing continues throughout the life of the organization.
• The basis of staffing function is the efficient management of personnel.  The process involved in the staffing function in the organization is efficiently managed by a system or with well-tried procedures.
• The function of staffing helps in placing right men at the right job. It can be done effectively through proper recruitment procedures and then finally selecting the most suitable candidate as per the job requirements.
• All the levels of management are involved in the function of staffing though the personnel department coordinates it.

Importance of staffing

The staffing function is a very important function of the management due to the following reasons.

• Staffing helps in discovering and obtaining competent personnel for various jobs.
• It helps in the optimum utilization of the human resources.
• It helps in developing professionals in every field of organizational activity.
• It helps to improve the quantity and quality of the output by putting the right person on the right job.
• It helps in developing competencies in the organization to face the challenges.
• It helps to improve job satisfaction of the employees and hence their morale.
• It facilitates higher productive performance of the organization by appointing right man for right job.
• It reduces the cost of manpower by eliminating the wastage of the human resources.
• It facilitates growth and diversification activities in the organization.
• It provides for the development of the employees and through them it ensures continuous survival and growth of the organization.

Process of staffing function

The process of the staffing function involves human resource planning i.e. estimating the size and nature of the personnel required for the recruitment and selection of the best candidates to train, to induct, to reward and to have regular and effective communication with them. The process of staffing consists of the following steps (Fig 1).

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