According to the reports of SHRM released on May 28, 2008, staffing employment and the recruitment services are among the most critical HR function areas which mainly contributes to their organization's business strategies. After the organization’s structural design is in place, it requires people with the right skills, knowledge and the ability to fit in that structure. People are considered to be the most important resource for the organization because they either create or undermine an organization’s reputation for both products and service. According to the HR role and impact of Business strategy, HR functions are viewed within the organizations completely depending on the factors like size of staff, its employment sector, and dynamics of the organization. It is also founded 9n the report that the responsibilities which are not directly related to the HR but are important for organization operations are folded into HR by default.

Human Resource Management (HRM) or staffing is the management function which is devoted to acquiring, training, appraisal and compensating the employees. In effect, all the managers are human resource managers, although human resource specialist may perform some of these activities in large businesses. The study has found the top three critical HR function areas as staffing/ employment/ recruitment which are cited by 52% of respondents, training and development process which is cited as 29% and employee benefits which are 29%. This indicates that HR is most likely to support the organization strategy with the help of human capital related areas like building, developing and maintain the workforce, as per the reports. In New York City, Lewison has stated that “we are constantly examining our benefits programs, not only from the perspective of competitive challenges but also in terms of cost-effectiveness”. Staffing is the very critical organizational function that consists of the process of acquiring & deploying the workforce which impacts on the effectiveness of the organization.

What is the Staffing Management Function?

According to the reports of Theo Haimann, “Staffing function pertains to the recruitment, selection, development, and compensation of the subordinates”. There are several things which you may need for your business to get success and among all of them; the first one is the human resource. A business cannot be isolated from its workforce, and this is due to the fact that the workforce of the business is its life force. According to John Lewison, the staffing and employee benefits issues are still intertwined. Thus it becomes so imperative for the business, that they have the right amount and right kind of people to work with them in the organization.

Staffing Function Management

Staffing function management involves the process of filling up the various vacant seats or positions in the organization with right kind of people who are skilled and competent to discharge the duties and responsibilities which the position carries and implies. It is like a multi-step process which commences with determining the number and the kind of people you want in the workforce, recruiting, selecting, training and developing. The managerial function of the staffing is to manage the organization’s manpower by certain means of suitable and active choices, assessment and progression of the employees who fill the desired roles and responsibilities.

Features of Staffing Function

Some of the vital features of staffing function management are described below in detail as:

• Critical managerial function

Staffing function is among the most crucial managerial function together with planning, organizing, directing and controlling. The success of all these critical managerial functions completely depends upon the workforce which is organized by staffing function.

• Hiring right people

This is done with the help of rigors recruitment process and selecting the most appropriate candidate for the right job position. Also, the promotions should be well thought in the direction of long-term vision of the organization.

• Continuous function

Starting from recruitment to training & development process, to managing employees expectations for important transfers and promotions, staffing helps to continue throughout the lifecycle and thus is called as a continued function.

• Efficient management

The human resources are managed with the system of staffing functions that should be fair, dynamic and efficient in order to sustain the long-term relationship with the organization.

• Recurring activity

Staffing function management handles the roles and responsibility of all the managers who are working in all the capacities and in all departments of the organization.

Importance of Staffing Function Management

Staffing function management is important to our business in multiple ways. Some of the ways which elaborate on the importance of staffing management are given below:

• Workforce is Lifeforce

Without the requisite human involvement in the motivated fashion for the betterment and the benefit of the business organization, the business will always be very far from the roadmap of success.

• Ensures competency & efficacy

Staffing as a process is not just about finding the candidate for the suitable job, but it is also about finding the perfect or the right candidate for the job. It involves identifying the competent and skilled people who will be able to fit directly into the portion and to perform the function entailed in it.

• Optimum Resource utilization

In today's world, the resources are scarce and all the resources including human resource need to be utilized, optimally for attaining business goals. Staffing is the process which ensures that not only the right candidates but also right numbers of people are staffed in the organization and are functionalizing in it.

• Motivation

Introducing training and development in staffing process bring new synergy in the organization & help to create the system of motivation. The training provided by the organization helps to boost the level of confidence of the employees and is usually provided in order to teach those effective ways to improve their job performance & management. It also helps in breaking the monotonies of the job.

• Improves employee satisfaction

Staffing management not only means hiring employees but also maintaining & managing the rewards & appraisals system to remunerate & motivate the employees for their hard work & dedication. This ensures that the employees feel recognized & valued & would stay with the organization because of fair wages system. This will safeguard the organization from facing unnecessary huge labor shortage problem or high employee attrition rate.

Steps Involved in Staffing Function Management

Given below are the steps which are involved in staffing function management:

• Manpower planning

It is the estimation of the workforce requirement and is the first step in the process of staffing as every step begins with the process of planning and identifying what is needed.

• Recruiting

Once the positions are determined and the required qualification is outlined, the need to identify the people who fulfill the required criteria arises.

• Selection

It is the process of screening & short listing the right person from a pool of eligible applicants. It is the distinct process sifting through the recruits to understand who can do that job better.

• Orientation

It is the process by which new employees are introduced & made familiar to the workplace & company policies. Being a new employee, they must be made aware of terms and condition, rules, policies, objectives, benefits etc. of the organization.

• Training & development

As the proverb says “Practice makes the Man Perfect”; similarly training & development plays an important role in policing & nurturing employees’ skills. Therefore, a complete training and development process must be done with the employee so that he/she can perform better for further employment.

• Appraisal

Mere employment and training of employees is not the end of staffing function, it also includes the function of reward & appraisal with respect to the level of performance of each employee.

• Compensation

Every employee needs to be compensated fairly for their hard work and efforts that he/she puts to your organization. All this depends on the criticality and nature of the job role of the employee.

• Promotion

It is the elevation of the rank and the status of the employee which means a distinct change in the position of the employee. Promoting employees not only means a new position but also additional job roles, responsibilities & opportunities to shape their career in forward direction. It also includes giving them an opportunity to lead a team as their team leader or involve them with managerial functions, based on their experience, skills & expertise in that department.

Conclusion

Staffing is considered to be a part of the process management which is concerned with employing, appraising & retaining people so that the right kind of people are available at the right time and for the right positions in the organization. We can also say that staffing function management is simply “putting people to jobs” but it is a critical process which needs proper governance & management to make the organizations achieve their business goals & objectives.