Strategic Staffing free essay sample

Once employers understand the importance of strategic staffing, they can aligning their departmental goals with that of the company and spend adequate time and resources in implementing these strategies. The most important element in a company is the people that work there (the employees). They are the ones who produce output and are the core contributors that impact whether or not the business is successful. With this in mind, strategic staffing has to be at the forefront of the plans of a company. According to Bechet, in an article entitled, ‘Strategic Staffing: A Practical Toolkit for Workforce Planning’, â€Å"strategic staffing can be defined as the process of identifying and addressing the staffing implications of business plans and strategies or as the process of identifying and addressing the staffing implications of change† (Ward, 2004, pg. 1). In other words, strategic staffing plans for the future and helps you stay one step ahead. Now that we know what strategic staffing is, why is this concept so important in organizations? To answer this question, lets us analyze its benefits. The world is becoming a global village, therefore, in order for organizations to acquire differences that provide them with a competitive edge, they have to hire employees from a diverse background and capitalize on their talents. A diverse workforce will also allow the organization to tap into new markets while increasing effectiveness and productivity. Another benefit of employing strategic staffing plans is the opportunities for promoting their employees to fill top leadership positions. When a company is being strategic in their staffing decisions, they would have invested in developing employees whom they deem fit for leadership positions. This will then ensure that the company’s mission and vision remains intact and also make it easier for employees to identify with new leaders and get on board with their strategic initiatives. Strategic staffing plans also save an organization money in the long run. When the right persons are hired initially and the organization invest in these employees and develop their talents, the employees feel like a part of the organization and not just persons hired to get the work done. Employees therefore become more loyal and committed to the organization and less money is eventually spent on hiring new employees. With all these benefits tied on implementing a strategic staffing plan, managers have to ensure that the human resource team understands its importance. Once they do, it will motivate them to take their departmental strategies to the next level. However, in developing strategies for strategic staffing there are some critical issues that must be considered. In the article, a major issue that has been identified is the need for quality leadership in the organization due to globalization. The author explained that a critical element in the strategic operation of an organization is the selection of key personnel. The organization therefore, has to ensure that the individuals they select in recruitment have leadership qualities. This is very important because leaders are the ones who provide the strategy for accomplishing the mission and achieving the vision of the organization. Not only should they be able to provide the strategy, they should also be able to effectively communicate it to employees and create the motivational climate that enables them to be productive. As stated by Quinn in his book entitled, ‘Leadership, How to Lead, How to Live’, â€Å"Leaders help to point us in the same direction and harness our efforts jointly† (Quinn, 2005, pg. 11). Another critical issue that was revealed in the article was the tendency of decision makers to make changes only to respond to immediate pressures instead of realigning the organization with its external environment. This type of behaviour is being reactive, when the company should be seeking to be proactive. Being proactive means that situations are controlled by causing things to happen instead of waiting to respond after things happen. It follows through with the ancient saying, â€Å"Prevention is better than cure†. This is crucial to any organization’s success because being proactive saves money. Instead of management making a staff change to respond to immediate pressures, they should ensure that the persons they are hiring are able to implement the strategies of the organization effectively. The failure of a newly promoted leader to perform effectively is another critical issue that was raised in the article. The author went on to explain that the problem maybe a weakness in the strategy that affected the personnel changes and staffing should be seen as a window of opportunity other than a burden. With these critical issues that need to be considered when developing strategies for strategic staffing, there are also some areas of concern that was presented in the article that also needs to be considered when developing and implementing strategic staffing. One area of concern is the job description. The author outlined that in a rapidly changing environment job descriptions need frequent fine tuning. By looking at how a specific position and the department have been affected by past changes in leadership and objectives, they can then design the future job description to meet new strategic requirements. When developing and implementing strategic staffing one also have to look at the type of person who will be filling the job. Each situation calls for a different type of leader, therefore when recruitment is being done, they should look at the organization’s requirements. Developed in the article are four stages of the staffing process. The first two stages identified in the article is an evaluation of the position to be filled and the kind of individual required to fill it. These two stages can be defined as workforce planning. This is one of the most important activities that human resource professionals have to carry out. Sullivan defines workforce planning as â€Å"a systematic, fully integrated organizational process that involves proactively planning ahead to avoid talent surpluses or shortages† (Sullivan, 2002, pg. 6). When evaluating the position to be filled and the suitable person to fill it, a job analysis can be carried out. Two major aspects of the job analysis that are required is a job description and a job specification.. What the job description does is to describe the duties and responsibilities of the job itself. It is very important that this is done because it provides the guidelines for managers to hire promote and supervi se employees. It also helps them in making decisions regarding compensation, disciplinary procedures, promotion and termination. The job specification outlines the characteristics of someone who is able to perform the job well. This is also important as it sets out a consistent set of standards for all applicants which can be measured objectively. It also helps in designing training and development programs for the employees and job evaluations. Stage three in the process identified in the article is termed as â€Å"spreading the net†. This involves examining various ways to located talented personnel. This step can also be seen as sourcing where qualified individuals and the labor markets from which to recruit are located. Searching the right place for talent is crucial to finding the right person to fill a particular position. If the right person is not found for the job, it can be detrimental to the success of the company. This stage is also important to other activities in HR. When the right pool of identified, it gives management a wider variety of persons to recruit and places them at an advantage. It also ensures that the recruiters possess the talent that they are looking for to fill the vacant position. Once the right talent is found, the individual will be more efficient in achieving the organization’s goals. The final stage that was outlined in the article is that of making actual contact with the candidates and assessing their potential contribution. This is also known as the selection process where managers assess the job candidates and decide who to hire. Selecting the right candidate ensures that the business operates at full potential and assists in quality performance. It also saves a substantial amount of time and money if done properly and associated with a reduction in the levels of absenteeism and employee turnover. This stage also ties in with interviewing of the candidates. Once the right pool of candidates is available, interviewing them to find the best fit is the next step. Not all employees are the perfect fit for the job they apply and employers usually find this out during the interview. In order for staffing executive positions to be a success, the author recommends that the task be assigned to a key staffer and the strategy outlined to him/her. He also stated that recruitment and development be seen as a strategic act and must derive its direction from top management. I agree with these recommendations because staffing goals should tie in with the business strategy that is set by top management. Also, strategic staffing is very time consuming and requires some level of understanding of the company and its needs, therefore assign the task to a key staffer would be an excellent way to ensure that the right individual is assigned a job in the company. The author also recommended that the organizational wants be clear to those who are involved in the search process to avoid ambiguity, subjective preferences and pressures of the moment. This, I also regard as a good recommendation. This recommendation also shows the importance of having a key staffer, who understands the issues of the organization. This will decrease the likelihood of hiring the wrong person for the job. Personally, I think that it is essential for a company to use a structured interview process where each candidate is assessed through a standard set of criteria. This will ensure consistency among the candidates and interviewer. The staffing process is an extremely vital component of an organization due to its direct influence on business results and effectiveness.