staffing a to z

8/3/2019 Staffing A to Z

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Staffing A to Z

Intro staff-ing \ ’staf -ing\ v: the acquisition, development, retention and utilization of human capitalmost critical element of organizational profitability and success; became extraordinarilycompetitive in first half of twenty-first century

Staffing is the most fundamental and critical driver of organizational performance. In the simplestsense, staffing is putting people to work. It begins with workforce design and includes recruiting,assessment, development, workforce planning, and retention. Today, staffing may involve anycombination of employees, contingent workers, contractors, consultants, and outsourcedoperations working around the world. And although it may involve tens of thousands, staffingrecognizes the importance of every single person: the individual worker is the ultimate performer.

About Staffing A-Z

Staffing A – Z is a dynamic, encyclopedic staffing resource. It includes a tiered list of professional

terminology, links to articles that further expand on the terms, links to resources, and otherpertinent information. Continually updated through user feedback, Staffing A – Z is vetted byStaffing.org’s Advisors, and contributed to by professionals across the staffing profession.

Each section will be created and expanded upon as warranted. Each main section has sub-sections,and some sub-sections contain further sub-sections. The level of detail involved in Staffing A – Zallows users quick access to basic explanations to important terms and concepts in staffing. Theadditional materials — in articles, links, and resource appendices — allow interested users to dig asdeep as they desire to become experts themselves.

Assessment and Selection

Selection is the process of examining and choosing the most appropriate applicant for a position. It

involves many steps, each of which should be treated carefully.

Selecting the right applicant is an extremely important function of HR. There are several criticalprocesses involved which can help employers make the right decision. Too often, employers do nottake the necessary steps to ensure that the selected candidate is the correct choice for the positionin question. Depending on whom you ask, poor candidate selection can cost organizations as muchas half of their entire payroll.

The first stage in selecting an appropriate candidate involves screening. Employers should assessthe candidates’ skills against the predetermined job requirements as well as verifying the accuracyof the information provided in the resume; this stage can include reference checks as well.

Testing and assessments are sometimes used for certain positions. Skills tests are technical in

nature and pertain directly with the position in question. Behavioral tests look for specific characterstrengths or weaknesses that can help determine how the applicant will manage under certainconditions and environments.

Interviewing candidates allows the organization to better understand a candidate. An interviewgoes well beyond the skills in a resume or the score of a test – it should focus on how thecandidate can apply the skills and scores in the work environment. While interviews are subjective,it is imperative to be consistent so that all candidates are screened consistently during theinterview. This allows the interviewer to properly compare candidates.

Assessments

The second and final type of screening — assessment — takes place after non-scientific screening.Assessment, or scientific screening, looks at the remaining candidates in the applicant pool anddetermines which candidates have the best skills, experience, and qualities to fill the open



position. This requires predictive indicators that must be sought proactively, often through aquestionnaire, including leadership qualities, integrity, motivation, good judgment, and work-lifebalance. This step in the process may also include background and reference checks.

The future of online assessment will include more interactive features that give the applicantaccess to feedback, and shorter, more entertaining—even game-based—assessments to make the

experience less taxing for the applicant.

Technology allows a great deal of non-scientific and scientific screening to be automated, whichsaves an organization a great deal of time and money. Sometimes the impersonal nature of automated screening leads to oversights, so a balance between automation and traditionalscreening methods is ideal.

The ROI for proper assessment can be substantial. Determining the right candidate for a positionand the organization will mean better morale, performance, and higher retention rates.

Interviewing

The interviewing process is the best time to truly discover whether or not the person applying for aparticular position is right for the job. It’s the only chance to see the person behind the GPA, theyears of experience (or lack thereof), and other information provided by a résumé that may haveno actual bearing on how this person will perform on the job.

As with most processes, preparation is key. Determining a clear and specific set of skills andqualities that will make for a successful staff member in this particular position is the basis for agood interview. You need to know exactly what you’re looking for before you can start looking forit. Once these skills and qualities have been determined, it’s time to design the questions of theinterview in a way that will bring to light how much of each skill and quality the candidate has tooffer.

The interview should be structured and purposeful but also conversational and not intimidating.Questions should be specific, detailed, and relevant to the job. The focus should be on gathering

information from the candidate, so the interview should be set up to allow the candidate to do themajority of the talking. This is the only opportunity during the selection process to allow theindividual to talk about himself, to find out about his personal and professional goals, motivations,limitations, and strengths. This is a glimpse at the reality of what working with this person on adaily basis might be like. It’s important that the candidate isn’t just a good match for the position,but for the organization.

People get nervous in job interviews. There may be a lot at stake for them. People also want togive the interviewer what they want to hear. These human elements should be considered whenevaluating a candidate’s responses.

Finally, the results of the interview need to be measured. There might not be right and wronganswers, but there are degrees of acceptability here that can be broken down and rated on a

scale. Key points made by the interviewee can be scored positively, and key points overlooked ornegated by the interviewee can be scored negatively.

Proper preparation, a structured interview, and sensible metrics can make the interview processthe best predictive factor in the selection process.

Screening

Screening has never been a more important part of the selection process. Today fewer jobs, moreapplicants, and the internet combine to create a deluge of résumés through which to sift. While itwould seem to be common sense that the more applicants for a position, the more likely anorganization is to find the ideal candidate, this may not always be the case. The volume of

unqualified applicants is often staggering. Screening has become a more arduous task, but thetechnology available has automated many of the processes.



Before screening can begin—in fact, before the job is posted—the employer should evaluate theopen position and determine the skills, experience, and qualities necessary to perform the jobeffectively. Clarity and specificity at this stage of the game saves a lot of time further into theprocess.

Once all of the applications have been collected (from online job boards, faxes, emails, snail mails,

recruitment queries, etc.), the first type of screening, non-scientific screening, can begin. Non-scientific screening eliminates any candidates that do not meet requirements for the job includingdesired salary, willingness to relocate, experience, education, etc. While this usually eliminates amajority of the applications, it makes no indication of which of the remaining applicants are idealfor the position. This screening sometimes eliminates a possible ideal candidate lacking in one ormore of the requirements for the job who would be able to develop the necessary skills andperform at a high level.

The end result is a somewhat narrowed group of candidates with which to begin the next step,assessment (or scientific screening).

Testing

Testing gives an employer a better understanding of a candidate’s skills and qualities thanscreening and assessment. While not as personal as an interview, it has the advantage of providing data that is much more readily quantified and categorized. Job-specific tests showwhether or not the candidate has the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the duties of theposition. A personality test reveals a candidate’s integrity, motivation, work-life balance,professional habits, methods of conflict resolution, etc. The personality test must deal only withfactors relevant to the job; if the test uncovers mental or emotional instabilities, this violates theAmericans with Disabilities Act and can result in legal action from the candidate.

Tests may be developed in-house or the organization may choose to have an outsource agencycome in to develop appropriate tests for various open positions. As with each part of the screeningprocess, proper planning and tracking of the testing process will lead to increased new hire qualityand lower retention rates, savings that justify upfront costs for this endeavor.

Attract

Every business wants to be successful, and the key to any success story is the people hired toexecute the work of the organization. Attracting your candidates of choice involves forethoughtand hard work. Organizations that successfully create and communicate a brand for themselveshave the most desirable candidates applying for open positions. Establishing an organizationalbrand and message involve the creation of clear requirements for open positions and the targetingof appropriate candidate pools.

Recruitment tools must ride the cutting edge of recruitment practice and methodology. Smartrecruitment advertising and recruitment initiatives can make or break an organization’s recruitment goals.

Finally, the ways in which organizations treat candidates for open positions says a lot about howthey treat their employees. Measuring, tracking, and continually improving care of potentialemployees will draw in those looking for their ideal work environment.

Branding With regards to attracting staff, branding refers to organizational development and embodiment of a specific image to attract certain types of employees. Branding is not about trying to invent anattractive image to lure in as many prospective hires as possible. It's about accuratelyrepresenting an organization to candidates to attract individuals that match the organization’sculture and priorities. This requires an in-depth evaluation of the organization’s real identity.

Every organization has a brand whether or not it knows it. The memory employees and candidates

have of your organization exists whether you want it to or not. It is what an organization projectsto its employees and candidates. Honesty in branding not only strengthens an organization’s



image, but also becomes crucial to staff retention down the line. If an employee accepted a jobwith an organization because it claimed to foster creativity, but found the job creatively stifling, heor she will not have any loyalty to that organization and will seek employment elsewhere. Whileaccurate branding may exclude certain prospects from considering an organization (for instance,someone looking for rapid advancement in the workplace, which may not be the case for aparticular organization), those that are attracted to the organization will match the culture and bemore likely to have their expectations met.

Candidate CareWhile an organization evaluates a candidate for a position, the candidate also evaluates theorganization. Courtesy and respect to the candidate during the recruitment/application/interviewprocess will form a positive first impression of the entire organization in the candidate’s eyes.Inversely, automated responses, vague correspondences, and inattention to detail will give thecandidate a negative first impression. Employers should treat candidates the way they say theydo–the way they want to be treated.

The ideal candidate for a given position will certainly have talent, skill, and experience. For such aprospective hire, there will often be many different employment opportunities at any given time.During the application process, all that a candidate knows of an organization beyond their brandingis the interaction he or she has with the person(s) doing the hiring. The ideal candidate may passon a job offer from an organization based on an unsatisfactory hiring experience.

During the recruitment process, proper candidate care includes:Specific and accurate descriptions of the position and the skills/experience necessary for thatpositionAn organized system of receiving and cataloguing queries and applications from prospective hiresDuring the hiring process, proper candidate care includes:Personal contact with the candidate (a phone call instead of an automated email response)Timely response to correspondences from the candidateRequesting feedback from candidates on their treatment during the recruitment and hiringprocesses.Reviewing and addressing candidate feedback on the recruitment/hiring process is one of the mosteffective ways to ensure a positive experience for future applicants.

Contingent StaffingContingent staff (temps) work on a temporary basis either to cover the work of an absentemployee or to fill positions in an organization that has seasonal or cyclical work patterns thatrequire varying amounts of staff. Contingent workers are usually hired through a staffing service,and do not receive health benefits from the organization for which they are working. Usingcontingent staff is cost-effective because it eliminates hiring costs and benefit costs (and avoidspaying overtime to full time staff in the case of covering for an employee’s absence), and offers agood source of immediate workforce assistance.

Contingent staffing is an important part of the modern workforce. Human resources should keeptrack of all contingent staff, and a regulated structure should be created for the procurement,maintenance, and (when necessary) termination of these staff members. The larger the

organization, the more contingent staffing can be a vital part of the workforce model. SomeFortune 500 companies have thousands of contingent staff members working for them.

There is an increasing trend toward temp-to-hire employment, where contingent staff becomes fulltime employees of the organization for which they’ve been working. Contingent staff is often avaluable hiring resource since the workers have shown their ability to perform and are alreadyfamiliar with office culture, management directives, and organization structure.

Consultants and Contractors Consultants and contractors have become a staple of modern industry. As such, HR needs to havean organized plan for hiring and utilizing these types of staff members. Consultants andcontractors should be looked at as an extended part of the workforce, not as outsiders ortemporary help. The shape of the workforce is evolving and the team is made up of more than just

full time employees. Everyone on the team needs to know the organization’s core values, policies,and goals.



Contractors usually work on a project basis, or for a set period of time—such as providing surgesupport during an organization’s busiest times. Many organizations prefer hiring contractors forbusy periods rather than hiring full time employees that will have to be laid off when things slowdown.

Consultants provide expertise to an organization for specialized areas of knowledge ranging from

public affairs to engineering. Consultants may work independently or through a consulting agency,and have a variety of clients at any given time.

Like contingent staff, consultants and contractors do not receive health benefits from theorganization for which they are working. Using these types of staff can be cost-effective andprovide more immediate help for the organization.

Outsourcing Outsourcing is delegating non-core business operations that had been handled in-house to anexternal group or organization. Control and oversight of this operation is given to the outsourcingentity. The main organization hands over the process to the outsource group, explaining theresults it desires and allowing the outsource group to deliver according to its own strategy andpractices (if the main organization were to maintain control of the process, this would be

considered a vendor relationship and not outsourcing). Despite the acquiescence of control, themain organization’s HR should keep track of the outsourcing entity’s performance.

The two main reasons for outsourcing are:Cutting baseline costs (the money saved on employee benefits, office space, technology andsupplies, etc.)The operation being outsourced requires expertise that the main organization is unable to provideand therefore must seek a group specializing in this operation.Outsourcing labor overseas to countries with significantly lower labor costs, or offshoring, is acommon practice that sometimes carries with it a negative stigma since many people feel thatorganizations are giving away jobs that its citizens need and because some claim that the overseasservices may be substandard. Overall, however, outsourcing has become an accepted businesspractice.

Measurement Everything can be measured. In business, everything should be measured, in order to sort out thebest ways of increasing productivity and thus the bottom line. Organizations that do not measurelack direction. Without measurement, it is impossible to know the strengths and weaknesses of your organization. And without this knowledge, one cannot make the necessary adjustments.Metrics, appropriately applied, allow for quantifiable measurement of performance even in themost esoteric of positions. The benchmarks provided by these metrics allow employees andemployers alike to provide the best performance each is capable of delivering to the organization.Measurement includes quantifying critical staffing outcomes or results as well as the key activityindicators associated with each outcome or result.

Top Ten Reasons HR Should Measure:What you don’t measure doesn’t count What you don’t measure well you can’t improve To make the best possible decisionsIt is a top CEO priority"It isn’t going away" You won’t ever have to struggle for answers again To enhance your careerSo you can control your work—instead of it controlling youMeasuring— just measuring—improves performanceThe Number One Reason HR Should Measure:

The inability to document HR and human capital performance is the main reason for terminatingHR professionals.

Development Metrics Development metrics are a collection of quantitative data regarding the experience, skills and



training of an organization’s current staff. The focus is on ensuring that staff members have beendeveloped to their fullest capacity for optimal performance within the organization.

Examples of common Development Metrics include:Quality of EmployeeCapacity of Employee to Meet Potential Needs

Customer (meaning management) satisfactionFormal Investment per Employee (dollar amount)Workforce Development Contribution (the results from the money spent on development)Keeping accurate and updated development metrics allows an organization to make informeddecisions about whether or not a vacancy in the organization can/should be filled internally orexternally, which can save time, money, and resources.

Recruitment Metrics Recruitment can be an expensive and time-consuming endeavor, and understanding the value of the results means knowing whether or not the time and money are being used effectively. Usingmetrics to track the costs, the quality of the new hires, and the hiring manager satisfaction makesit easier to determine the ROI.

A few common recruitment metrics:New Hire Quality: Three to six months after hire, the hiring manager should complete anevaluation of the new employee that compares expectations prior to recruiting with the actualperformance of the employee. Facets of quality to be evaluated include knowledge and skills,performance, experience, motivation, multitasking abilities, learning curve, customer compatibility,and organization compatibility.Recruiting Cost Ratio: The RCR is used to determine average HR spending on recruiting activitiesin relation to the starting compensation of new hires (positions filled) that result from staffingactivities. This metric calculates the Total Recruiting Costs (both internal and external) and dividesit by the Total Compensation Recruited (the sum of the base annual compensation of the positionsfilled through recruitment).Recruiting Efficiency: Closely related to RCR is the metric for Recruiting Efficiency. RecruitingEfficiency gives a percentage in relation to complete efficiency, which is considered to be 100%.Prior to this change, people complained that the former scale (lower RER percentage = better) was

counter-intuitive. By subtracting the RCR from 1, the new number yields a higher percentage thatis easier to convey. Now, as with most numbers in life, the higher the Recruiting Efficiency, themore efficient the recruiting function is. The metric formula for Recruiting Efficiency is: Efficiency =1 – RCR.

Retention Metrics Retention is not just about cutting down on turnover. It’s about retaining employees you want toretain. The value of an employee can be somewhat abstract, but metrics allow an organization toquantify this value; to attach a dollar amount to it. Not only does this help to clarify theexamination of retention, it also helps reveal how retention effects the bottom line. Beyond dollarsand cents, retention metrics help employers recognize patterns in turnover by keeping detailedrecords of who is leaving and why. If the majority of employees leaving an organization are fromthe same department, same age group, gender, etc., there may be an issue that needs to be

examined and rectified. A few common retention metrics:Turnover Index: Keeping track of each person who leaves an organization, why she left, thequality of her performance, her potential for advancement in the organization, and the difficulty of replacing her.New Employee Loss Rate: The loss of new employees can be extremely costly due to the amountof time and resources expended to recruit and hire staff. Therefore, it’s necessary to keep track of employees who leave within the first three years of employment.Competency Opportunity Cost: When a more experienced employee leaves an organization and isreplaced with a less experienced employee, what is the cost to the company? The less experiencedemployee will likely make less money than his more experienced predecessor, but the amount of resources expended to acquire the new employee, as well as the loss of the competence andefficiency of the experienced employee (which can effect productivity) must also be taken intoaccount.

New Staff Processing The new hire processes start after an offer has been accepted; it generally starts with a



background check and drug testing and ends three to six months have new hire orientation.Budgeting for these processes, both in terms of time and money, are critical to reducing the time-to-start metric – a measurement consistently rated by hiring managers as one of the mostimportant factors in determining the success of the HR department.

Background Checks

Background checks occur near the end of new hire processing, when a specific candidate is beingchosen for a position. This is mostly a verification of the candidate as a viable staff member.Depending on the level of the job and the sensitivity of the materials handled in the workenvironment, a background check may be as simple as verifying a prospective hire’s SocialSecurity Number and driver’s license, or may be very in-depth, examining driving records, militaryrecords, credit records, criminal records, property ownership, medical records, etc. Backgroundchecks are required by federal and state law for certain jobs; for instance, criminal backgroundchecks are required in most states for anyone working with children, the disabled, or the elderly.

Utilizing background checks to screen out an undesirable hire can be invaluable. The cost to theorganization incurred by a staff member who engages in theft or other illegal behaviors makesbackground checks a worthwhile measure.

Drug Testing Drug testing usually occurs after a candidate has been offered a position and is seriouslyconsidering/planning to accept. Drug testing can be a costly endeavor; however, since substanceabuse leads to lower productivity, absenteeism, health problems, and increased accidents in theworkplace, the cost is justified. Other staff members forced to compensate for substance abuserswho are late/absent/let go face added stress, which can also effect productivity and morale.

Drug testing is often a condition of employment. Most organizations utilize urine testing in what’sknown as a "Five-Screen," testing for cannabinoids, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, andphencyclidine, although some organizations now use a "Ten-Screen," and some have recentlybegun testing hair.

New Hire Care

A great deal of time, energy, and money is spent on recruitment and hiring, trying to find the rightperson for the job. But if the new hire is not helped, taught, motivated, and respected, then theentire hiring process will have yielded little more than an unhappy new employee. After thewelcome wagon, the first-day lunch with the supervisor, orientation, and the first few weeks of training, there is still a lot of effort needed to help the new hire become a good employee.Depending on the type of position, it may take anywhere from a few weeks to a year or more for anew staff member to learn everything the job entails. Checking in periodically to make sure thenew hire is comfortable with her responsibilities three months, six months, nine months into the

job is crucial. A new employee should feel comfortable to ask questions, discuss conflicts, anddiscuss working conditions with her supervisor.

The more time spent training and assisting new hires, the better the ROI for all of the resourcesthat went into acquiring them. New employees need to know that they are part of a team.Recognizing and addressing any issue she may be having with the duties of the position will reduceanxiety, boost morale, and foster productivity and creativity.

Orientation Employment is a relationship, and orientation helps to set the tone for that relationship. Sticking anew hire in an office or cubicle and handing him the employee handbook is a surefire way to makehim feel unimportant and anxious. New hires need to acclimate to the people they are nowworking with, not just the procedures and culture of the organization. Make sure new hires therelevant supplies and technology (computer, telephone, email and voicemail, and ID card if necessary) set up before they arrive, as this will help make them feel settled and at home in thisnew environment.

Formal orientation may be handled by human resources, and most of the informal orientation isguided by supervisors and co-workers. The focus should be on helping the new hire to do his jobwith the knowledge of his function in the department and the organization as a whole, tounderstand what is expected of him, the broad rules of the office culture, and the practical



information about the organization and work facilities that he’ll need to begin doing his jobsproperly.

A useful and practical orientation is integral to new hire retention. Getting feedback from the newemployees about their orientation experience six to eight weeks later is a helpful way to sculpt theorientation process into an effective and enjoyable one.

Reference Checks A reference check is simply contacting a prospective hire’s past employers or other references toverify what you’ve already concluded about an applicant you intend to hire. Reference checking isa final confirmation step in the hiring process. This may simply involve verifying that the person inquestion actually held the position listed on the résumé, and what his or her starting and endingsalaries were. Sometimes further investigation is necessary, asking the reference if the jobapplicant displayed leadership qualities, worked well with others, made any significant contributionto the prior organization, etc. Lateness, absence, conflicts with other staff, and reaction to stressmay also be discussed.

Relocation Facets of relocation may include helping the new hire and her family sell their current residence

and find a new one, moving expenses, temporary housing (when necessary), helping the spousefind new employment, and finding appropriate schools for the new hire’s children. This process canbe handled in-house, but is often outsourced or co-sourced with a relocation agency. Largerorganizations may even have a relocation department, helping new hires with information on costof living, real estate costs, regional lifestyle characteristics, etc. International relocation adds workpermits, immigration laws, and language teachers to the equation. Formalized protocols forrelocation help to make the process run smoothly. The faster the new hire can get settled into thenew location and begin work, the lower the costs for the organization.

Recruit Recruiting is one of the most important investments for any organization, an investment of finances, time, and resources. If your organization were a car, the recruitment process would belike selecting the best engine components, shocks, wheels, safety features, etc. to produce optimalperformance.

There are many decisions to be made for both the overall recruitment schema and for specialcases where the dominant strategy is not the best fit.Where is the best place to seek prospective hires for your organization? Online job boards? Jobfairs? Special recruiting events? Networking?Should the organization try to attract experienced professionals from competitors? In-house staff?Graduating college students? Interns and contingent staff? International candidates?How much of the recruitment operations should be handled in-house and how much should beoutsourced? Which recruiters will be the best fit for the organization’s core values? What should the recruitment budget be? How much should be spent on advertising? How does theorganization determine internal and external costs?How does HR measure the performance of the recruitment process? What is the RecruitingEfficiency? How about Time-to-Start? How much time after a new hire has been with the

organization is necessary to determine his or her performance and determine the true result of recruitment?Effective recruitment requires proper planning, patience, continued evaluation and reassessment,and a unified vision for the outcome.

Online Job Boards An online job board is a website that allows employers to post job openings (usually for a fee) andallows job seekers to search for job postings using a refined search to narrow down the results(usually free of charge). Many job boards also function as job-aggregators, searching their ownsite (and sometimes the web) for specific key words or job requirements that job seekers haveentered into their profile, and emailing seekers a list of matches. Recently, online job boards havebeen created with a new recruitment model based on referrals and networking.

The positive aspect of online job boards is the ease of information transfer that can reduce thetime-to-hire and save an organization money. Drawbacks include an abundance of unqualified



applicants, an overwhelming number of applicants in general, and reliance on the resume as theprimary predictive tool for recruitment. Online job boards are trying to combat these drawbackswith refined searches and resumes built through the site itself with a series of dropdown menusaimed at pinpointing specific skills and experience necessary for particular positions.

Employers' clarity and specificity about whom and what they need to fill positions and applicants'

attention to detail in their resume and profile can help make online job boards a more usefulrecruiting tool.

Recruiting — ExternalExternal recruiting includes all of the recruitment strategies and costs necessary to attractcandidates of choice from outside the organization. Online job boards, traditional mediaadvertising, job fairs, networking, campus recruiting, recruiting experienced staff members(including opportunistic recruitment), and international recruitment are included in this operation.The process begins when a position opens up or is created that requires an outside hire.Recruitment may be handled in-house or may be outsourced or co-sourced with a recruitmentagency. After the application process opens, the candidate pool is narrowed based on skill sets,salary requirements, geographic location, experience, etc. External recruiting costs (or sourcingcosts) include any initiative used to identify or attract candidates, including employer branding.

The metrics employed by HR to track the success of recruitment—including Hiring ManagerSatisfaction, Recruiting Cost Ratio, Time-to-Start, and New Hire Retention—are an absoluterequirement in evaluating and adjusting the external recruitment operation to achieve the desiredgoals. Recruitment has become increasingly competitive, and an organization needs the beststrategies and technology to be able to attract the most valuable prospective hires.

College Many organizations consider the college campus to be a crucial location for recruiting new hires.An organization’s presence on a college campus, and the representatives' interaction with thestudent body, creates a type of focused branding in the students' minds.

In the past few years, there’s been a boom in campus recruiting that has made the process much

more competitive. Organizations are finding creative ways to reach out to their youthful prospects.Job fairs and recruiters sitting at a table with brochures have become somewhat ineffective for theshort attention spans of the current generation. Recruiters are hosting game nights, offering prizemoney for essays, sponsoring student activities, establishing relationships with professors in fieldsof interest, and using other innovative methods. Some organizations are hosting webinars to reachspecialized groups of students throughout the country.

In fields where many students are offered jobs before graduation, such as engineering, manyrecruiters are targeting the freshmen and sophomores and establishing a relationship then beforeanother organization snatches them up. Internships and co-ops are still an effective way to findnew hires.

Statistically, students who take a position with an organization right after college have high

retention rates. The key to retention is honesty on the part of the recruiter; the students shouldhave a realistic concept of what working for a particular organization will be like.

Experienced Many key positions in an organization, especially leadership positions, require a high degree of experience and expertise. Recruiting experienced staff members can be done through regularchannels: online job boards, traditional media advertising, networking, etc. Some organizationsactively recruit key performers from other organizations, known as opportunistic recruitment.While sometimes frowned upon (even considered "espionage"), opportunistic recruitment is apervasive practice that is considered quite effective at adding value to an organization. Recruitersresearch the professional and personal lives of vital performers from other organizations so thatthey'll be able to offer a customized package to the individual that will be tailored to what he orshe needs or is lacking. A growing trend in business is hiring professionals that are over 50 yearsold. With baby boomers aging, it’s estimated that more than 20 % of the workforce a decade fromnow will be composed of 50-plus workers. In the past, older workers were devalued for theirhealth issues, lack of energy, and lack of longevity. Today, these same workers are being



recognized for making fewer mistakes, having experience and understanding of the workplace, andfor better retention rates (since the typical 20- to 30-year-old changes jobs on an average of every three years, while the 50-plus workers change jobs on an average of every 15 years). Manyorganizations are now developing flexible retirement plans to retain valued employees.

International

The global marketplace and modern technological advancements have stripped away theboundaries that once made international recruitment implausible. For the most part, internationalrecruitment is still in its infancy. Only around 10 % of U.S.-based recruiters look to internationalcandidates to fill positions in the U.S. That figure continues to grow. International recruitmentallows for the chance to find the best and the brightest candidates for upper level positions.

Worldwide recruitment is a requirement for international companies. Sending an American tomanage a plant in Thailand would make little sense when a qualified candidate from Thailand canbe found who already knows the language, the culture, and the management style best suited tointeract with Thai workers.

International recruitment presents a variety of difficulties as far as measuring performance andanalyzing results. Despite this fact, HR has a responsibility to track and evaluate the international

recruitment processes at work in their organization. When using an international recruitmentagency, a clear definition of what constitutes a desirable candidate should be expressed clearly,but a certain level of trust should be given to the outsourced agency to understand the workforceand cultural climate in the country or countries in question. Performance and manager satisfactionmetrics should still be employed.

Recruiting — InternalWhen attempting to fill an open position within an organization, sometimes the best strategy is tosearch for a candidate internally. In this case, research whether there are current staff memberswho have the skills and experience necessary to fill the open position, and whether or not theorganization is willing or able to fill the new vacancy created when an internal hiring occurs.

Internal recruitment saves a lot of energy and money as far as advertising and recruitment

agencies are concerned. It also significantly shrinks the timeline of the hiring process. Dependingon the level of the open position, this may be a chance to develop internal staff and createadvancement for one or more members of the organization. However, consistently recruitinginternally can sometimes be limiting and does not allow new staff members with fresh ideas andabilities to enter the organization.

Researching Employee PoolsEvaluating the candidate pool is a process of narrowing the field from a large number of candidatesto the select few ideal people for an open position. Sometimes the best strategy may be to searchfor a candidate internally. The organization may wish to limit the pool to applicants referred bymembers of the organization itself or from other industry sources. It may be necessary to takesteps to recruit passive candidates through various media if the candidate pool is unsatisfactory.

When dealing with a large external applicant pool gathered from résumé submissions, recruiters,college recruitment programs, and online job boards, the field is narrowed initially by eliminatingcandidates who do not meet the educational requirements, have incompatible salary requirements,and (when relocation costs are not an option) are not local. The pool is further thinned throughpinpointing performance qualities specific to the open position. The end result should be a selectgroup of individuals with which to begin the screening, testing, and interviewing process.

Traditional Media Traditional media are the sources used to reach potential candidates including newspaper, radioand television ads, professional and trade journals, and recruitment agencies. The proliferation of internet sources (online job boards, company websites, professional blogs, etc.) has for the mostpart overshadowed traditional media because web-based recruitment tools are usually much morecost-effective, can reach more people more quickly, and offer a certain amount of interaction that

job seekers seem to prefer. However, traditional sources are still a viable means to attractprospective hires utilized by many organizations.



Research and PlanningFor individual positions, research and planning are integral to finding the best candidate for the

job. The recruiter must work with the hiring manager to create an accurate job requirementdescription and negotiate a realistic time-to-start. A search of existing candidate databases shouldyield some potential candidates, but in addition to this are preparing and scheduling a listing of theposition description on pertinent job boards, with existing employees, and via other appropriatemedia.

With sufficient and correct research and planning, the recruiting process will very nearly run itself to successful completion and an excellent hire.

Retention Retention is not the inverse of turnover but rather retaining the staff you want to retain. Retainingthe best performing employees is critical to the ongoing success of any organization. Rarely isretention achieved through salary-based incentives alone. Most employees actively seekadvancement, professional development, and a genuine work-life balance in addition to incentivesand bonuses. Successful retention is best achieved by a proactive HR department that activelyseeks out what employees want most, and also by discovering the reasons behind the departure of former staff the organization has failed to keep, but wishes it had.

Advancement Advancement, or the lack thereof, is often a key factor in employee turnover. If an employee’scurrent position seems to be a professional dead-end, he will seek a job with another organization.Beyond monetary need, staff members derive satisfaction in their positions from a sense of accomplishment. Accomplishment comes from rising to a challenge. A staff member stuck in thesame position for years may lose motivation without new challenges and responsibilities.

Advancement means new challenges, new responsibilities, a sense of pride, and monetary gain.The highest performing employees, the hard workers and the natural leaders, are the most likelyto crave challenge and growth. These employees yearn to rise to the occasion, and properadvancement gives them the means to shine.

Incentives and BonusesWhile not one of the top listed factors in failing to retain key staff members, incentives andbonuses can be an effective tool in staff retention, especially when the bonus or incentive rewardsthe best performers in an organization. Retention means keeping the staff you value, andrewarding these key players for their performance shows them that you do value them. Company-wide annual bonuses are mostly ineffectual for retention; an individualized performance-basedbonus works best because it provides motivation and direction for work, and a sense of accomplishment when the bonus is earned.

Incentives and bonuses range from monetary awards and stock options, to trips, trophies, andextra vacation time. The goals required to earn a bonus should be clearly defined, quantifiable,and include a few different performance metrics. The less subjective and more fairly measured thegoals, the less likely a staff member who does not receive a bonus will feel cheated.

Some incentives are not tied to monetary awards, and are not quantifiable at all. For example, insome organizations, ambition and innovation may be looked on quite favorably, and the incentiveis building a bright reputation within the organization in the hopes of advancement somewheredown the line. These cultural incentives, while subliminal, are quite powerful in shaping theperformance of an organization’s staff.

Professional Development Professional development is one of the top factors in staff retention. While it may include learningskills specific to the position a staff member holds in an organization (such as learning how tooperate new technology directly involved in the job), it goes beyond that into developing skillsrequired to make a staff member into a better professional overall. Leadership and managementskills, stress reduction, creativity enhancement, conflict resolution, and team communication areamong the many life skills taught and coached that fall under the umbrella of professionaldevelopment. Continuing education is another facet.



Professional development must be an individualized process. Supervisors or HR managers shouldmeet with each staff member annually or semi-annually to discuss and measure development.Each person has different strengths and weaknesses, different skill sets and experience, andprofessional development should help improve what is lacking and erase blind spots in overallperformance.

The ROI for professional development is substantial and often more immediate than otherinitiatives. It will not only improve performance, but also boost morale. Some organizations fearthey are training employees to find a better position with another organization. While this ispossible, the loyalty that professional development often instills in employees, as well as theimmediate benefits, make it a worthwhile investment with only moderate risk involved.

The best performers in an organization become the best because they are properly motivated.They want to achieve their goals and expand their knowledge base. This is why professionaldevelopment is crucial to retaining the key players in your organization.

Work-Life BalanceWork-life balance involves consistently achieving work goals while simultaneously enjoying family,friends, and life outside of work.

Work-life balance is something each staff member needs to address individually. Different socialfactors (e.g. married or single, children or no children, employment level, closeness to retirementage) will effect that staff member’s definition of work-life balance. This is a fluid concept; there willbe times when work must come first, and times when personal issues take absolute precedence.

Organizations can help provide this through initiatives like flex-time, onsite childcare, family leavepolicies, fitness facilities or fitness membership reimbursement, mental health programs, etc. Anemployer’s sensitivity to the personal needs of staff can be the key to reaching work-life balance.A person who feels balanced will be less affected by stress and therefore more productive. Work-life balance means high morale and leads to less instances of sickness, absenteeism, and burn-out.It’s an integral part of staff retention.

Staff Development Organization driven development of staff contributes to secession planning, improvedperformance, and employee retention. It may include education reimbursement, special skillstraining and workshops, certification programs, and any other educational development initiativesthat should increase employer productivity and performance.

Staffing OperationsDefinitionThe actual work of staffing.In the broadest terms, Staffing Operations can be defined as the goals, structure, policies,practices and resources of an organization’s staffing function. It deals more specifically with nearlyevery aspect of an organization’s recruiting function. Involved in this are: Strategy

Design and StructureUse of TechnologyProcessesManagementTrainingDiversityCollege Recruitment ProgramContingent Staffing ProgramConsultant and Contractor ProgramInternational Recruiting ProgramResource Selection and ManagementOutsourced Recruiting Program

College RecruitingMany organizations consider the colleges and universities to be a crucial source for recruiting newhires. Depending on the industry, HR must determine how aggressive college recruiting should be,



how much of an investment of funds and resources are necessary, which universities should befocused on, and what the recruitment strategy will be.

Some organizations establish a target percent of new hires each year that they want to be collegerecruits. These hires are perceived as being highly trainable and include graduates that have beenemployed for less that one year immediately subsequent to graduation, been un- or under-

employed for less than two years, complete an internship, residency, fellowship, or discharged as junior military officers within a year.

In the past few years, a boom in campus recruiting has made the process more competitive.Organizations are finding creative ways to reach out to prospects. Once an appropriate focus hasbeen determined, recruiters will have to rely on a customized selection process in determining onwhich students to focus their energy. Internships and co-ops are a very useful approach indetermining whether a student and an organization are the right match for one another.

New hires that are recruited directly after graduation will require extra attention in the orientationprocess, since they will not only be acclimating to a new job, but to the workplace in general. HRmay want to consider providing extra information for these new hires to help them understand not just the organization’s particular office culture, but the basic do’s and don’ts of the workplace,

concepts other new hires may take for granted, having learned from experience.

Consultants and Contractors Contractors usually work on a project basis, or for a set, contracted, period of time. They differfrom contingent workers in that because they are project- or time-defined by a written agreement,they are almost more of an outsourced provider than an employee. Contingent workers, bycontrast, are hired for specific needs, which are not necessarily defined by either time or project.

Consultants provide expertise to an organization for specialized areas of knowledge ranging frompublic affairs to engineering. Consultants may work independently or through a consulting agency,and have a variety of clients at any given time.

Traditionally, contractors and consultants have been a staple of the health care, information

technology, telecommunications, and financial services industries. Today, they've also become aregular presence among scientists, engineers, physicians, and other highly specialized skill-basedfields.

Recruiting the right individuals for contract and consultant work is an important component in theorganization’s overall success. Many experienced professionals decide to become free agents sincethey have the credentials necessary to be successful on their own, so ignoring this pool of potential expertise may mean missing out on some of the top performers in a particular field.

Contingent StaffingContingent staff (temps) works on a temporary basis either to cover the work of an absentemployee or to fill positions in an organization that has seasonal or cyclical work patterns thatrequire varying amounts of staff. Contingent workers are usually hired through a staffing service,

and do not receive health benefits from the organization for which they are working. Usingcontingent staff is cost-effective because it eliminates hiring costs and benefit costs (and avoidspaying overtime to full-time staff in the case of covering for an employee’s absence), and offers agood source of immediate workforce assistance.

Hiring contingent staff has often been part of the procurement function. As organizations movetoward more project-based business strategies, it becomes incumbent upon HR to become anactive part of this process. While HR may not have much experience dealing with vendors, they dohave knowledge about what the organization’s core competencies are, which jobs require full-timeemployees, and which require contingent staffing, as well as the necessary skill set andknowledge-base for these positions are. Organizations now recognize that their contingent staff isoften as important as their full time staff, and that HR needs to pay special attention to recruitingthe right people for the job and to finding ways to retain key contingent staff performers.

Design and StructureWhen problems are determined in staffing operations, the tendency is to fix things piecemeal. This



is usually good for a quick fix. Everything in the staffing process is connected, and therefore aholistic approach to the design and structure of the staffing operation is necessary to ensuresuccess.

Examine the roles and responsibilities of each member of the team from the start of the process toits completion. Are there any redundancies in responsibilities that can be eliminated? Are there

serious blind spots in the process due to lack of communication? Is the solution to the problemgoing to be a complete overhaul of the staffing structure, or are just a few tweaks required to getthings running smoothly?

Get the whole team together and map out the entire process in as detailed a fashion as possible.Let the team talk to each other and see if misinformation abounds or if one hand really knowswhat the other is doing. Team members should be encouraged to express their needs and whatthey think could be done to improve the process as a whole or just from their vantage point. Whena new or revised model is created, it should be put through simulations to determine flaws beforethe plan becomes reality. Once the new/revised staffing structure is in place for six months to ayear, get the team together again for an evaluation and problem-solving session. The staffingstructure is important enough to warrant thorough evaluation at least bi-annually.

Diversity It would probably be enough to say diversity in the workplace should be a priority for everyorganization because it’s the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do, but there are reasonsbeyond common sense. It makes for good business. Here are a few positives for business that areimproved through diversity:

It’s a good part of organization branding. Having a reputation for embracing diversity will attract awider group of candidates and increase the chances of finding the ideal person for any opening inthe organization.

It bolsters morale within the organization. People want to work somewhere that will accept themregardless of race, religion, political affiliations, sexual orientation, lifestyle choices, etc. Bettermorale means better performance. Staff members feeling valued will lead to higher retention

rates.It helps with problem-solving. Employing people from different backgrounds with different valuesand experiences makes for plethora fresh perspectives and chances for innovation.

It can expand your customer base. Just as the candidate pool is diverse, so is the customer base.Customers embrace organizations that reflect values they respect.

Diversity must be a value that is completely pervasive throughout an organization. Having bylawsand mission statements is not the true test of diversity. The true test is how staff treats each otherand how they treat customers. Recently, a debate has begun about how wide the scope of diversity should be. Beyond race and gender, it has moved to sexual orientation and politicalviews. Now some wish to expand it to introvert vs. extrovert, a worker with a military backgroundvs. a bohemian creative type, etc. One side of the debate argues that the wider the net, the closer

we get to trivializing the issue. The other side says there should be no limit to understanding. Timewill tell.

International RecruitingThe globalization of the marketplace has added plethora complications to the recruitment andstaffing function. Government regulations may restrict the number of expatriates that yourorganization can employ in a country, or have a quota of local nationals that must hold positions inthe organization. India, for example, has an initiative in place that requires an organization withoffices in their country to hire a certain quota of lower caste staff members.

Hiring an international recruit for a US-based position means a unique onboarding process. Inaddition to regular orientation, there will be citizenship and/or work visa issues, possible languageand cultural training, travel and housing arrangements, etc. A new hire from another country

should be paired with a mentor from the organization who can show him the lay of the land -literally and figuratively. Approximately 10% of US-based recruiters look to international



candidates to fill positions in the US; but that figure is growing. International recruitment allowsfor the chance to find the best and the brightest candidates for upper level positions.

International recruitment presents a variety of difficulties as far as measuring performance andanalyzing results. Despite this fact, HR has a responsibility to track and evaluate the internationalrecruitment processes at work in their organization. When using an international recruitment

agency, a clear definition of what constitutes a desirable candidate must be expressed clearly, buta certain level of trust should be given to the outsourced agency to understand the workforce andcultural climate in the country or countries in question. Performance and manager satisfactionmetrics should still be employed. Some governments are now insisting that HR managers ininternational offices located in their country must be local nationals (often in the hope that theselocal HR managers will hire more local workers), which will make the tracking and assessment of international offices even more challenging.

Mission and ObjectivesWithout a staff, an organization cannot truly exist. Thus, staffing is more than the hiring andremoving of employees or their respective positions; rather, staffing is the building andmaintaining of an organization. The mission and objectives of a staffing operative define why andperhaps how, who, and when the establishment will find, hire, train, use, and keep staff (whichcould include salary employees, volunteers, contractors, or a variety of other types of workers).Not only does a comprehensive mission and objectives statement help hirers look for the rightthings in the right people and adequately access and educate their staffs; but it also aids the unityof the various staffing members that may work in operations by reducing the effects of personaldifferences in opinion in regards to how the staffing process is implemented. The staffing missionand objectives provide clear guidelines that assist all involved in a cohesive effort.

While it has often in the past been the practice of those hiring a staff to look for certaincharacteristics or qualities that appear to advocate an individual’s ability to perform the job well,recent years have seen a great growth of understanding in the area of staffing operations. HumanResources and other similar departments are beginning to understand the power that clearlydefined mission and objectives in their staffing operations can have.

The mission and objectives of a staffing operation should include statements of purpose (verbal orwritten; however, written is conclusively stronger) that focus the organization’s goals for its staff in matters such as recruiting and retaining them, accessing and developing their skills, providingconditions and practices that promote the right kind of working environment, and facilitating theirprofessional development and growth. The scope of the mission and objectives may cover anythingand everything from designing an appropriate set of qualifications for prospective employees andensuring physical safety in the workplace to building a sense of community among the staff andhosting seminars that may precipitate a higher level of quality in the work.

Outsourced RecruitingThe decision to outsource a substantial portion of any recruiting operation should begin with aevaluation of the current recruiting performance and projected requirements.

The right initial answer to whether or not to outsource and where to base operations should be, "Itdepends" and it should depend on the answer to series of questions such as these:What doesn’t it tell us—what doesn’t it do? What problems have been encountered previously?How do you know that? Is there any documentation?Can I see the calculations?How do you know that?What other factors are or may be involved?What are the possible implications—now and long term?How do you define __________?What are the other alternatives?What are the costs after implementation?What does it encourage—what does it discourage?What is behind the endorsements or recommendations?

Are there any other considerations?Before you make a decision whether it is design and structure or outsource or not, ascertain whatyou are getting for your dollars now. Then examine the drivers of your current performance. A



single factor, like superior leadership can compensate for a host of weaknesses—but only for atime.

Another important decision is which functions within recruiting need to be kept in-house. Somerecruiting services will perform an end-to-end process, while others will work with your existingprocesses and staff members in a combined effort.

Once an outsource recruitment vendor has been chosen, communication and measurement are thekeys to success. While the outsourcing vendor should be allowed to use its own style andprocesses, it’s up to your organization to clearly define the desired results, track the progress of the operation, and make adjustments as necessary.

Resource Selection and ManagementThere is virtually no aspect of staffing today that cannot be augmented with technology and/oroutsourcing. The number of products and services continues to grow. While many of these toolswill save an organization time and money, a lot of research must be done to determine the righttools for a specific situation. Gathering as much information as possible is the only way to makethe correct decision. There is an abundance of vendors in the marketplace, so the selectionprocess should be as structured and clear as possible.

Starting with all possible products and services, narrow down the field based on the strengths,weaknesses, and desired results determined from evaluating the staffing operation from top tobottom. Determining the right mix of technology, outsourcing, and in-house operations requires anawareness of the organization’s structure, culture, budgetary parameters, core processes, andcore values.

Once the technology or outsourced resource has been implemented, performance metrics shouldbe used to track the results of the tools being utilized. Continue research into advancements intechnology and vendor services to keep processes up-to-date. While budgetary limits arenecessary, the vital importance of building an effective staff makes the upfront time and expenseworthwhile.

Staffing has changed because the workplace has changed. The growth of international andcontingent staffing and the complexity of employment law are just a few of the factors that add tothe list of HR responsibilities. As the responsibilities expand, so must the processes; technology,outsourcing, and consultant services have become necessary to attempt to stay ahead of thegame.

Strategy Once your staffing mission and objectives have been determined, a strategy must be planned toachieve your staffing goals. Examine your current processes to determine what works and whatdoesn’t. If possible, study the structure and processes of another organization in your industry(this can be especially helpful for a new organization trying to build from the ground up). Also,make an inventory of your core and non-core processes and competencies, budgetary parameters,projected annual income, etc.

All of the following questions should be addressed in the creation of your staffing strategy:How can we best reflect our core values to prospective hires? What role will branding play inrecruitment? How can we build a workforce of diverse performers?What avenues of recruitment should we pursue? Traditional media advertising? Online job boards?Job fairs? Campus recruiting? International recruiting? Networking? Referrals?Which recruitment functions should be kept in-house? Which should be outsourced? Whattechnology can augment the recruiting process?What will our workforce consist of? Mostly full-time employees? Will there be a large base of contingent staff? Consultants? Telecommuters?What will our onboarding process consist of? How long should orientation last? Should we usementors for new staff members?What training programs should we offer our staff? Would these programs be extended tocontingent staff and consultants? Should we offer tuition reimbursement?What will our management style be? Performance-based? Result-based? How hands-on do wewant our management to be?



How will we retain our best performers? Bonuses? Salary increases? Advancement? How can weaid our staff in reaching work-life balance? Flex-time? Daycare programs? Fitness reimbursement?There are many more facets of staffing to be discussed at this stage. Insight, foresight, andrealism will lead to an effective strategy that takes into account different barriers and setbacksthat are an inevitable part of day-to-day operations.

Technology Technology has been changing the face of every single business in the world. Human resourcesmanagement is no different. As a special segment of Workforce Management notes, "HRtechnologies continue to make processes faster, easier, and more efficient. But with the economyin slow mode and budgets down, companies are refocusing their technology investments." Giventhe constraints of the market, important questions must be asked of any technology. And theprimary question that must be asked regarding technology in the human resources arena is: giventhe vast strides that have been made in the information technology sector, how can theseadvances be used to optimize the performance of people and work? This technology has beengreatly improving in the past few years. These technological advances have enabled managers touse human resources’ metrics in ways that just a few years ago would not have been possible.

The scope of technology in the human resources field reaches the most basic aspects of hiring andfiring, which includes tracking tenure, retirement and health benefits, service dates and taxrecords and extends to the furthest reaches of talent management, a growing sector in the field.Historically, technology has been used to perform the former functions, and has only more recentlymoved into talent management which uses metrics to better deploy a firm’ s human resources.What differentiates most of the products on the market is the extent to which they are integratedand comprehensive. HR technological solutions, however, aren’t the answer to problems if HRmanagers and staff don’t have the proper training. Samuel Greengard quotes Jim Holincheck, aresearch director at Gartner, as saying "one of the biggest mistakes is unleashing humanresources staff and recruiters on a system without adequate training." 1

With all of these technological solutions two major issues arise:To what extent are human resources technologies a one size fits all solution and to what extentmust they be developed organically in-house? If they need to be, as Samuel Greengard believes"built from the ground up" 2 then the entire human resources technology market needs to shift its

focus.To what extent is the utilization of human resources technologies merely the result of goodmanagement techniques? The smaller the influence of management the more we should bespending on technology and the larger the role of good management the more we should befocusing on good management techniques. These two questions will run throughout the discussionof technology practices in the human resources sector.

Training Training can mean the difference between a well-informed and motivated staff member movingtowards advancement and possibly a leadership role in an organization or a staff member whofeels uncertain, uninformed, and undervalued. Lack of training is always one of the top factorslisted for high employee turnover. Encouraging staff members to grow as part of the organization,and as professionals in general, boosts morale and confidence, which leads to employee

satisfaction, which leads to customer satisfaction and increased profits. Training topics includeinstruction of management on how to effectively recruit and select new hires, leadership skills,time management, career management, presentation skills, communication styles, etc.

One of the major decisions to be made about training is what, if anything, to outsource. Over theyears, more and more training has been outsourced, and it’s not uncommon for an organization tooutsource everything but the strategic decisions of training. This can be a cost-effective planbecause training may span a variety of areas and consolidating the number of vendors throughone outsourcing entity will usually lower the overall price of the endeavor. Another reason whyoutsourcing training is cost-effective is because it allows the organization to increase or decreasethe amount of training to meet the ebb and flow of some cyclical industries. Some organizations,however, feel that outsourcing training is a sign that a) the organization is in financial trouble, orb) that the organization does not place a high value on training. This sentiment is not widespread,

and outsourcing is overall a good strategy for getting the best value in training and allowing theorganization to focus on core operations.



Another trend, connected to outsourcing, is the use of e-learning techniques over instructor-ledmodels. While not appropriate for all training, it’s another effective way to cut costs when it suitsthe skill to be learned.

Workforce Planning and DevelopmentWorkforce planning is simply determining what human resources you need where and when, and

then creating a plan to make it so. It includes developing staff into stellar performers to meet thefuture needs of the organization. This is an ongoing task requiring constant attention to ongoingtraining, motivation, management, and reward. Doing this will allow organizations to successfullymeet the world’s increasing demands for high performance, constant improvement, modernization,and high efficiency.

Workforce planning entails identification of the current and future skill sets and number of employees needed to deliver new and improved services to organizational customers. One mustanalyze the present workforce’s characteristics in relation to these needs, comparing the presentworkforce and the desired future workforce so as to highlight shortages, surpluses andcompetency gaps. The planning process lays out a three- to five-year plan to recruit, develop,support, and retain the employees it needs for the future. The plan should proactively plan fordeveloping needs of both the organization and employees.

Cooperative EducationA type of work integrated learning, cooperative education (co-op) is a method of learning in whichacademic study combines with workforce experience. This type of program occurs duringsecondary and post-secondary education. Typically, students either alternate between a semesterof classroom coursework and an equal length of time of paid employment, or spend half the day inthe classroom and the other half in the workplace. The emphasis is on combining academicknowledge with on-the-job experience.

Co-op students can be an invaluable resource for an organization since they have experience-based knowledge of the workplace. Upon graduating, co-op students may become a consistentlyreliable talent pool of entry-level workers.

Design and Structure Process The design and structure process for workforce planning and development requires a stronginvestment of time and attention to detail. It involves understanding the needs of organizationalcustomers, and arranging the management, training, and technology of an organization tooptimize proficiency in meeting its goals. The main goal is the ongoing process of tailoring anorganization’s human resources schema to most effectively meet the needs of the marketplace.Marketplace demands evolve over time, requiring a continuous adjustment in workforcedevelopment. The members of the organization need the proper tools to perform their respectiveroles proficiently; these tools include proper training, updated technology, effective motivation andcompensation, and clear management directives. Accomplishing these goals may includeoutsourcing and talent acquisition.

Workforce planning should integrate long-term and short-term goals and be adaptable to thechanging climate of the global workplace; on average, this workforce structure will be in place forthree to five years. Successful implementation of workforce planning and development resultsfrom thorough research to form a strategy.

The model for an organization’s workforce must address every major decision regarding staff members. How many staff members are needed? What are the competitive salary ranges for eachposition? What will the makeup of the staff be in terms of full-time employees, contingent staff,consultants, and outsourcing? What kind of workspace does each staff member need? Whatsupplies and technology will they need to accomplish the tasks of their job? What will be includedin the healthcare benefits package? Will the organization offer a 401(k), and if so, will it matchsome percentage of employee contributions? How often will performance reviews take place? Thisbarely scratches the surface of the questions to be answered. This process will answer everyaspect of workforce planning.

Branding Branding may seem like an afterthought, but it should be thought about ahead of time when



formulating the design and structure of the organization’s workforce planning and development. If the organization’s goal is innovation in its industry, then one of its top priorities will be creativity.Knowing that creativity is king beforehand, determines how the organization’s workforce should bestructured. If your branding indicates that the organization fosters creativity, it will attract the topcreative performers in the industry. If the organization’s goal is to embody dependence andstability, then the design and structure of the organization’s workforce should create job securityand focus on retention. Customers and potential hires are sensitive to how an organization worksand whether or not their setup is at odds with the mission and objectives the organization claimsto pursue. If a company claims its goal is to serve clients for their entire lives, but the turnoverrates within the organization are extremely high, and the organization is constantly changingregimes, that sends a message to the public. Sometimes the incongruity between branding andreality is a people problem. But sometimes it’s a fundamental flaw in the design and structure of the organization.

Design and Structure Just as the strategy should be derived organically from the mission and objectives, so should thedesign and structure develop organically from the strategy. Knowing what you want to achieve,and how you plan to go about achieving it, you determine the shape of the team that will do thework. Determine the core processes and competencies of your organization, and determine whatpercentage of manpower and resources will be distributed to each department. Larger

organizations will have the option of keeping many functions, such as payroll, in-house, while asmaller organization may have to outsource certain non-core processes. Projections of what thecustomer will need and what is necessary to compete against other organizations in themarketplace help to determine whether or not, for example, you'll need a customer servicedepartment of five staff members or fifty, or whether you'll need one at all. The structure of theorganization will determine how decisions are made (from the top to the bottom or moreunilaterally), and who will bear which responsibilities. There may be a board of directors orshareholders, or all directives may flow directly from the CEO.

Industries evolve and fluctuate based on numerous factors, from new technology to economicshifts to the emergence of a new dominant customer demographic. These types of industrychanges may have an effect on the organization’s mission and objectives, which may affect thestrategy and, in turn, the design and structure. Periodic review of the design and structure is

necessary to know when it’s time to update, innovate, or possibly even return to an older versionof the way things were shaped.

Mission and ObjectivesAn organization’s mission and objectives absolutely must be the first thing finalized when theorganization is being formed. Without a clear goal, an effective plan for the development of theworkforce is impossible. The entire staff should be built around the mission and objectives,acquiring performers who understand and can aid the organization in continually achieving itsmission and objectives. When the marketplace demands a change, and the mission and objectivesare revised or completely rethought, this requires a complete re-evaluation of the design andstructure process of workforce planning and development from top to bottom. The changes may begradual, but they must be made. Sometimes new or revised mission and objectives meanschanging methods, and sometimes it means acquiring new team members and replacing others.

Frequent reminders of the mission and objectives to all members of the organization will keepworkers at every level aware of when the organization is losing sight of its goal. This type of awareness is an important factor in an organization’s survival.

Developing RequirementsBefore determining the appropriate plan of action for achieving the organization’s core objective, itis imperative to define the parameters for the organization’s needs. What the organization needs iswhat the staff needs. This is about knowing what one’s entire workforce (full time and part time,contract and contingent, temporary and outsourced) needs to get the job done effectively. Fromupper management to interns, everyone must be factored into the overall success equation.

Concise articulation of the requirements for success will lead to a more focused strategy. Peopleare able to fulfill their roles more fully when they have a clear understanding of what their role

entails. Staff members knowing very specifically what is expected of them will lead to betterperformance.



Employee DevelopmentEmployee development involves learning skills specific to the position a staff member holds in anorganization and developing skills required to make a staff member into a better professionaloverall. This includes continuing education as well as seminars and training sessions that provideguidance for conflict resolution, leadership skills, communication, stress management, creativityenhancement, etc.

Employee development should be planned for as soon as the hiring process is completed. Insteadof waiting until the annual review to assess a staff member and determine what skills and qualitiesneed improvement, a set of goals and a plan for reaching those goals should be formulated at theoutset. Employee development may account for three percent or more of the total payroll budget,so it requires the same planning that any financial investment deserves.

Employee development must be an individualized process. Supervisors or HR managers shouldmeet with each staff member annually or semi-annually to discuss and measure development.Through manager feedback, performance metrics, and self-assessment, staff members canunderstand their role in the organization and whether or not they are fulfilling that role to the bestof their ability.

Succession Planning Succession planning is ensuring that the key roles in an organization are filled by qualified andcapable individuals. Specifically, this can refer to the transition after a CEO or other leader in anorganization has retired or passed away. Generally, it refers to training and mentoring currentstaff members to fulfill the most important duties in the organization and to be ready foradvancement, as well as hiring new recruits that are highly qualified for the positions that need tobe filled. The emphasis is on preparing staff to be able to step up and fill a key role in theorganization when there is a vacancy. For the present, it means ensuring that members of anorganization have the knowledge and skills necessary to perform their duties. For the future, itmeans ensuring that a member of an organization will be ready for advancement when the timecomes.

Succession planning requires awareness of organization goals and the needs of the marketplace;only by grasping what is crucial to the success of an organization can one recognize the keyplayers.

Succession planning greatly helps maintain staff retention. Staff members recognize andappreciate being groomed for advancement, and this fosters loyalty for the organization.

Telecommuting Telecommuting refers to an employee working some of the time or full time from home or anotheroffsite location. This can be an effective way for some employees to achieve work-life balance (forinstance, new parents or employees with an elderly parent who needs at-home care), and can helpretain key staff members. The organization saves money on overhead, office space and technologycosts. The telecommuting employee saves money on gas or other commuting expenses, and gainsextra time that used to be occupied with the commute to and from work. Some drawbacks to thetelecommuter may include a sense of social isolation, a lack of managerial guidance, lessopportunity for advancement, and household distractions. Managers can feel they are unable toaccurately measure a telecommuter’s performance.

Phones, email, faxes, home computers, and the internet are critical in the success of telecommuting. A proper home office where telecommuters can accomplish their work withoutdistraction, and where any sensitive materials associated with the organization will be kept secureand private is absolutely necessary. Efficient and timely communication between supervisors andemployees will make or break this type of arrangement. The telecommuting employee must bekept in the loop and maintain his or her status as an active and productive team member in theorganization.

Determining what technology and supplies will be provided or reimbursed by the organization isusually handled on an individual basis. In the United States, an organization is not legallyresponsible for creating a safe home work environment, but in other countries it is a requirement.



Work Integrated LearningWork integrated learning is an umbrella term used to describe an education curriculum thatcombines academic learning with workplace implementation of that knowledge. Work integratedlearning includes, but is not limited to, cooperative education. Mentored employment programs,undergraduate university/industry research projects, supervised work experience (e.g.,internships), and accredited workplace learning all fall into the category of work integratedlearning.

Work integrated learning should occur in three phases: preparation, work placement, and post-placement evaluation and review.

As with co-op students, students who’ve successfully completed work integrated learning can bean invaluable resource for an employer since they have experience-based knowledge of theworkplace.

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