Chapter 01 - Staffing Models and Strategy

____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Sample Answers for Discussion Questions

1. What are potential problems with having a staffing process in which vacancies were filled (1) on a lottery basis from among job applicants, or (2) on a first come-first hired basis among job applicants? The main point here is that a staffing process which was based on either a lottery or a first come-first hired basis would have a very low probability of being effective (i.e., achieving desired HR outcomes such as employee attraction, performance, and retention). The reason that a lottery or first come-first hired type of staffing system would most likely fail to achieve the desired HR outcomes is because of the person/job match which is so central to the staffing process. Effective staffing processes use a variety of methods to maximize the probability of achieving a good match between a persons KSAOs and motivations and a jobs requirements and rewards. Both the lottery and first come-first hired approaches would leave the person/job match to chance. It would still be possible to obtain a good person/job match using either of these two approaches, but it would be much less likely to occur. Given the importance of staffing to organizational success, it would be unwise to allow the outcome of the staffing process to be determined by chance. 2. Why is it important for the organization to view all components of staffing (recruitment, selection, employment) from the perspective of the job applicant? Organizations obviously would like to be successful in their staffing activities. That is, they would like to hire people whose KSAOs and motivations match job requirements and rewards. In order for organizations to be successful in their staffing activities, they must first acknowledge that staffing involves two parties--the organization and the job applicant. This means that organizations cannot predict or control all aspects of the staffing process. Thus, it becomes critical for organizations to understand how job applicants perceive an organizations staffing process and the impact of these perceptions on their behaviors and ultimate decision-making.

CHAPTER 01: Staffing Models and Strategy

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It is also important to point out that the perceptions of those people within an organization who are responsible for staffing may be very different than the perceptions of people who actually apply for job openings with that company. This further emphasizes the importance of determining how job applicants view an organizations staffing process. Suppose that an organizations job offers were being consistently rejected by top-notch job candidates who decided to accept offers from other firms; it would then be important for the organization to understand why it wasnt successful in hiring its best job applicants. This could be due to a variety of factors such as low pay or benefits offered, inflexible work schedules, geographic location, a negative corporate image, etc. The only way to determine exactly what the root causes of the problem are, is to understand how job applicants perceive an organizations staffing process. Finally, one of the basic elements of total quality management (TQM) is a customer focus. This means that organizations need to acknowledge that they have many internal and external customers who are impacted in various ways by the organizations processes such as customer service. As many companies in the U.S. have embraced a TQM philosophy, functional areas, including HR, have attempted to improve what they do by better understanding the needs of their internal and external customers. This TQM philosophy would clearly encompass staffing activities. 3. Would it be desirable to hire people only according to the person/organization match, ignoring the person/job match? No. The job/person match is the key goal in an effective staffing process. The main objective of staffing must be to match an individuals KSAOs and motivations with a jobs requirements and rewards. This is not to say that the person/organization match is not important. It is also important that an individual is compatible with an-organizations culture. However, hiring people based only on their compatibility with the organization would likely result in hiring people who are comfortable with the organizations way of thinking and doing things, but whose KSAOs and motivations do not match the jobs requirements and rewards. This would clearly have a negative impact on job performance, employee satisfaction and employee retention. 4. How are staffing activities influenced by training or compensation activities? As pointed out in the textbooks discussion of the human resource management model, HR functional activities such as staffing, training and compensation are highly interrelated. For example, the types of training programs which are offered to the workforce in a given firm shape the types of KSAOs which they possess. The gaps in KSAOs which eventually occur due to the impact of external influences such as labor markets and economic conditions often result in an organizational need to hire someone who can fill the KSAO gap. This is the focus of the staffing process.

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Compensation activities determine the salary ranges and benefit packages associated with various jobs within an organization. When it comes to the staffing process, the salary range and benefits will significantly affect an organizations ability to attract and hire appropriate people for various job openings. For example, if the salary range defined for a given job is significantly below the average salary paid by competing firms, then this will probably make it more difficult to hire good people for that job. Conversely, if an organization provides flexible work schedules as part of its benefit package, this may be used as a selling point for an organization, particularly if the people being recruited have a strong need for flexibility in their work schedules. 5. Are some of the thirteen strategic staffing decisions more important than others? Which ones? Why? Generally, it would be hard to argue that certain staffing decisions are universally more important than others. All are important considerations in the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive staffing strategy. However, certain situations may be associated with certain strategic staffing decisions being particularly important. For example, if an organization needs to maximize its flexibility, then the strategic staffing decision involving the core vs. flexible workforce would be especially critical. On the other hand, if an organization wants to enhance employee retention, then the external vs. internal hiring strategic staffing decision will be of greater concern.

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Sample Answers for Ethical Issues

Issue 1 As either the staffing professional in the department or the hiring manager of a work unit, explain why it is so important to represent the organizations interests. What are some possible consequences of not doing so? A staffing function that fails to meet the organizations overall needs will result in the potential loss of revenue for shareholders, decreased availability of capital for future operations, and ultimately puts employee job security and well-being at risk. Corporations that have a strong, effective human resources department that has responded well to organizational needs will be in a better position to provide protection to employee jobs in uncertain financial times as well. Issue 2 One of the strategic staffing choices is whether to pursue workforce diversity actively or passively. First suggest some ethical reasons for the active pursuit of diversity, and then suggest some ethical reasons for a more passive approach. An active pursuit of diversity will help an organization ensure that they are adequately staffing across all demographic categories, and sends a strong message to managers in charge of hiring that the status quo is not satisfactory. However, a passive approach also has advantages, because it is seen as more fair by members of majority groups and reduces concerns that individuals from minority groups will be perceived as tokens or undeserving of their status within the organization.

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Sample Answers for Applications

1. Application #1: Staffing for Your Own Job A. Applicant Perspective Job Applied For: Marketing Researcher Position in a Private Sector Firm Recruitment The job first became known to the applicant when casually reading the Sunday newspaper. The job was of interest to the applicant because it appeared to fit her KSAOs (e.g., strong statistics background and knowledge of research design). The applicant made herself appear attractive to the organization by sending all the requested materials to the employer immediately and drafting a cover letter which discussed the link between her KSAOs and the job requirements stated in the newspaper advertisement. Selection The applicant obtained information about the jobs requirements and rewards from reading the job description and asking detailed questions in the interview. Employment The applicant decided to continue with the staffing process to its conclusion because no other job opportunities existed at that time. The applicant decided to accept the offer because the company had a good reputation, the compensation package was competitive and taking the job would enable the applicant and her family to settle in a very desirable geographic location. The pluses of the job were that the work environment was supportive and friendly and the benefits package included child care. The minuses of the job were that there was no opportunity to move up in the company and the company was rumored to be on the verge of announcing significant work force reductions.

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B.

Organization Perspective Recruitment The organization identified the job applicant through a newspaper advertisement in a local newspaper. The organization made the job attractive by listing the job requirements and rewards associated with the job. Selection The organization asked the applicant to develop a written research proposal dealing with a hypothetical issue. The applicant was asked to bring the proposal to the interview. The organization conducted two interviews with the applicant--one with an HR representative, the other with the director of the research department. The organization evaluated this information by having the HR representative and the research director compare notes on their evaluations of the job applicant. In addition, the research director consulted with the vice-president who oversaw the research area. Finally, the job applicants three references were called to obtain additional information. The research director was impressed with the job applicant and did not see any weaknesses except for a lack of experience in the companys industry. Employment The organization continued to pursue the job applicant because she was the best candidate out of the eight people on the short list at that time. When the job offer was made, the research director called the job applicant. A written confirmation of the job offer was sent from the company a few days later.

C.

Reactions to the Sample Staffing Process Likes 1. 2. 3. 4. A wide range of information was collected regarding the applicants KSAOs. Interviewers were very professional and established rapport well with the applicant. Interview questions were behavioral in nature; they asked people to describe specific situations and explain how they handled it. Informative company information was sent to the applicant before the interview.

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Dislikes 1. 2. 3. Interviews were excessively lengthy. Job description did not accurately describe job requirements There was no opportunity to meet with other staff members in the research department.

Recommended Changes 1. 2. 3. Revise job description to more accurately describe job requirements. Shorten interviews from 90 minutes to 60 minutes. Conduct peer interviews.

2. Application #2: Staffing Strategy for a New Plant 1. What geographic location might be best for the plant in terms of attracting sufficient quantity and quality of labor, especially for the key jobs? Given that the organization needs to control costs but that is also needs access to sufficient quantity and quality of labor, management should consider geographic locations which possess strong educational systems (i.e., primary, secondary, and technical schools and colleges and universities) and lower expenses. Some examples of such a location might be midwestern states such as Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin or Indiana or southeastern states such as North and South Carolina and Georgia. These locations are known for having work forces that are well educated and/or where lower wages can be paid. 2. Should the plant manager come from inside the current managerial ranks or be sought from the outside? Since there is a strong need to develop a new type of workforce with new knowledge and skills, strong leadership is needed to support the new strategic focus on creating more stylish and innovative products. A trusted and respected internal employee who knows the business and can build an effective team would be appear to be the most appropriate candidate for the plant manager.

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3.

Should staffing be based on just the person/job match or also on the person/organization match? Both the person/job match and person/organization match are critical in order to ensure that effective staffing decisions are made. The person/job match will establish a good fit between the requirements of a job and the KSAOs of a given individual. However, in order for this person to be successful, it is also critical that the employee's value system and style are compatible with the culture of the organization. Without good person/organization fit, an individual who is highly qualified for a job may not perform well because his/her approach to performing the job is not compatible with the way in which the organization functions.

4.

Would it make sense to staff the plant initially with a flexible workforce by using temporary employees and then shift over to a core workforce if it looks like the plant will be successful? In order to achieve the stability needed to make the new plant successful, it would be advisable to staff the key positions with a core workforce approach (i.e., make them regular employees), but to staff non-key jobs with a flexible workforce in order to minimize costs and to vary staffing levels based on fluctuations in demand for the company's products. This approach will ensure that stability is achieved for the key positions and flexibility is obtained for non-key positions within the plant.

5.

In the early stages should the plant be fully staffed, understaffed, or overstaffed? It would appear that understaffing the plant would make sense as an initial strategy. The rationale for this is that keeping the plant understaffed will help to minimize costs and to keep the staff as lean as possible. If the demand for the company's products grows to the point that additional staff is needed, the plant could then either hire new employees or require existing employees to work overtime. It should be noted that this strategy is based on the assumption that adequate quantity and quality of labor is available in the external labor market, in particular.

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6.

Will employee retention be a problem, and if so, how would this affect the viability of the new plant? The low pay and benefits associated with some of the key jobs in the plant suggests that retention of employees could be a major problem. Low employee retention could cause instability in the new plant that could result in quality problems on the production lines and diminished creativity among the members of the teams in the plant (e.g., product designers). It could even increase the cost of doing business due to the ongoing need to train new employees.

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