1. CHAPTER 8:
STAFFING
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Staffing
Staffing
Process of recruiting & selecting prospective employees
Has significant impact on organization’s bottom line
Requires staffing process to become strategically focused
Recruitment & selection activities offer organization numerous choices to find & select new employees
Staffing decisions need to ensure employees fit organization’s culture
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Recruiting
Temporary versus permanent employees
Increase headcount temporarily or permanently should be strategically-driven
Basis for decisions is HR forecast
Temporary employees less costly
Temporary headcount increases can be obtained from specialized agencies
Headcount increases can be avoided by subcontracting work
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Exhibit 8-1 Advantages & Disadvantages of Internal & External Recruiting
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Recruiting
When & how extensively to recruit
When do recruiting efforts need to begin?
How large an applicant pool needed?
Data from past recruiting efforts utilized
To answer questions where feasible
Adjust for changed conditions
Yield ratios
Offer information on how many applicants eliminated/remain at each step in recruitment process
Can determine proper or necessary size of applicant pool
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6. Exhibit 8-2 Recruiting Pyramid
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7. Exhibit 8-3 Recruiting Timeline
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Methods of Recruiting
Informally or formally
Internally or externally
Targeted advertising in selected media
Recruiting on Internet
Outsourcing to staffing agencies
Private Industry Councils (PICs)
Executive search firms
On-campus recruiting
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9. Recruiting on Internet
One of fastest-growing recruitment methods
More cost-effective than newspaper advertising
Low cost, speed, & ability to target applicants with technical skills
Allows applicants to assess interests & needs with employer’s offerings
Global exposure to potential applicants
Can cut search process time by as much as 75%
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10. Recruiting on Internet
Some potential challenges
Ensuring security
Viruses
Access to unauthorized areas
Disparate impact against certain protected classes
Can complicate reporting of data related to compliance with federal & state laws
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11. Selection Process Issues
Reliability
Consistency of measurement
Screening criteria should elicit same results in repeated trials across time & evaluators
Reliability influenced by criterion deficiency & contamination errors
Reliability is prerequisite for validity
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12. Selection Process Issues
Validity
Degree to which what is assessed is related to actual performance
Ability to establish job-related validity is crucial to employers in defending themselves in discrimination allegations
Content validity illustrates that measure or criterion is representative of actual job content or knowledge
Criterion (empirical) validity demonstrated by relationship between screening criteria & job performance
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13. Interviewing Process Issues
Who should be involved?
Prospective supervisors, peers, subordinates
Which interview format?
Individual or group interviews
Common interviewer errors
Similarity errors
Contrast errors
First impression
Halo errors
Personal biases
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14. Behavioral Interviewing
Used with experienced & inexperienced applicants
Asks about situations candidate is likely to face on job
Candidates can present real-life situations they were involved in & how they handled them
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Testing
Work sample tests
Ask applicant to complete representative sample of actual work
Trainability tests
Measure
Aptitude in certain areas
Ability to understand critical job components that firm will teach new hires
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Testing
Realistic job previews
Make applicants aware of both positive & negative aspects of job
Decrease likelihood new employee will become dissatisfied
Increase likelihood of candidate’s self-selecting out of position
Personality testing is useful in anticipating how applicants are likely to behave
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17. Exhibit 8-4 The Big Five Personality Dimensions
Characteristics of Person Scoring Positively on Dimension
1) Extraversion
Outgoing, talkative, social, assertive
2) Agreeableness
Trusting, good-natured, cooperative, soft-hearted
3) Conscientiousness
Dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented, persistent
4) Emotional stability
Relaxed, secure, unworried
5) Openness to experience
Intellectual, imaginative, curious, broad-minded
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Other Testing Methods
Personality testing
Useful to anticipate how applicants likely to behave
Few, if any, jobs require specific personality type
Have been successfully challenged in court
Physical testing
Restricted under ADA to testing only for specific critical job-related physical performance requirements
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Other Testing Methods
Honesty testing
Declined since passage of Polygraph Protection Act in 1988
Drug testing
Challenged in courts as invasion of privacy
References
Little information available due to former employer fears of liability for libel, slander & defamation
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20. Selection for International Assignments
Reasons for failure on international assignments
Interpersonal & acculturation abilities
Rarely technical skills
Test employees’ adaptability, open-mindedness, ability to tolerate uncertainty & ambiguity & independence
Interview & screen family members who would accompany employee
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21. Exhibit 8-4 Strategic Issues in Staffing
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22. Reading 8.1 Hiring for Organization, Not Job
New model of selection geared toward hiring “whole” person who fits into organization’s culture
“Strong situation”
Intensity of situation suppresses variation in behavior attributable to person
“Weak situation”
Allows range of employee responses to work requirements
In organizations that are “weak situations”
More important to do good job of hiring right people
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23. Reading 8.1 Hiring Process for Person-Organization Fit
Assess overall work environment
Job analysis
Organizational analysis
Infer type of person required
Technical knowledge, skills & abilities
Social skills
Personal needs, values & interests
Personality traits
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24. Reading 8.1 Hiring Process for Person-Organization Fit
Design “rites of passage” for organization entry that allow both organization and applicant to assess their fit
Tests of cognitive, motor & interpersonal abilities
Interviews by potential coworkers & others
Personality tests
Realistic job previews, including work samples
Reinforce person-organization fit at work
Reinforce skills & knowledge through task design & training
Reinforce personal orientation through organization design
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Reading 8.1 Potential Benefits & Problems with Hiring for Person-Organization Fit
Potential benefits
More favorable employee attitudes
More desirable individual behaviors
Reinforcement of organizational design
Potential problems
Greater investment of resources in hiring process
Relatively undeveloped & unproven supporting selection technology
May be difficult to use full model where payoffs are greatest
Lack of organizational adaptation
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