What is Staffing?

Staffing involves acquiring, employing, training, developing and retaining the most qualified and competent candidates within an organisation. This process helps to achieve the goals and objectives of the business. Staffing also allows employees to perform at their best to accomplish managerial and operational tasks. It is one of the five critical functions of management.

There are several steps involved in the staffing process, which are as follows:

• Workforce Planning – It is the process of determining the total vacancies within an organisation.
• Recruitment – This process helps companies find the most suitable candidates for vacancies within the organisation and then persuade them to apply for those available positions.
• Selection – This is one of the essential steps within the staffing function. The best candidates are shortlisted from the recruitment process and offered the job within the organisation. This process allows companies to hire suitable people for the correct positions.
• Placement – This process involves introducing the newly recruited candidate to the company via orientation
• Training – The new employee is given job responsibilities and briefed by the reporting manager on performing their duties.
• Development – The employees need several opportunities to acquire more skills and be assigned new responsibilities to showcase their talent. It allows the employer to evaluate the capabilities of the recruit.
• Promotion – If the employee performs well, they are eligible for due recognition. The recognition can be in terms of an increase in their remuneration, designation or both.
• Transfer – Employees can be transferred within different departments in organisations depending on vacancies or suitability in the new role. It may or may not include increased wages or additional responsibilities.
• Appraisal – The employer reviews the employee’s performance regularly to evaluate their work and suggest corrective measures if needed.
• Remuneration – The employee’s salary is determined based on their current role in the organisation and the job responsibilities within that function.

What is Recruitment?

Recruitment is an integral part of the staffing process that involves actively searching for candidates for a particular vacancy and encouraging them to apply for the position. Employees recruit candidates from one of the two recruitment sources – Internal Sources (within the organisation) or External Sources (outside the organisation).

Recruitment involves a step-by-step process. The steps are as follows:

• Determine total vacancies – The Human Resources team coordinates with different departments within an organisation to find possible vacancies. This process involves determining the job responsibilities within a department and evaluating the ability of the current workforce to handle those duties.
• Job Descriptions – The next step is to prepare job descriptions for each of those profiles and float them within different communication channels to reach out to prospective candidates.
• Encourage prospective candidates to apply – The recruiters need to contact eligible job seekers both within and outside the organisation. They also need to persuade those candidates to apply for the position. Recruiters can either use internal sources (through promotion, transfer, employee referrals or hiring former employees) or external sources (through advertising in job portals and recruitment agencies, contacting educational institutions or recommendations from existing employees).

Differences between Staffing and Recruitment

Although Recruitment is a part of the Staffing process, there are critical differences between the two areas:

Conclusion

Although there are critical differences between Staffing and Recruitment, both are essential to the successful working of any organisation. They are necessary for any company that wants to recruit suitable candidates for job vacancies to help achieve the organisational goals and objectives.

Also See:

• Staffing Process
• Functions of Management