What is Staffing ?

The process of hiring suitable candidates according to their knowledge and skills in an organization is termed as staffing. The term Staffing in management consists of :

• Selecting the right person for the right post.
• Training and development.
• Giving proper remuneration and motivation.
• Performance appraisal of employees.
• Proper promotions, transfers, and more. 

Staffing process involved few steps as per below :

• Manpower requirements- The very first step in staffing is to plan the manpower inventory required by a concern in order to match them with the job requirements and demands. Therefore, it involves forecasting and determining the future manpower needs of the concern.
• Recruitment- Once the requirements are notified, the concern invites and solicits applications according to the invitations made to the desirable candidates.
• Selection- This is the screening step of staffing in which the solicited applications are screened out and suitable candidates are appointed as per the requirements.
• Orientation and Placement- Once screening takes place, the appointed candidates are made familiar to the work units and work environment through the orientation programmes. placement takes place by putting right man on the right job.
• Training and Development- Training is a part of incentives given to the workers in order to develop and grow them within the concern. Training is generally given according to the nature of activities and scope of expansion in it. Along with it, the workers are developed by providing them extra benefits of indepth knowledge of their functional areas. Development also includes giving them key and important jobsas a test or examination in order to analyse their performances.
• Remuneration- It is a kind of compensation provided monetarily to the employees for their work performances. This is given according to the nature of job- skilled or unskilled, physical or mental, etc. Remuneration forms an important monetary incentive for the employees.
• Performance Evaluation- In order to keep a track or record of the behaviour, attitudes as well as opinions of the workers towards their jobs. For this regular assessment is done to evaluate and supervise different work units in a concern. It is basically concerning to know the development cycle and growth patterns of the employeesin a concern.
• Promotion and transfer- Promotion is said to be a non- monetary incentive in which the worker is shifted from a higher job demanding bigger responsibilities as well as shifting the workers and transferring them to different work units and branches of the same organization.

Manpower Planning which is also called as Human Resource Planning consists of putting right number of people, right kind of people at the right place, right time, doing the right things for which they are suited for the achievement of goals of the organization. Human Resource Planning has got an important place in the arena of industrialization. Human Resource Planning has to be a systems approach and is carried out in a set procedure. The procedure is as follows:

1. Analyzing the current manpower inventory
2. Making future manpower forecasts
3. Developing employment programmes
4. Design training programmes 

Steps in Manpower Planning Analyzing the current manpower inventory- Before a manager makes forecast of future manpower, the current manpower status has to be analysed. For this the following things have to be noted- Type of organization Number of departments Number and quantity of such departments Employees in these work units Once these factors are registered by a manager, he goes for the future forecasting.

2. Making future manpower forecasts- Once the factors affecting the future manpower forecasts are known, planning can be done for the future manpower requirements in several work units.
   The Manpower forecasting techniques commonly employed by the organizations are as follows:
   1. Expert Forecasts: This includes informal decisions, formal expert surveys and Delphi technique.
   2. Trend Analysis: Manpower needs can be projected through extrapolation (projecting past trends), indexation (using base year as basis), and statistical analysis (central tendency measure).
   3. Work Load Analysis: It is dependent upon the nature of work load in a department, in a branch or in a division.
   4. Work Force Analysis: Whenever production and time period has to be analyzed, due allowances have to be made for getting net manpower requirements.
   5. Other methods: Several Mathematical models, with the aid of computers are used to forecast manpower needs, like budget and planning analysis, regression, new venture analysis.
3. Developing employment programmes- Once the current inventory is compared with future forecasts, the employment programmes can be framed and developed accordingly, which will include recruitment, selection procedures and placement plans.
4. Design training programmes- These will be based upon extent of diversification, expansion plans, development programmes and etc. Training programmes depend upon the extent of improvement in technology and advancement to take place. It is also done to improve upon the skills, capabilities, knowledge of the workers.

Importance of Manpower Planning

1. Key to managerial functions- The four managerial functions, i.e., planning, organizing, directing and controlling are based upon the manpower. Human resources help in the implementation of all these managerial activities. Therefore, staffing becomes a key to all managerial functions.
2. Efficient utilization- Efficient management of personnel's becomes an important function in the industrialization world of today. Setting of large scale enterprises require management of large scale manpower. It can be effectively done through staffing function.
3. Motivation- Staffing function not only includes putting right men on right job, but it also comprises of motivational programmes, i.e., incentive plans to be framed for further participation and employment of employees in a concern. Therefore, all types of incentive plans becomes an integral part of staffing function.
4. Better human relations- A concern can stabilize itself if human relations develop and are strong. Human relations become strong trough effective control, clear communication, effective supervision and leadership in a concern. Staffing function also looks after training and development of the work force which leads to co-operation and better human relations.
5. Higher productivity- Productivity level increases when resources are utilized in best possible manner. higher productivity is a result of minimum wastage of time, money, efforts and energies. This is possible through the staffing and it's related activities ( Performance appraisal, training and development, remuneration)

Need of Manpower Planning

Manpower Planning is a two-phased process because manpower planning not only analyses the current human resources but also makes manpower forecasts and thereby draw employment programmes. Manpower Planning is advantageous to firm in following manner:

1. Shortages and surpluses can be identified so that quick action can be taken wherever required.
2. All the recruitment and selection programmes are based on manpower planning.
3. It also helps to reduce the labour cost as excess staff can be identified and thereby overstaffing can be avoided.
4. It also helps to identify the available talents in a concern and accordingly training programmes can be chalked out to develop those talents.
5. It helps in growth and diversification of business. Through manpower planning, human resources can be readily available and they can be utilized in best manner.
6. It helps the organization to realize the importance of manpower management which ultimately helps in the stability of a concern.

Petronas Staffing Policies by The CEO

BINTULU: Petronas will continue to recruit, rotate, develop and promote employees based on their performance and qualities, said its President and Group Chief Executive Officer Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin.

He said this was because Petronas aimed to have a high-performing culture driven by meritorcacy and yet remain committed to empower societal growth wherever it operated.

He said this at a special Malaysia Day gathering of Petronas employees in Sarawak with Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem at the Civic Centre here today.

“We need to create a sustainable pool of talent not just for Petronas but for the (oil and gas) industry and the nation as a whole.

On Sarawak, he said more than 5,000 local students and 15 educational institutions had benefited from Petronas’ contributions to education and human capital development.

He added that the oil giant would continue to empower lives via education, community development and environmental conservation and that RM470million had been budgeted for this from 2015 to 2019, which included building a new MRSM college here.

Recently, Petronas faced some staffing problems in Sarawak when some employees were denied work permits but the matter was later amicably resolved. To read more about this...

Prepared By : Manigandan Raja

Reference :

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/09/16/petronas-to-continue-staffing-policies-says-group-ceo/

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/organization/what-are-the-important-steps-involved-in-staffing-process-5-steps/8677

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