Many companies are faced with trying to increase productivity (and revenue), with less employees. This is partly a result of a decrease in the number of skilled workers available, and budget constraints due to the economy. This means that firms need to be more flexible in responding to the fast pace of change, and HR functions need to become better at delivering results.
To assure your long-term success, your organization must devise a way to fulfill its personnel needs. What is a possible solution? Staffing strategically.
Think Strategically
A staffing system, or a staffing plan, is a template, a model and a process for those who recruit, screen, interview, and hire new employees. When properly designed and implemented, it will improve the quality of employees at all levels of an organization.
A properly written staffing plan standardizes personnel practices, assures that everyone in the company is consistent in hiring policies, and becomes a formula for removing some of the risk and uncertainty from hiring. When you work with a staffing firm or recruiter on a strategic staffing plan, they will be able to approach your needs, and company from a point of view you may not be able to achieve along. This expert knowledge will get you well on your way to creating—and implementing a strategic staffing plan.
An effective staffing system includes five essential steps:
- Painting a picture of the ideal candidate
- Developing a cadre of qualified candidates
- Screening the candidates
- Interviewing and checking references
- Making the hiring decision
As the economy recovers, companies have to hire fast because top prospects will move fast. At the same time, you must hire effectively by maximizing your resources and avoiding snap decisions that will cost more time and money, should the new employee fail to work out. Without a staffing system, you dramatically reduce your chances of achieving these goals.
Keys to an Effective Strategic Staffing Plan
The staffing model that you and your firm create should reflect the nuances of your industry and your organization. However, there are a few guidelines and basic criteria to help you work through the process.
Build your staffing system upon objective, performance-based criteria.
- Create job profiles around measurable criteria related to ideal performance behaviors.
- Benchmark job performance using your company’s standards as well as standards of the top performers in the market place.
- Eliminate bias from decision making.
Use a structured interview process.
- Plan the content and method of candidate evaluation to ensure equal treatment.
- Focus on a candidate’s past job performance, not personality.
- Elicit information that compares candidates against performance-based criteria.
- Seek examples of specific behaviors that are deemed critical for success.
Develop a staffing plan.
- Plan staffing requirements based on your strategic or business plan.
- Hire proactively based on planned needs and expected attrition.
- Maximize your organization’s existing resources.
- Determine the gaps in current resources and develop strategies to fill them.
While preparing your plan ask yourself these key questions:
- How many new employees will be needed during the coming year?
- Why will those employees be needed?
- When will they be needed?
- How long will they be needed?
- How much will it cost the company to hire new employees?
- What value will they bring to customers and the organization?
Your recruiter will assist you in implementing your staffing system, but the final piece to the puzzle is be sure that your hiring managers embrace, adopt and are trained in how to effectively use your staffing system.
Advantages of Implementing a Strategic Staffing Plan
The benefits achieved from designing a staffing plan far outweigh the time spent devising it. A well-designed staffing system will help a company:
- Significantly increase your odds of hiring the right people.
- Create consistency in hiring decisions throughout the organization.
- Support management development.
- Help to improve benchmarking throughout the organization.
- Reduce costs of the hiring process.
- Limit liability.
At Synerfac, we know the dynamics of today’s workplace, the recruiting challenges you face and your need for top performers. Contact us today if you’d like us to put our resources and expertise to work for creating your strategic staffing plan.