MGTO 324 Recruitment and Selections
Staffing model, strategy, & planning
Kin Fai Ellick Wong Ph.D.
Department of Management of Organizations
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Prologue
• The idea of staffing has been very salient in Chinese
history and culture
– “Recruitment” was a highly valued activity in our History
• East Han Dynasty (東漢),
– Recruitment = assessing moral standard but not others
– Filial piety x integrity (察舉孝廉)
• Wei Dynasty in the three-kingdom period (魏)
– Recruitment = assessing relevant knowledge and skills, regardless of moral
– Relevant knowledge
» 唯才是舉，吾得而用之 <<三國志，魏書，武帝操>>
» Those with relevant skills and knowledge will be selected
Outline
Class 2:
Staffing model, strategy, & planning
Part I:
Staffing Model
Part II:
Staffing Strategy
Part III:
Human Resource Planning
Outline
Class 2:
Staffing model, strategy, & planning
Part I:
Staffing Model
Part II:
Staffing Strategy
Part III:
Human Resource Planning
Part I: Staffing Model
• Defining “staffing”
– “the process of acquiring, deploying, and retaining,
a workforce of sufficient quantity and quality to create
positive impacts on the organization’s effectiveness”
• Acquiring: external staffing, new blood
• Deploying: internal staffing (promotion, transfer)
• Retention: turnover, compensation, etc.
Part I: Staffing Model
• Can “good” staffing lead to better organizational
effectiveness?
– Yes, strongly supported by research findings
• Youndt et al., (1996, Academy of Management Journal)
– Selectivity +ve  organizational performance
• Greer et al. (2001, Journal of Business Research)
– Countercyclical hiring +ve  organizational performance 2 years
later
• Russell (2001, Journal of Applied Psychology)
– Using the effective selection system used by a Fortune 500
organization resulted in more profits.
Part I: Staffing Model
• The Basic Model
– Staffing = counting
• Considering quantity but not quality
• The simplest model
• Exhibit 1.1
Exhibit 1.1 Staffing Quantity
Projected Staffing Requirements
Overstaffed
Compare
Fully Staffed
Understaffed
Projected Staffing Availabilities
Part I: Staffing Model
• The person/job match model
– Staffing = counting + the person-job match
• Job characteristics x individual characteristics
– Designers: create new items
» Creative, imaginative
– Social workers: help people with problems
» Empathetic, not selfish
– Researchers: discover new knowledge
» Hardworking, curious to knowledge
Exhibit 1.2 Person/Job Match
Job
Requirements
Rewards
Match
Person
KSAOs
Motivation
HR Outcomes
Impact
Attraction
Performance
Retention
Attendance
Satisfaction
Other
Part I: Staffing Model
• The person/organization match model
– Staffing = counting + the person-job match
• Job characteristics x individual characteristics x
organizational contexts
– Organization values, culture, career development
• East Han Dynasty
Exhibit 1.3 Person/Organization Match
Organization
Values
New Job
Duties
Job
Requirements
Rewards
Multiple
Jobs
Future
Jobs
Match
Person
KSAOs
Motivation
HR Outcomes
Impact
Attraction
Performance
Retention
Attendance
Satisfaction
Other
Part I: Staffing Model
• Relationship between applicants and job
– Depending on the economy
• At times, organization may be the dominant player
• At other times, the applicant may be the aggressor
– Depending on demand / supply
• For jobs that the supply is more than the demand
– Organization becomes dominant
» E.g., The demand of IT jobs dropped significantly in and after
2001
• For jobs that the demand is less than the supply
– Applicants become dominant
» E.g., hiring good professors in business school
Exhibit 1.4 Staffing System Components
Organization
(job)
Applicant
(person)
Recruitment
(identification and attraction)
Selection
(assessment and evaluation)
Employment
(decision making and final match)
Part I: Staffing Model
• Staffing Organizations Model
– Strategic Human Resource Management
• Organizational Strategy  HR (Staffing) strategy
• Staffing becomes part of the overall organization strategy
• Core staffing activities are carefully “calibrated” to match the
organization strategy
Exhibit 1.5 Staffing Organizations Model
Organization
Missions
Goals and Objectives
Organization Strategy
HR and Staffing Strategy
Staffing Policies and Programs
Support Activities
Core Staffing Activities
Legal compliance
Planning
Job analysis
Recruitment: external, internal
Selection: measurement, external, internal
Employment: decision making, final match
Staffing System and Retention Management
Outline
Class 2:
Staffing model, strategy, & planning
Part I:
Staffing Model
Part II:
Staffing Strategy
Part III:
Human Resource Planning
Part II: Staffing Strategy
Staffing Strategy
Staffing Levels:
Staffing Quality:
Getting sufficient no. of staff
Getting qualified staff
Part II: Staffing Strategy
Staffing Strategy
Staffing Levels:
Staffing Quality:
Getting sufficient no. of staff
Getting qualified staff
Part II: Staffing Strategy
• Staffing Levels (think about HKUST)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Acquire or develop talent
Lag or lead system
External or internal hiring
Core or flexible workforce
Hire or retain
National or Global
Attract or relocate
Overstaff or understaff
Hire or acquire
Part II: Staffing Strategy
Staffing Strategy
Staffing Levels:
Staffing Quality:
Getting sufficient no. of staff
Getting qualified staff
Part II: Staffing Strategy
• Staffing Quality (again, think about HKUST)
– Person/job or person/organization match
– Specific or General KSAOs
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other characteristics
– Exceptional or Acceptable Workforce Quality
– Active or passive diversity
Outline
Class 2:
Staffing model, strategy, & planning
Part I:
Staffing Model
Part II:
Staffing Strategy
Part III:
Human Resource Planning
Part III: Human Resource Planning
•
Defining “Human Resource Planning”
– A process and set of activities undertaken to forecast
an organization’s labor demand and internal labor
supply (availabilities)
– Key steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
determine future human resource demands
determine future human resource availabilities
conduct external & internal environment scanning
determine gaps between demands and availabilities
develop action plans to close the projected gaps
Exhibit 3.13
Operational Format and Example for
Human Resource Planning (HRP)
Organizational Unit: Sales and Customer Service
Forecast for Workforce—
One Year
Job Category and
Level
Current
Workforce Requirements Availabilities
Reconciliation
and Gaps
A1 (Sales)
100
110
71
-39 (shortage)
A2 (Sales manager)
20
15
22
+7 (surplus)
B1 (Customer service
representative)
200
250
140
-110 (shortage)
B2 (Customer service
manager)
15
25
22
-3 (shortage)
335
400
255
-145 (shortage)
Action Planning
Staffing activities
Recruitment
Selection
Employment
Other HR activities
Compensation
Training and
development
Part III: Human Resource Planning
Step 1: Forecasting HR demands
Step 2: Forecasting HR availabilities
Step 3: Environment scanning
Step 4: Determining gaps
Step 5: Action plans
Part III: Human Resource Planning
Step 1: Forecasting HR demands
Step 2: Forecasting HR availabilities
Step 3: Environment scanning
Step 4: Determining gaps
Step 5: Action plans
Part III: Human Resource Planning
• Step 1: forecasting the demands
– Use of statistical techniques
• Project the past to the future
– Ratio analysis
» $1000 sales per each salesmen; I need 20 salesmen for
$20,000 sales
– Multiple regression analysis
» The concepts are relatively complex
» Some techniques will be introduced in Workshop 6
Part III: Human Resource Planning
• Step 2: forecasting HR (within organization) availabilities
– Use of statistical techniques
• It is a simple probability calculation
• Four job positions
– Sale team: A1 (Sale manager); A2 (Account manager)
– Support team: B1 (Executive officer); B2 (Clerk)
• List all possible movements
–
–
–
–
Job stability (remain in A1, A2, B1, and B2)
Promotion (A2  A1; B2  B1)
Demotion (A1  A2; B1  B2)
Exit (leaving the organization)
• This information enables us to know the availability of each position
– Markov Analysis (Workshop 2)
Part III: Human Resource Planning
Step 1: Forecasting HR demands
Step 2: Forecasting HR availabilities
Step 3: Environment scanning
Step 4: Determining gaps
Step 5: Action plans
Part III: Human Resource Planning
• Step 2: forecasting HR (within organization)
availabilities
– Use of statistical techniques
• It is a simple probability calculation
• Four jobs
– Sale team: A1 (Sale manager); A2 (Account manager)
– Support team: B1 (Executive officer); B2 (Clerk)
• List all possible movements
–
–
–
–
Job stability (remain in A1, A2, B1, and B2)
Promotion (A2  A1; B2  B1)
Demotion (A1  A2; B1  B2)
Exit (leaving the organization)
Part III: Human Resource Planning
Step 1: Forecasting HR demands
Step 2: Forecasting HR availabilities
Step 3: Environment scanning
Step 4: Determining gaps
Step 5: Action plans
Part III: Human Resource Planning
• Step 3: Environment Scanning
– External scanning
• Process of tracking trends and developments in the outside world
– More and more females decide not to have children, which implies that the
projected supply of female workforce in the future years may have been
underestimated
– HK government significantly increases no. of undergraduate students
– The government plans to recognize the diploma and degree offered by some
mainland universities
– Internal scanning
• Understanding the organization’s internal environment
– Nagging personnel problems
» High turnover rates, difficult in getting new qualified employees
» Any conflict between the values and attitudes of manages and the
current business plan?
Part III: Human Resource Planning
Step 1: Forecasting HR demands
Step 2: Forecasting HR availabilities
Step 3: Environment scanning
Step 4: Determining gaps
Step 5: Action plans
Part III: Human Resource Planning
• Step 4: Determining the gaps
– Surplus
• The availabilities will be more than the demands
– Slowing down promotion
– Early retirement
– Shortages
• The demands will be more than the availabilities
– Increasing transfer
– External staffing
Exhibit 3.13 Operational Format and Example
for Human Resource Planning (HRP)
Organizational Unit: Sales and Customer Service
Forecast for Workforce—
One Year
Job Category and
Level
Current
Workforce Requirements Availabilities
Reconciliation
and Gaps
A1 (Sales)
100
110
71
-39 (shortage)
A2 (Sales manager)
20
15
22
+7 (surplus)
B1 (Customer service
representative)
200
250
140
-110 (shortage)
B2 (Customer service
manager)
15
25
22
-3 (shortage)
335
400
255
-145 (shortage)
Action Planning
Staffing activities
Recruitment
Selection
Employment
Other HR activities
Compensation
Training and
development
Part III: Human Resource Planning
Step 1: Forecasting HR demands
Step 2: Forecasting HR availabilities
Step 3: Environment scanning
Step 4: Determining gaps
Step 5: Action plans
Part III: Human Resource Planning
• Step 5: Action plans
– Set objectives
• Set clear additions or subtractions of head count on each of the possible
movements (e.g., new hires, promotions, transfers, demotions, and exits)
– Generating alternatives
• How to solve the shortage of 39 account managers?
– Long-term vs. short-term solutions
– Alternative 1: +20 new hires, +20 promotions, +20 transfers, 0 demotions,
and -21 exits
– Alternative 2: +40 new hires, + 0 promotions, +0 transfers, 0 demotions, and
-1 exits
– Alternative 3: hiring more part-time account managers, encouraging overtime
working, outsourcing, etc.