Strategic Staffing

Strategic staffing

Strategic staffing is a very important aspect of an organization as it will influence the success of the business. When developing strategies for implementing staffing, a lot of things have to be taken into consideration such as globalization. Managers have to ensure that staffing strategies are linked to the overall business strategy so that the right persons are hired for the job in question. Managers have to also ensure that the persons carrying out the task of hiring the individual understands the overall strategy of the business in order to avoid subjective decision making. Once employers understand the importance of strategic staffing, they can aligning their departmental goals with that of the company and spend adequate time and resources in implementing these strategies.

The most important element in a company is the people that work there (the employees). They are the ones who produce output and are the core contributors that impact whether or not the business is successful. With this in mind, strategic staffing has to be at the forefront of the plans of a company. According to Bechet, in an article entitled, 'Strategic Staffing: A Practical Toolkit for Workforce Planning', "strategic staffing can be defined as the process of identifying and addressing the staffing implications of business plans and strategies or as the process of identifying and addressing the staffing implications

of change" (Ward, 2004, pg. 1). In other words, strategic staffing plans for the future and helps you stay one step ahead.

Now that we know what strategic staffing is, why is this concept so important in organizations? To answer this question, lets us analyze its benefits. The world is becoming a global village, therefore, in order for organizations to acquire differences that provide them with a competitive edge, they have to hire employees from a diverse background and capitalize on their talents. A diverse workforce will also allow the organization to tap into new markets while increasing effectiveness and productivity.

Another benefit of employing strategic staffing plans is the opportunities for promoting their employees to fill top leadership positions. When a company is being strategic in their staffing decisions, they would have invested in developing employees whom they deem fit for leadership positions. This will then ensure that the company's mission and vision remains intact and also make it easier for employees to identify with new leaders and get on board with their strategic initiatives.

Strategic staffing plans also save an organization money in the long run. When the right persons are hired initially and the organization invest in these employees and develop their talents, the employees feel like a part of the organization and not just persons hired to get the work done. Employees

therefore become more loyal and committed to the organization and less money is eventually spent on hiring new employees.

With all these benefits tied on implementing a strategic staffing plan, managers have to ensure that the human resource team understands its importance. Once they do, it will motivate them to take their departmental strategies to the next level. However, in developing strategies for strategic staffing there are some critical issues that must be considered.

In the article, a major issue that has been identified is the need for quality leadership in the organization due to globalization. The author explained that a critical element in the strategic operation of an organization is the selection of key personnel. The organization therefore, has to ensure that the individuals they select in recruitment have leadership qualities. This is very important because leaders are the ones who provide the strategy for accomplishing the mission and achieving the vision of the organization. Not only should they be able to provide the strategy, they should also be able to effectively communicate it to employees and create the motivational climate that enables them to be productive. As stated by Quinn in his book entitled, 'Leadership, How to Lead, How to Live', "Leaders help to point us in the same direction and harness our efforts jointly" (Quinn, 2005, pg. 11).

Another critical issue that was revealed

in the article was the tendency of decision makers to make changes only to respond to immediate pressures instead of realigning the organization with its external environment. This type of behaviour is being reactive, when the company should be seeking to be proactive. Being proactive means that situations are controlled by causing things to happen instead of waiting to respond after things happen. It follows through with the ancient saying, "Prevention is better than cure". This is crucial to any organization's success because being proactive saves money. Instead of management making a staff change to respond to immediate pressures, they should ensure that the persons they are hiring are able to implement the strategies of the organization effectively.

The failure of a newly promoted leader to perform effectively is another critical issue that was raised in the article. The author went on to explain that the problem maybe a weakness in the strategy that affected the personnel changes and staffing should be seen as a window of opportunity other than a burden.

With these critical issues that need to be considered when developing strategies for strategic staffing, there are also some areas of concern that was presented in the article that also needs to be considered when developing and implementing strategic staffing.

One area of concern is the job description. The author outlined that in a rapidly

changing environment job descriptions need frequent fine tuning. By looking