14 Staffing I

epgp books

 

Structure

 

1.    Introduc tion

2.    Staffing

3.    Selection

4.    Manpower planning

5.    Characteristics of manpower planning

6.    Effective Man Power Planning

7.    Summary

 

1.    Introduction

 

Organizat ions/inst itut ions are social in nat ure. It means instit ut ions are established by the society and run by t he people. Soc iety has developed inst it utions for some spec ific purpose. People work in t hese instit utions for achieving goals. Goals of inst itut ion are co mplex hence it is very diffic ult for single individual t o execute them t herefore always a group of people work for achievement of t he goal. For t his, the different positions are created in an organisation. T hey are very specific and these positions are to be occupied by individuals who work for achieving goals.

 

Education as an institution has been developed by t he society wit h specific goal of development of personality. For this different educational institutions are formed. In each institution we have different posit ions such as principal, teachers and administrative staff. These posit ions are required for specific tasks. All these people work together for development of personality of students who are future citizens of the nation. Hence it can be said that the organizations /institutes meant to achieve its goals that require many human beings with different competencies. The functioning of institution depends on the staff members working in it. No organization can function without human beings therefore the most import ant resources of an organization are its human resources.

 

The inst itut ions are set up to achieve specific goal and to achieve these goals human resource is required. T he Organizing process creates various positions in the organization and these are t o be occupied by individuals . The structures are created in an institution with specific intention and are interlinked with each other. Each position has certain specific contribution towards organizational goal. Therefore, person-occupying posit ion must be able to contribute in the accomplishment of goal. Hence staffing is an important function of management.

 

2.    Staffing

 

It is important to place a right person at the right position to perform a right work. Hence staffing is an import ant function of management in which people are selected for different positions.

In a city, few retired teachers and personnel having worked for different education institution come together to form a trust. The trust intend to start a pre-primary school. The trust got the permission from the authorities to start two sections of kinder garden junior wit h intake of twenty -five students in each. As per t he norms, t here should be one teacher for thirteen students, one Aaya or helping staff (person who help kids for routine) for ten students, one office staff for twenty-five students and one peon for thirty students.

  • Identify the personnel requirement  of the school
  • Describe the contribution of each personnel in the institution/school
  • What are the competenc ies required by these different personals.
    • Teachers
    • Administrative  Staff
    • Helping staff
  • How are these competencies differ as per the nature of the work

 

The management needs t o analyse the competencies required for the personnel to perform various tasks. Usually in education set up we think of teachers competencies which are interlinked wit h t heir job. A teacher has to plan t he teaching which includes analysis of content, identification of media, selection of teaching aids, deciding on pedagogy and after this sequencing of content, media, met hod of teaching and student activity and teacher activity. The lot of analysis and visualization is required at planning stage. If the teacher has mastery on  subject then will be able to c hunk out the smallest piece of content and sequencing in the best possible way. This is called as a content competency of teachers. While designing the students learning environment t he teacher need to analyse the class in terms of size and composition in terms of demographic variation. Here t he teacher’s contextual competency, cultural competency will play a predominant role. If teacher is open minded then will try to understand the social structure of a class in a better way. The free mind will make a teacher more open and away from prejudices regarding class, caste, religion, and region and so on. The pedagogical competence will help teacher to present a content using a specific methodology of teaching. This ensures t he optimum use of resources in general and instructional time in particular. T he evaluation competency is also plays important role in teacher’s job. The a mount of learning has to be measured using adequate assessment tools and report it properly. The assessment and feedback should  motivate students to learn further and also gives correct information about where the things are wrong and why the things are wrong.

 

It is very import ant that the competencies required by teachers teaching different level vary. The a mount of competence is depending on the characteristics of group wit h whom t he teacher is dealing. For example if the teacher is teaching at higher education then her content competence is the most import ant factor while for preprimary teachers it is not that import ant. The preprimary teacher needs to handle tender kids with love and affection which is very challenging. Thus it is very import ant for manager to analyse the requirement of job and t he roles and corresponding competence.

 

Staffing is defined as a process which involves t he filling up of various posit ions by appropriate individuals. While selecting people care is taken t hat those individuals should possess t he knowledge and skills required for t he job. If person does not possess the requirements then he or she cannot be selected for that job. The staffing process can be seen as a continuous process. It follows step by step procedure so that institution/organization supplied with the right people in the right positions at right time. Staffing includes selection, t raining and appraisal of t he individuals in the organization. Staffing is t he process in which the organisation appoint people in different posit ion and these people who are selected are placed to perform a specific job. Staffing starts with selection.

 

3.    Selection

 

The organizational plan gives an idea of number of personnel required for a specific job. It also gives t he idea about knowledge and skills required for particular position. It is also decided whether t he job can be outsourced or there is a need to appoint personnel. Eg : these days t he cleaning jobs in an organisation is outsourced. Hence the posts of sweeper/sweepress have been abolished in some organisations. In outsourcing contract is given to the company fro m which people will come and complete the job and go. Posit ions of teachers and administrative staff are advertised. Based on t he internal and external sources recruitment policy is decided. In t he process of recruitment institution as ks different department their requirements. Eg: If in a big school t here are ten divisions of each class. T his school may have three science departments. If there are any vacant posit ions then they have t o inform management through principal. They also need t o give the criteria i.e educational qualifications, experience, other skills required such as use of ICT as desirable qualification etc . Criteria are based on t he needs of the organisation. If needs are c hanged then accordingly there will be change in the criteria for recruitment. After selection people are placed and oriented. Sometimes the people in the organisation are promoted. These people need to undergo the training. Staffing is also known as man power planning.

 

4.    Manpower planning

 

It is the process which includes forecasting, developing man power requirement plan, implementing and cont rolling by which a firm/institute ensures that it has t he right number of people and right kind of people, at the right place and at the right time for doing the t hings for which t hey are economically most useful (Geister).T he manpower requirements of an organization keep changing with time, it s objectives and its achievement.

The well-established college of education wants to start a new certificate programme on ‘Use of information communication technology in teaching and learning’ t hat is of six months duration. T he college has appointed a temporary faculty member who helps students for preparing power point presentations for their practice teaching lessons. This programme has a considerable a mount of practical work which students are expected to do in computer laboratory. The sanctioned intake of students for the course is twenty and t he student has to complete four courses with the weightage of fifty percent to theory and fifty percent to practical

 

  • As a person with having knowledge of management, help the college authority to forecast the human resource requirement of the college for the programme.
  • Discuss the factors you need to consider while forecasting human resource.

The management need to think of the objectives and with the related available material and financial resources. The infrastructural and financial resources are directly related to manpower planning. If there is a sufficient infrastructure available t hen t he school can function in one shift but if the infrastructure is limit ed and number of students are more then the school will have to functions in morning and afternoon shift. While thinking of requirement of personnel the school follows the norms given by the government. These norms are decided considering various factors.

 

5.    Characteristics of manpower planning

 

i. It involves activities related to human resource development. It means enhancing the potentialities of human beings. It may be enhancing their knowledge, skills, acquiring new skills or c hanging t heir attitude. Manpower planning considers human beings as a resource and not liability.

 

ii.   It includes determination of manpower needs, bot h in number and kind. It includes quantitative and qualitative analysis of required manpower.

 

iii.     It  includes man power inventory. T his inventory  is necessary to determine the present stat us of personnel i.e. how many are working and how many are required. It not only shows t he status but also gives t he picture of new posit ions to be created in an organisation. It also gives information about supply of available personnel. It also helps in discovering undeveloped talent

 

Eg: When Information and communication technology was first introduced in education it was a necessity that teacher educators should know how to integrate ICT with pedagogy. For that it was not possible to create a post of ICT teacher that time responsibility was given to organisation for training teacher educators.

 

When there is change in the policy such as implementat ion of inclusive education. Earlier special educators used to be appointed only in special schools. But with RTE 2009 there is need to appoint special educators in normal schools.

 

Every-time it is not possible to create new positions in an organisation. It becomes st ill difficult when that much workload is not available. In such situation personnel are hired on CHB for t hat particular work. Eg: Drawing teachers working on CHB in schools.

 

There are situat ions where the skills of personnel working in organisation are underutilized. In such a situat ion organisation t rains t he m and equip t he m for other tasks. By doing so organisation saves money and develops human resource. For example now a day in Bank gate keeper gives information a bout different forms t o customers by giving them t raining about it. This has not only saves money of bank but also recognize the potential of person and their abilities. If in a school any teacher is interested in technology then she or he can be given t raining to work as ICT teacher. Another example can be if t here is decrease in the number of students opting for dance or music then that teacher can be asked to study the subject of his or her interest and can share teaching load of t he teacher for the subject where there are more number of students. In this way manger can discover the talent of personnel in an organisation.

 

Thus inventory helps manager in taking decisions about recruitment in an organisation.

 

iv .  It is concerned wit h decisions of t he difference between demand and supply. Eg: there  are  so me courses  which are popular  and  so me for which  there are  no takers. In such situation we need to have more teachers for that course whereas for other course we will less number of teachers.

 

6.    Effective Man Power Planning

 

It focusses not only on hu man resource but also on working condit ions and relationship among human beings.

 

It means if school enrolment is increased t hen more number of teachers will be required. In effective man power planning will see t hat the working conditions or sufficient infrastructure such as sanitary facilities, sitting arrangement in the staffroom etc .

 

In the process of organisation communication or hierarchy is decided. In staffing we also consider this point about who will be reporting to whom or guiding t he newly recruited personnel.

 

There can be short  term planning  and long term planning  for staffing:

 

a.    Short term planning

 

It is associated with specific tasks which can be completed in specific time period. T he short term manpower planning is a process of matching the existing employees with t heir present jobs. This helps them to perform their job efficiently. It is challenging job as one tries to establish association between job and individuals’ competence. T he following steps can be undertaken in short term planning of human resources when t he employee is less qualified as compared to the job specification

 

  • Employees are given training for improvement of performance. For example; teachers are sent for workshops on stress management/time management so that they can perform their job effectively
  • Sometimes if employee does not like t he job then it may be changed. For example; if someone does not want t o be in charge of picnic then it can be given to some other teacher
  • Assistants may be provided for help in case of responsible work. eg: if teacher has given some administrative responsibilities along with her day to day work then some other teacher (junior teacher) is assigned t he responsibility of paper correction.

 

In case when the employee is more qualified as compared to the job specification or requirement then the following steps can be thought of

 

Ø  Job enlargement

Ø  Promot ions  can be given

Ø  Temporary  additional  assignment  can be given

 

In short term human resource planning t he t raining wit h very spec ific competence can be organized. For example, the technology has entered in all fields and educat ion is no except ion. T here was a need to train t he teachers force for using informat ion and communic ation technology in t heir teaching. T he short term training courses are regularly organized for in-service teac hers. On the other hand, long term planning is done keeping in mind t he long-term goals and its human requirement.

 

b.    Short term planning

 

It can be for next five years for any instit ution. Here manager needs t o think about the new posit ions to be c reated in an organisat ion. These plans are complex and create more job opportunities.

 

Ø  Projecting  the organizat ion  structure

Ø  Manpower  inventory  and analysis

Ø  Recruit ment  and selection

Ø  Manpower  Development

 

1.  Projecting  the organization  structure

 

The institute needs to project the structure of t he organization. If there is a plan expansion of the institution then project the number of human resources required for the expansion. It is also import ant to think weather we want all fresh members or we are going to promote the seniors to higher positions in the institution

 

The institute needs to project the st ructure of the organizat ion. It includes:

 

Ø  Present  structure of the organization:

Organization plan gives us the present structure. How many people are working, what are their positions, their jobs and infrastructural facilities available in an organization?

 

Ø  Is the institution  has any plan of expansion?:

If there is any plan of expansion then it should be reflected in organizational plan. How many are there and how many are required to be decided.

 

Ø  What is the scope or extent of expansion?:

Is the school going fro m 500- 600 students? School wants to start CBSE alongwith SSC board or school is shifting fro m SSC to CBSE board?

 

Ø  How many  people  are available?

 

Ø  How many  more  are required?:

If school is planning to expand SSC school then they will think of appointing more teachers but if t hey want to shift to CBSE then t heir manpower planning will be different.

Ø What way expansion is going  to change present  structure?:

 

School may transfer so me teachers fro m SSC to CBSE or sometime school may appoint new teachers for CBSE, in such situation recruitment plan will be different.

 

  1. Summary

 

The institutions are set up t o achieve specific goal and to complete these goals human resource is required. Staffing process involves t he filling up of various positions by appropriate individuals. T he staffing process can be seen as a continuous process. It follows step by step procedure so that institution/organization supplied wit h the right people in the right posit ions at right time.

 

This inc ludes selection, t raining and appraisal of t he individuals in t he organization. It is also known  as manpower  planning.

 

The Manpower planning includes forecasting, developing manpower requirement plan, implementing and cont rolling. The manpower requirements of an organization keep changing wit h time, its objectives and its achievement. Effective man power planning focusses not only on human resource but also on working conditions and relationship among human beings.

 

There can be short  term planning  and long term planning  for staffing.

 

Short term planning: The short term manpower planning is a process of matc hing the exist ing employees wit h t heir present jobs. This helps the m to perform their job efficiently.

 

Long term planning: If there is a plan for expansion of the institution then to project the number of human resources required for the expansion that time institute need to go for long term planning. It involves following steps:

 

  • Projecting the organizat ion structure
  • Manpower inventory  and analysis
  • Recruit ment and selection
  • Manpower Development
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References:

 

  • Angelo S Denisi , Ricky W Griffin: (2009) Human Resources Management , 2nd edition ; New Delhi.
  • Aswathappa, K., (2008) Human resource management: Text and cases. Delhi: Tata McGraw-. Hill Publishing Company Limited,
  • Bernadin,(2012) Human Resource Management , 8th edition ,Delhi: Tata Mcgraw Hill.
  • Biztantra Publication, Armstrong, M. (1996) A Handbook of Personnel Management Practice, London: Kogan
  • Sergio, F. and Hal, G. R. (2006) Managing Successful Organizational Change in the Public Sector. Public Administration Review: 168-176.
  • Serrat, O. (2009) Coaching and Mentoring, Knowledge Solutions, Publication Asian Development Bank
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