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STAFFING BEST
PRACTICES
CREATING A STAFFING
SYSTEM
Consider these findings:
Global competition for customers and
employees will be the biggest issue facing
organizations in the coming year.
The importance of people as a source of
competitive advantage is intensifying—with
decreasing numbers of skilled workers.
Employees continue to feel less firm loyalty.
Firms need to be more flexible in responding
to the fast pace of change, and HR functions
need to become better at delivering results.*
* The 1999 Human Resource Planning Society’s
State-of-the-Art and Practice Report
Your organization’s ability to hire, develop, and
retain employees may be the single most critical
determinant of your success in the next two
decades. The current labor crunch is not
projected to end any time soon.
According to Nancy Ahlrichs, Director of
Organizational Evolution for ONEX, Inc.,
“Based on demographic trends, the supply of
labor will not exceed demand again until the
year 2020.” To assure your long-term success,
your organization must devise a way to fulfill
its personnel needs. The solution: a well
thought out staffing system.
A STAFFING SYSTEM
To improve the quality of employees at all
levels of an organization, staffing must be a
strategic priority. “The [executive team] of an
entrepreneurial firm has two basic jobs,” says
Barry Shamis, Managing Partner of Selecting
Winners, Inc., “to set the vision and strategy
and to hire the people to achieve them.
Therefore, [senior management] needs to drive
the implementation of a staffing system and
hold people accountable for results.”
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 leads people through the hiring
process from start to finish, telling them what
steps to take, what order to take them in, and
what needs to be accomplished with each step.
A staffing system standardizes personnel
practices, assures that everyone in the company
is consistent in hiring policies, and thereby
becomes a formula for removing some of the
risk and uncertainty from the process. “Without
a staffing system, you might as well roll the
dice and take your chances,” says Shamis.
An effective staffing system consists of five
essential steps:
1. Painting a picture of the ideal candidate
2. Developing a cadre of qualified candidates
3. Screening the candidates
4. Interviewing and checking references
5. Making the hiring decision
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“In today’s world, companies have to hire
fast because the market will not allow you to
take a month to hire a top prospect. 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.”
- Barry Shamis
KEYS TO A
SUCCESSFUL STAFFING SYSTEM
The staffing model you design should reflect the
nuances of your industry and your organization.
Here are a few guidelines and basic criteria
from the practice experts that may 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.
According to Shamis, this structured interview
process not only helps you determine the right
fit for the position, “more importantly, it takes
much of the risk and uncertainty out of the
process by providing a standard approach that the organization.
ensures that everyone in the company hires in a Reduces costs of the hiring process.
consistent standard.” It also can be useful if the Limits liability.
courts ever challenge your hiring practices. “You can’t make immediate wholesale changes
Develop a staffing plan. in the quality of your people,” says Ryan, “but
Plan staffing requirements based on your by implementing a staffing system, you
strategic or business plan. establish behavioral benchmarks and standards
Hire proactively based on planned needs and for each position in your company. As people
expected attrition. leave, you start hiring to those standards and
Maximize your organization’s existing gradually improve the level of talent. Over time
resources. you will see a dramatic improvement.”
Determine the gaps in current resources and YOUR STAFFING SYSTEM
develop strategies to fill them. “Start thinking creatively about your workforce because the
“All companies should have a staffing plan, but standard rules no longer exist,”
especially those on a fast growth track,” advises advises Shamis. “Consider alternatives to traditional
Shamis. “When companies hire in a reactive employment because the traditional 40-
mode, managers feel pressured to fill the open hour-a-week employee will eventually vanish from the
slots. They lower standards and hire in haste in landscape.”
order to get the warm bodies to keep up with the Your staffing partner can help you weigh the alternatives.
growth. A staffing plan provides order and As staffing specialists, we are
discipline to a process that too often feels intimately involved with the dynamics of today’s
rushed and chaotic.” workplace. We understand the recruiting
Page 3 challenges you face and your need for top performers.
While preparing your plan, Barry Shamis Every day we help companies find the
suggests you ask yourself these key questions: right people—for short-term assignments, long-term
projects, and full-time needs. We have the
How many new employees will be needed
experience to help you design and execute an appropriate
during the coming year?
staffing system for your business.
Why will those employees be needed?
We can help you:
When will they be needed?
Manage the uncertainty of growth.
How long will they be needed?
Reduce overhead.
How much will it cost the company to hire
Minimize growing pains.
new employees?
Decrease employment costs.
What value will they bring to customers and
the organization? Increase focus on your business and your
And finally, be sure that your hiring company’s vision.
managers embrace, adopt and are trained in Reduce risk of bad hires and legal issues.
Put our resources and expertise to work for you!
how to effectively use your staffing system.
BENEFITS OF A STAFFING SYSTEM
“The success of any organization depends upon
choosing the right people for your team,”
comments Arthur H. Bell, PhD, professor of
management communications at the McLaren
School of Business, University of San
Francisco. Staffing expert Ed Ryan agrees,
adding that the steps that one takes in putting
together a cohesive corps of personnel begins
with a well-devised staffing plan. The benefits
achieved from this design far outweigh the time
spent devising it.
A well designed staffing system:
Significantly increases your odds of hiring the
right people.
Creates consistency in hiring decisions
throughout the organization.
Supports management development.
Helps to improve benchmarking throughout

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1 identifying and addressing the staffing
Developing
Staffing
Strategies
That Work:
Implementing
Pragmatic,
Nontraditional
Approaches
Thomas P. Bechet
Most organizations understand the benefits
that a longer term approach to staff
planning can bring. Many actually attempt
to develop staffing strategies (or
strategic workforce plans, as they are also
known). Unfortunately, these
organizations often find that the
“traditional” approaches to workforce
planning
that they try to use are ineffective, and
expected benefits are not realized. The
answer to this problem lies not in trying to
implement the traditional approach
more effectively, but in implementing a
completely different kind of process for
strategic staffing. This paper describes (and
provides examples of) some of
those “less traditional,” but more effective
approaches.
The “Strategic Staffing” Process
First, let’s clarify our terms. I define
“strategic staffing” as the process of
implications of business plans and
strategies, or better still, as the process of
identify-ing and addressing the staffing
implications of change. The impact on
staffing should be defined (or
at least discussed) whenever changes to
business plans are being considered
(whether near-term or longer-term). Others
call the process “strategic workforce
planning,” but to me, “strategic staffing”
emphasizes the longer term, business
orientation of the process. By any name, this
effort typically includes:
•Defining the number (staffing levels) and
types (capabilities) of employees who
will be needed at a particular point in the
future to implement plans effectively
(often including how that staff should be
organized and deployed);
• Identifying the staffing resources that are
currently available;
•Projecting the “supply” of talent that will
be available at that point in the future for
which requirements have been defined (e.g.,
factoring in the effects of turnover,
retirements, planned movement, etc.);
• Identifying differences between anticipated
demand and forecasted supply; and
•Developing and implementing staffing
plans/actions needed to close talent gaps
and eliminate surpluses.
These basic elements are, of course, quite
typical of any strategic staffing or
workforce planning process, and might be
described in any text or suggested by
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2 and development plans that are
any consultant. Successful implementation
of a strategic staffing process lies not
in how these basic steps are defined. The
“devil is in the details” —
or perhaps more appropriately in this case
— the devil is in the implementation. It
is not the steps themselves that are
important, it is how they are developed and
implemented that counts.
Traditional Approaches Just Don’t Work
Most organizations that attempt to
implement a strategic staffing process
follow a
fairly traditional approach. Usually, these
organizations include staff planning as
a component of their annual business
planning process. Often, these
organizations request that managers define
future staffing needs for each
year of the planning period (usually in terms
of headcount, not required
capabilities) using a common template or
“form.” The templates are at a common
level of detail and are based on common
planning parameters (e.g., all units
define requirements at a job-specific level
for each of the coming three years).
Once completed, these templates are often
combined or compiled at various
levels to create overall pictures of needs
(e.g., unit plans are “rolled up” to a
divisional level, divisional plans are
compiled to create a “firm-wide” view).
Organizations then attempt to create
meaningful staffing plans to address these
needs. Some organizations supplement these
staffing plans with a series of
reports and listings (e.g., a list of openings
and how they were filled, a summary
of turnover rates over time for various types
of employees). Unfortunately, rarely
do these efforts result in specific staffing
actually implemented. Managers tend to see
limited value in the process and
complain loudly about the work involved.
Most managers are being measured
and rewarded for achieving short-term
objectives that may be inconsistent with
the longer-term view that strategic staffing
entails. Forecasts of needs are often
“hockey stick” projections that are not
realistic or grounded in business plans.
Some managers in more volatile areas,
where business is changing rapidly,
question the validity and value of processes
that ask them to provide estimates of
staffing needs for points in time that are
well beyond their ability (or need) to
plan. Staff planning is often incomplete —
required staffing levels may be
forecast, but required capabilities are not.
The staffing plans that result from
traditional processes such as these often
provide little valuable information and are
rarely used to drive staffing decisions.
Estimates of need are imprecise and
inaccurate.
In many cases, the output from the process
is too high-level and generic to drive
recruiting plans, especially once they have
been rolled up to create that firm-wide
view. Since required capabilities are not
usually defined specifically, it is difficult
(if not impossible) to create action-oriented
development plans
for individuals that address anticipated
capability shortages. Some organizations
do not even create staffing plans, opting
instead to focus their workforce planning
efforts almost solely on reporting and
compiling staffing information from the
past
(e.g., detailed turnover studies and
descriptions of recent staffing actions),
rather
than planning to meet future needs. In the
end, there has been much work
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3 filled through hiring, redeployment,
completed, but few results seen. The
strategic staffing process then becomes
solely staff driven, or worse yet, disappears
completely.
More Effective Approaches to Strategic
Staffing
Often, implementing different, more
pragmatic approaches to strategic staffing
can yield the high-quality results that
organizations need and expect. Start by
defining an entirely different objective for
the process itself. The objective is to
build a context for decision making, not to
predict the future. Don’t try to predict
future staffing needs with certainty or define
actions to be taken now to eliminate
problems that may or may not occur in the
future. At best, that is difficult to do
well (and accurately) and may be viewed by
managers as something that is “nice
to have” but not absolutely necessary.
Instead, consider a staffing strategy as a
longer-term context within which more
effective near term staffing decisions can
be made.
Not only is this a more realistic objective for
the process, but its shorter-term
focus might just capture the attention of
those line managers who are being
measured by, and rewarded for, achieving
near-t e r m objectives. Because it
helps define appropriate short-term actions,
it is more likely that the same line
manager making the staffing decision will
still be in place to reap the benefits of
that decision later on.
Here is a simple example of how this
objective works in practice. Suppose an
organization has documented that it will
need 25 additional project managers by
the end of its fiscal year. How would a need
like this be met? Positions could be
promotion, work reassignment, use of
contract/contingency staff, or many other
sources. Which option is most
effective? To select the right option, that
organization must have a sense of its
future needs. If those project managers are
needed in the future (i.e., beyond this
fiscal year), a more permanent solution is
most effective (e.g., hiring or pro-
motion). If, on the other hand, the need is a
“blip” in the curve or the result of
some project scheduling irregularities, a
more temporary solution is better. For
example, the company might hire
contractors or delay new projects until the
first
quarter of the next year, so that existing
project managers can be redeployed to
those jobs, and an unneeded surplus of talent
is not created in the future. In any
of these instances, the “best” near-term
solution can only be determined after the
longer-term context has been defined.
When searching for ways to improve (or
initiate) the strategic staffing process,
consider the following options to traditional
approaches.
▪ Address staffing from a proactive,
planning perspective, not just an
implementation concern. It is no longer
appropriate to consider staffing
solely from an implementation perspective.
Even though it may have been
acceptable practice in the past, it is no
longer realistic for business to
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4
assume that the staff needed to implement
its plans is readily available
and quickly recruited, developed and
deployed. In fact, staffing constraints
(e.g., an inability to recruit a sufficient
number of individuals with critical
skills) may impact the company’s ability to
implement its plans. These
constraints should be identified and
addressed as part of the planning
process, not left as surprises to be uncovered
when implementation
begins. From a more positive perspective, a
company may choose to
move in a different direction (or try to
capitalize on a market opportunity)
specifically because of the staffing levels
and capabilities it has at its
disposal.
Here is an example. In order to take
advantage of population growth and
shift, an HMO planned to expand into a new
geographic region of the state
it served. The marketing and medical
economics functions determined that
four new medical centers needed to be built,
if the member needs and
potential of this new market were to be met
effectively and efficiently. The
decision was made to construct the new
centers simultaneously in order to
enter this market quickly. Unfortunately, the
HMO lacked a sufficient
number of physicians and medical
technicians to staff four new centers all
at once—at least without having a
catastrophic impact on its existing
facilities. As a result, newly constructed
medical centers went unused
(some for many months), until sufficient
staff could be secured. Obviously,
it was quite costly to maintain the unused
facilities. A review of available
staffing before the construction decision
was made would have shown that
a sequential (not simultaneous) opening of
centers was more cost
effective.
▪ Focus on issues, not organizations. Many
organizations feel that,
because staffing strategies are beneficial in
some areas, they should be
completed for the organization as a whole
— that plans should be created
for every unit, regardless of its situation.
This type of process usually
proves to be both ineffective and inefficient,
because not every unit
merits the detailed analysis that is typically
needed to create and
implement an effective staffing strategy.
Instead of creating models or analyses for
every unit, focus only on those
areas where strategies are really needed.
Create a series of staffing
strategies that each address particular issues.
For example, build a
staffing strategy that focuses solely on
positions that are critical to
business success. Create a strategy for a
series of positions that are hard
to fill or for which external competition for
talent is great. Focus a strategy
on a unit that will experience significant
change. Will the organization need
to tap new, nontraditional sources for key
talent? If so, create a strategy
that is concentrated on those jobs. This
approach will allow you to focus
your planning resources where they will
have the most advantageous
effect. Here is an example of this focus. Two
insurance companies were
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5
merging. Obviously, mergers can create a
host of staffing issues, some
more critical than others. Instead of creating
a generic strategy that
applied to many units, the company chose to
focus initially on claims. The
claims functions of the two companies were
managed and staffed quite
differently. One company was organized by
function (e.g., disbursement),
the other by impairment category (e.g., long-
term disability). In addition,
one company had a 40-hour work week, and
the second had a 37.5-hour
week. A longer-term, succinct, focused
staffing plan was developed to
integrate the two claims work forces and
define the implications of
changes in work week length. Other
(separate) strategies were developed
to address other implications of the merger.
In some cases, staffing strategies that span
organizational boundaries are
still needed. Cross-unit staffing strategies
should be developed whenever
an organization intends to manage key talent
across organization lines
(e.g., managing IT or entry-level
engineering talent from a “corporate”
perspective). An “issue orientation” can still
be maintained in these cases.
When creating such strategies, include in the
analysis only those positions
that are to be managed from a broader
perspective. Here are two
examples:
o An HMO was implementing a new,
nationwide data collection and
analysis system that would support all of its
regions (some of which
had their own such systems). Still, it had to
maintain its legacy
systems while implementing the new
system. This raised
numerous staffing issues. New talent (with
new IT skills) had to be
sourced to support the development of the
new system, moreover
critical
talent had to be retained to keep old systems
functioning in the
meantime. Yet the organization did not want
to simply hire/contract
the new talent, for then the skills of its
existing talent would become
obsolete. It only made sense to address these
critical issues from a
nationwide, cross-region perspective. The
HMO developed a
staffing strategy that focused on the critical
IT skills needed to sup-
port the transition—but only on the positions
that required these
specific skills. Other plans (some strategic,
some tactical) were
developed for other positions.
o To increase its staffing flexibility, the
department of transportation
of a state government was considering
combining several separate
classes of workers (each of which was
focused on a particular set
of skills) into a single category of
“transportation worker” that
included individuals with multiple skills. A
staffing strategy was
developed to define the effects that this
change would have on
classification, scheduling/deployment, and
training. The plan that
was developed included transportation
workers in all districts
(since bargaining unit considerations meant
that the change could
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6
only be implemented on a statewide basis),
but focused mainly on
the positions that were affected. Finally,
don’t attempt to solve a
second issue or problem until you have
created (or at least are well
on your way to creating) staffing strategies
that fully address the
first!
▪ Tailor the process for each issue.
Traditionally, each unit is asked to
provide the same information regarding
staffing, using a common
template, at the same time each year, for the
same planning
period/time frame. While this approach may
bring consistency to the
approach, it also forces every unit to adopt a
process and set of
planning parameters that may not be
appropriate. Rather than creating
a one-size-fits-all process that applies
everywhere, vary planning
parameters (e.g., the population to be
included, the planning horizon,
and the structure of the model itself), so that
they are appropriate for
each issue being addressed. Here is an
example of tailoring. An
engineering/construction firm created a
“long-term” staffing plan for its
IT unit that covered but a single year. Given
the rapid pace of change
of technology (and that so little was known
about the future of that
technology), it was difficult to define needs
(whether in terms of
capabilities or staffing levels) past that one-
year point. Consequently, it
made no sense to develop staffing plans for
IT beyond that one-year
planning horizon (even though the
organization had a five-year
business plan). That same organization also
found it necessary to
increase the depth and breadth of its
management pool. Given the rate
of change for the business as a whole (and
the time needed to
implement any significant changes in
management talent), a three-to-
five-year staffing and development plan was
developed.
A “common” process would probably force
the IT function and
management teams to use the same time
frame, and this would most
probably result in an ineffective plan. Would
it be appropriate to ask IT
to create staffing plans for years two and
three, even though managers
knew that this information would not be
useful and would not be
applied? Alternatively, would it have been
better to ask each unit to
plan management needs for just the one-year
time frame, even though
it would take several years to address the
depth and breadth issues
that were identified? Would it have been
possible to compromise and
have each group do a two-year plan (which
is probably ineffective for
both)? In this case (and many others like it),
it only makes sense to
vary the planning horizon. Obviously, this
tailoring of parameters is
only viable when separate staffing plans are
defined by issue. The
typical one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t
allow such variation.
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7
▪ Focus on particular positions, not all
positions. Some
organizations attempt to develop staffing
strategies that include all
jobs. Not every job even needs to be
addressed from a strategic
perspective. For example, it is rarely
necessary to develop a long-term
staffing strategy for a job that can be filled
relatively quickly from
known internal sources or relatively
abundant external pools. In
addition, the development of effective
staffing strategies requires much
work and significant resources, so it is not
usually realistic to include
each and every position in the analysis.
Including all jobs (even those
for which a strategic perspective is not
required) simply bogs down the
process, rendering it even more inefficient.
Instead, the process should focus on only
two types of positions or
situations. Consider building staffing
strategies only for positions
where:
o The organization needs to be proactive.
A longer-term
perspective is usually required when an
organization is trying to
be proactive in meeting staffing needs (e.g.,
staffing and training
a customer service unit, so that it is fully
functional before a new
product is launched).
Which jobs will be staffed just before
launch? Which will be filled
a month or two before launch in order to
build continuity and
teamwork? Which senior
management/leadership positions
should be filled a year in advance to set
direction and strategy?
o The organization needs time to respond.
Strategic
perspective is needed when an organization
determines that
their staffing needs are best met in ways that
require some
advance preparation (e.g., cases where new
sources of talent
must be identified; as normal channels
become less productive;
or instances where talent needs will be met
through longer-term
development, not short-term hiring). If a
future need is to be
filled from within, what development needs
must be addressed
before such a move can be made? What
plans for development
should be created and implemented so that
such moves will be
realistic and successful? If you are to
develop new relationships
with alternative sources of talent (e.g., new
schools or search
firms), it will take time to identify and
develop possible
partnerships with such sources.
Long-term staffing strategies may not need
to be created for any other
type of position—and certainly need not be
developed for all positions,
regardless of need.
Here are two examples, one proactive and
one responsive:
o Being proactive: After conducting a scan,
an oil company
discovered that it was particularly
vulnerable, from a recruiting
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8
and staffing perspective, in the area of geo-
science.
Competition for graduate geologists and
geophysicists was
intensifying, and the company was
expecting that it would be
unable to attract the number of recruits it
thought it needed.
Given the criticality of this need, the
company wanted to be
proactive. It decided to develop contacts and
relationships with
graduate students well before they entered
the job market (e.g.,
through presentations and internships), so
that ties might be
developed which would increase the
possibility that they would
work for the company upon graduation. The
company created a
model and staffing strategy that focused
solely on these “hard to
fill” categories.
o Needing time to respond: In an insurance
company, the
traditional “career path” to branch manager
passed through the
underwriting function. Most branch
managers began as
trainees, became underwriters, were then
designated
“managers in training,” and were
subsequently named branch
managers, usually in smaller offices. This
process might take
eight to ten years. Openings for branch
managers in larger
offices usually were filled by promoting
managers from smaller
offices. Rapid business expansion meant that
a large number of
new branch offices would be opened. The
traditional career path
could simply not provide a sufficient
number of qualified
candidates. Because of the length of time
required to move
along that path, the company was forced to
find alternate
sources for branch manager candidates. The
organization
developed a staffing strategy that helped it
to define the
appropriate mix of targeted recruiting and
accelerated
development that was needed to meet its
growing needs for
management talent.
• Keep plans separate, not consolidated.
In many cases,
organizations prepare staffing plans at a unit
level that are then
“rolled up” into some kind of consolidated
plan (or to display the
results “on one sheet of paper”). The
common templates that are
often used to gather staffing data are
designed to facilitate just this
type of consolidation.
This process of consolidation actually
squeezes out the very detail
that is most useful and some-times masks
significant differences. If
one unit has 20 software engineers too many
and another unit has 20
too few, consolidation of staffing plans
would show that there is no
problem (i.e., the surplus of 20 and the gap
of 20 would cancel out,
implying that no issues needed to be
addressed). In fact (assuming
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9
the units are not co-located), there may be
40 issues to address (i.e.,
reducing 20 gaps and alleviating 20
surpluses).
It is also difficult (and sometimes actually
impossible) to develop
specific, actionable staffing plans to address
summarized needs. The
plans might vary greatly depending on
circumstances and situations.
For example, a consolidated staffing plan
might describe an overall
need for 15 “technical specialists.” The
staffing actions required to fill
15 openings in one unit/location would
probably be completely
different from those needed to fill a single
opening in each of 15
different units/locations. The actions needed
to fill 15 positions of the
same type of specialist would be quite
different from those needed to
fill 15 different types. Similarly, it would be
difficult (and perhaps even
impossible) to define recruiting plans based
on a strategy that
consolidates various engineering specialties
into a single category. It
is unlikely that the differences needed to
create realistic, focused
staffing plans could be discerned or inferred
from summarized or
compiled data.
When creating staffing strategies, keep the
plans separate and
distinct. This is especially true if you have
developed plans to
address separate issues, using different
planning parameters. Create
plans that are at the same level as your
probable solution. Don’t roll
up data as a matter of course. Create a
corporate view only if the
staffing issues that can be identified and
addressed are at a
corporate level. If, in certain cases, an
integrated plan is required
(e.g., to manage IT across, and not within,
organizational units),
create a “stand-alone” model that spans
those units but includes only
those jobs.
When it comes time to summarize (and
develop that one sheet
overview), create a page that high-lights the
most critical staffing
issues you have defined (see above) and
summarizes the strategies
you plan to implement to address those
issues. If more detail is
required, make specific plans available as an
attachment.
▪ Define issues on an ongoing basis, don’t
create an “event.”
Strategic staffing should be thought of as
defining and addressing the
staffing implications of change. Thus,
staffing implications need to be
defined, whenever change is being discussed
or anticipated. If your
organization discusses and considers
changes to its business plans and
strategies just once each year, then an annual
staffing process may be
appropriate. If your organization discusses,
considers, and implements
changes throughout the year, however, an
annual process is probably
insufficient. A discussion of the staffing
implications of changes in
business plans should be conducted each and
every time change is
Page 10
10
discussed or anticipated — not at some set
time each planning period.
Assuming change is constant, this implies
that strategic staffing is an
ongoing process, implemented and updated
throughout the year—not a
once-a-year event.
As an example, an engineering /construction
company used to have an
annual staff planning process, but now
discusses staffing implications of
change at every management committee
meeting (i.e., on a biweekly
basis). Further, it developed a performance
expectation for managers that
any proposal for resources (e.g., a new
project or a change in technology
used) had to include a analysis of staffing
issues and a high-level staffing
plan.
▪ Focus on planning and acting, not
reporting. Many organizations
spend too much time creating reports, tables
and listings that describe in
detail past turnover, current staffing levels,
and other staffing related data.
Others document staffing movement (e.g.,
identifying openings and
detailing how each was filled). In some
cases, these reports represent the
bulk of the HR planning effort. What good
is this data if it does not
significantly affect decision making?
An old adage describes a significant
difference between “data” and
“information.” Data is just that — facts,
figures, numbers, and the like.
Data that is used to make a decision is
information. If, for example, you
reallocate staff because of something you
discern from a data table, then
that data has become information. When it
comes to staffing, make sure
that you provide managers with information,
not data. If your reports
provide managers with data that is simply
“nice to know” or “interesting,”
but doesn’t directly influence decision
making, don’t provide them.
Information on past practices and results is
typically useful only when it is
used as a basis for formulating assumptions
about the future that can be
incorporated into plans. For example,
studies of past turnover should be
conducted only when turnover assumptions
are to be factored into future
plans and models. Detailed information on
employee movement might
identify alternative career paths that can be
exploited to fill staffing
shortages that the model has identified, but
should not be used to
estimate the number of moves of various
kinds that are expected in the
future.
Here are two examples:
o One high-tech company used to regularly
publish a detailed listing
that addressed staffing activity. The report
(often more than 100
computer-generated pages in length)
identified existing openings
and detailed how long each position had
been open, what had been
Page 11
11
done in the last month to fill openings, and
any data on how the
position would be filled. The report did not
include any “look
forward” and was not viewed by managers
as an especially useful
tool. Once the organization began to look at
staffing from a more
strategic perspective, the report was
streamlined, so that
it provided information on possible sources
of needed talent.
o An automotive company was trying to
establish a strategic
workforce planning function. It elected to
build its foundation on
providing information — accurately
answering the questions of
managers regarding past staffing practices
and patterns (e.g.,
defining annual turnover rates for specific
categories of jobs in
response to specific management requests).
As the function built
credibility, the workforce planning unit was
planning to “add value”
by discussing with managers why they were
requesting the data,
suggesting alternative data, conducting
analyses, and interpreting
results. By asking these intelligent
questions, the function hoped to
build a reputation as a valued strategic
partner, thus allowing it to
participate actively in the business planning
process.
▪ Solve problems, don’t just build
capability. Managers want answers
to their staffing problems, and solutions to
their issues. Yet some HR
functions focus their efforts on providing a
process, system, or tool that
managers can use to develop staffing
strategies — not on meeting
management’s need for action and answers.
The best “deliverable” of
the strategic staffing process isn’t a tool or
model — it is a solution to a
staffing problem (i.e., a qualified individual
filling an opening).
Generally, the development of a “tool” or
“model,” while necessary in
many cases, is by itself insufficient. The tool
must be applied effectively
to identify and address critical staffing
issues. Managers must be trained
(perhaps by HR staff) to use the tools
effectively and apply results
analytically. Make sure your process results
in specific, actionable
staffing plans (i.e., what will be done to
address staffing short-ages and
surpluses), not just a better definition of the
needs themselves.
▪ Do the most you can with the
information you have. Many
organizations think that they lack sufficient
data to support the
development of a staffing strategy. When
trying to define staffing
requirements, for example, some
organizations seem to think that staffing
strategies must be based on “perfect data”
— a full set of accurate
information that describes fairly precisely
what each business unit will do
or is trying to accomplish. It is as if the
staffing function is saying to the
units, “As soon as you figure out what we
are going to do, we will be able
to define staffing requirements.” Given the
rate of change in most
organizations, this well defined, complete
data set will simply
Page 12
12
never be available. Still, valuable staffing
strategies can be developed, even
when “full” data is not available.
o Fully utilize the data that does exist. The
objective in these cases is
not to try and get that data, but instead to
“do the most you can with
what you have.” You almost always know
more than you think you do.
Suppose you are “sure” of 20 percent of
what your organization is
going to accomplish. This will allow you to
create staffing strategies for
that 20 percent. You can either create a
strategy for the part you know,
or do nothing until you know it all. The
choice is clear. Don’t think in
terms of the missing 80 percent — think
instead that you will be better
off addressing at least some of the problem
than if you did nothing at
all. Here is an example of what one medical
center did to create a
staffing strategy for patient care staff in the
face of great uncertainty.
The center could calculate a ratio of the
number of nurses required per
patient in a given unit. That was not the
problem. The problem was that
the center had very little idea of how many
patients could be expected
at any given time. While not random, the
number of patients in each
unit fluctuated greatly. Consequently, there
was no clear number of
patients to whom this staffing ratio could be
applied. Even in the face
of such uncertainty, the center created a very
specific staffing strategy.
It would use its own full-time staff to
support the minimum number of
patients (this number would, by definition,
be the same every day);
supplement this “base” with its own part-
time staff, whenever the
number of patients was more than the
minimum and less than the
median; and use contractors above the
median.
o Scenario Planning: Some organizations
incorporate various
scenarios into their business plans. Probably,
each scenario has
different staffing implications. One
approach would be to try to
determine which scenario will occur, and
then define staffing plans for
that scenario. Not only is this difficult to do,
but there could be
significant problems, if you staff for one
scenario and another occurs.
Instead, define the staffing requirements of
each of the most likely
scenarios and look for commonality. For
example, suppose that there
are three possible scenarios for expansion of
a business unit. In case
one, 40 new sales associates will be needed.
In the second, 50 will be
needed. The third calls for “mega” growth,
and 100 new sales
associates would be required. Rather than
choosing one scenario,
create a strategy for attracting the minimum
number of associates. No
matter what happens, you are likely to need
at least 40 sales
associates. Obtaining these people will not
solve all your problems, but
you will certainly be better off than
scrambling to hire the “right”
number on short notice, once the actual
scenario is determined.
Page 13
13
o “What If ” Planning: Some plans are
even less certain than the
scenarios described above. In these cases,
organizations discuss possible
plans, but implementation remains
uncertain. It makes no sense to try to
“staff up” for each possibility, but still some
staff planning can be
beneficial. In these instances, define the
staffing implications of the
various alternatives (e.g., “If we were to do
that, we would need 200
network administrators”), and discuss what
would need to be done to
attract these people. What skills would be
required? How many people
with those skills are out there? How many
could we attract? At what rate
of pay? Where would we look? Obviously
you are not going to go out and
hire these people at this stage, but discussing
and developing the various
alternatives will make it easier (and faster)
to act later on — once those
business plans become clearer.
Summary
If your organization understands the benefits
of creating a staffing strategy, but
has had little or no success to date
implementing a traditional process, consider
the alternatives described above. Think of
strategic staffing as creating a longer-
term context within which more effective
short-term staffing decisions can be
made. Integrate staffing into business
planning, don’t think of it solely in terms of
implementation. Create strategies that focus
on particular issues. Vary planning
parameters accordingly. Include only those
jobs for which a longer-term
perspective is really needed. Keep plans
separate and distinct. Update staffing
plans, whenever significant changes in
business plans are being considered.
Work to provide managers with information,
not data. And most important of all,
develop strategies so that staffing issues and
problems are solved—don’t just
build a new tool or system.
Figure 1. CONSIDER NEW
APPROACHES
`Instead of this
consider this
Predicting the future
Build a longer- term context for short-term
decision making
Addressing staffing as an implementation
concern
Address staffing from a proactive, Planning
perspective
Focusing on organizations and units
Focus on issues
Defining a one-size-fits-all process
Tailor the process and parameters for each
issue
Including all positions
Focus on positions where you need to be
proactive or need time to react
Consolidating plans
Keep plans detailed, separate, and distinct
Creating plans as a one time “event” (e.g.,
annually)
Create plans in response to changing
strategies, whenever change occurs or
is discussed
Creating reports and listings that describe
“what was”
Focus on planning and looking ahead to
“what will be”
Building capability or tools
Solve staffing problems and address staffing
issues
Page 14
14
Author
Thomas P. Bechet
The Walker Group
2131 E. Broadway Rd., Suite 24
Tempe, AZ 85282-1737
www.thewalkergroup.com
Thomas Bechet is a Partner of The Walker
Group and specializes in human
resource strategies, strategic staffing,
forecasting, executive succession and
development planning, and human resource
information management. He has
provided consulting services to a variety of
corporations and has also consulted
with the states of Minnesota and Indiana.
Tom has worked with domestic and
international organizations to create human
resource plans, including the
identification of human resource issues, the
development of human resource
strategies, and the development of human
resource planning processes. Many
of these assignments included working
directly with senior managers to define
future position requirements and
competencies, identify and assess potential
candidates, and create action-oriented
development plans. Tom has worked with
organizations to develop strategies for
managing human resource information
and to improve the effectiveness of their
human resource information systems.
He has also assisted many organizations to
design, develop and implement PC-
and network-based systems to support
forecasting, executive development, and
This is the html version of the file
http://www.mcul.org/files/cucorp/744/file/Small_
CU/staffing_process.pdf.
Google automatically generates html versions of
documents as we crawl the web.

Page 1

THE
STAF
FING
PROC
ESS
 Page 2

The The
Staffing Staffing
Process Process
Recruiting RECRUIT
Interviewin ING
Job Descriptions
g Does a Job
Hiring/Firi Description exist?
Does it need to be
ng updated?
Page 3
Updated job
descriptions
protect your CU
in
several ways and Reports to:
are often used in Direct Supervisor
court Status: Exempt
proceedings as or Non-Exempt.
evidence. In event of
Page 4
Fair Labor
The Standard’s Act
(FLSA) audit, it
Staffing helps
Process to have this
specified.
RECRUIT Date: Placing
ING month and year of
last revision
Elements of job
helps assure that
description: this is the most
Position: Name current JD.
of Position Page 5
 positions, Credit
The Union
Staffing experience. If the
candidates meet
Process the requirements,
you can
RECRUIT justify hiring a
ING person because
Elements of job they have Credit
description: Union experience
in addition to
Desirable
meeting the
Qualifications:
requirements.
Qualifications
Signatures: Used
that
to verify that
are desirable but
upper
not “required”.
I.e. for some
management description
agree with the job restricts
as described. management’s
Page 6
right to
The assign or reassign
duties and
Staffing responsibilities to
Process this job at any
time”
RECRUIT This statement is
a good
ING “disclaimer” that
Elements of job is more
description: specific than the
Footer usual
Statement: requirement that
“Nothing in this is listed
job
that states, “Other
duties as
Classified
assigned”.
Page 7
Employm
The ent Ad!
Page 8
Staffing
The
Process Staffing
RECRUIT
Process
ING
Use your Job
RECRUIT
Description for ING
writing the… Writing
Employment
Ad’s
Headline: Requires Credit
Attention Union
Grabbing Phrase Experience
or Specific Job Page 9

Title. Usually The

“bolded”.
TELLER Staffing
Subhead: Process
(optional)
supports RECRUIT
Headline. Key
requirements or
ING
opportunities Writing
related to the Employment Ads
position. The Body
TELLER
The Body: Main “position requires
section of the ad. travel. Dates and
Includes a brief times applicant
description of can apply, or to
main job whom and where
responsibilities, a resume should
and specific be sent, is also
information about included here.
Page 10
the position, I.e.
the required The
Skills,
Knowledge,
Staffing
Abilities and Process
Experience. Also
add specific RECRUIT
information
relative to the
ING
position, like
Writing EOE statement,
Employment Ads or “No Phone
Signature Calls Please”.
Page 11
Signature: TELLER
Full-Time, Credit Union
(optional). Experience Required
Westland Branch of Acme Credit
Identifies the Union seeks individual
with 2 years Credit Union
company and experience. Other requirements:
computer skills, great customer
features the service skills, cash handling
company name or skills, extensive background
check processed and must be
logo with address bondable. Excellent benefits
package, including Health,
and phone Dental, Pension, and more!
Apply in person through 6/1/03
number. at 1234 State Street or call (800)
555-1212.
Statement Acme Credit Union: For
Statement: People, Not Profit!
An Equal Opportunity Employer
(optional). This Headline
section can Subhead
include an Body
Signature Headline
Statement Body
Statement
The
The
Staffing
Staffing
Process
Process
RECRUIT
RECRUIT
ING
TELLER
Page 12
ING
Acme Credit Union (Westland) Page 13
seeks indvl. w/ 2 yrs. CU exp.
Must have computer, cust. serv.
& cash handling skills.
The
Background check processed &
must be bondable.
Excellent benefits package w/
Staffing
health, dental, pension & more!
Apply in person thru 6/1/03 at
1234 State St.
Process
or call (800) 555-1212.
EOE
 Yahoo.com…
RECRUIT great
ING ROI, ex-$300 ad
Saving Money will run for 60
While days vs. Detroit
Advertising! News ad that will
Abbreviate…You run for $300 on
can easily save ONE Sunday.
$50 on an ad! Also, get benefit
Check with local of computer
college “Alumni savvy candidates.
Page 14
Associations”
….they will often
let you run online
ad’s for free.
Monster.com,
HotJobs.com,
 the following three
INTER questions in
deciding whether to

VIEWI include a particular

question on an
employment
NG Page 15
application or a job
interview:
Does this question
The tend to have a
disproportionate
Staffing effect in screening
out minorities or
Process females?
Is this information
INTERVI necessary to judge
this individual’s
EWING competence for
The EEOC has performance of this
suggested that an particular job?
employer consider
Are there alternative relevant in most
non-discriminatory hiring decisions, and
ways to secure therefore, date-of-
necessary birth questions are
information. improper. Age is a
Page 16
sensitive pre-
The employment
question, because
Staffing the Age
Discrimination
Process in Employment Act
protects employees
INTERVI 40 years old and
above. It is
EWING permissible to ask an
Interviewing applicant to state his
Questions and Age or her age if it is less
Age/date of birth: than 18. If you need
Generally, age is the date of
considered not to be birth for internal
reasons, i.e.,
computations with Race, religion, national
respect origin: Generally,
questions should not be
to a pension or asked about these
profit-sharing plan, matters, either on
this information can employment applications
be obtained after the or
during job interviews.
person is hired.
Page 17
The requirements that an
applicant furnish a
The picture has been held to
help support a claim for
Staffing race discrimination
when it was
demonstrated that an
Process employer never hired a
minority
INTERVI applicant, the theory
being the picture was
EWING required so that an
employer would
Interviewing Questions remember which
and Race applicants were members
of
minorities. A sexual
harassment plaintiff The
might similarly argue
that
the employer pre-
Staffing
screened applicants for
physical attractiveness. Process
Ordinarily, Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act of INTERVI
1964 requires that
employers make
reasonable
EWING
accommodations for their Interview Questions and
employees’ Education
religious practices, thus Education: If a job for
eliminating the necessity which an application is
for asking being made does not
whether an applicant’s require a particular level
religious beliefs would of education, it is
prohibit his or her improper to ask
working at certain times questions about an
and on certain days in applicant’s educational
most situations. background. Applicants
Page 18
can be asked about
educational background,
schools attended,
degrees earned, and
vocational training when
the performance of a
from employment
minorities who,
generally-speaking, have
obtained lesser levels of
education.
Page 19

job requires a particular

level of education. For The
example, inquiring
into the English language Staffing
proficiency and
educational background
of a secretarial candidate
Process
is proper, while the same
inquiry would INTERVI
probably be improper for
a janitorial applicant. The EWING
EEOC and Interview Questions
some courts have looked
and Arrest
closely at an employer’s
educational Arrest, conviction
requirements to records: The EEOC
determine whether they takes the position that
are being used to exclude
questions concerning in some way related to
arrests are improper the position being
unless the applied for. The
applicant is being EEOC takes these
considered for a positions because of
"security sensitive" job statistics which show
and the employer does that minorities are
an investigation to arrested and convicted
determine, in at considerably
effect, whether the higher rates than
applicant was likely to Caucasians.
Page 20
have committed the
crime for which he or
she was arrested. The
The
EEOC also says
that questions about an Staffing
applicant’s conviction
record are Process
improper unless the
employer can show that INTERVI
the conviction is
EWING
Interview Questions applications. The
and Citizenship Form I-9 is the
Citizenship: The appropriate place to
anti-discrimination determine
provision of the citizenship status
Immigration Reform instead of the
and Control Act employment
provides that an application.
Page 21
employer cannot
discriminate because The
an applicant is
not a U.S. citizen. Staffing
Therefore, in order
to avoid charges Process
of discrimination
under this Act, INTERVI
citizenship questions
should probably be EWING
deleted from
employment
Interview The
Suggestions
Screening
Staffing
Interviews: Process
Place Ad, INTERVI
Collect
Resumes, EWING
Create Benefits of
“Screening using a
Interview “Screening
Questionnaire” Interview
to save time! Questionnaire”
Page 22
:
Consistency- enclosed in seminar
notes.
ensures you Page 23

ask the same The

questions of
each applicant. Staffing
Saves you and Process
applicant
valuable time-
INTERVI
I.e. applicant is EWING
earning $15/hr. What kind of
you will questions do I
pay no more ask?
than $11/hr. Interview
Sample “Screening
Interview
Strategically
Questionnaire” …Tie your
interview The
questions to
the job Staffing
description, Process
seeking a more
accurate
INTERVI
measure based EWING
on the Two valid
assumptions are the
candidate’s basis for effective
actual interview
experience. questions:
Page 24 Measurements of
past behaviors are
good predictors of
future behavior.
They tend to reveal
whether the
candidate’s
competencies will INTERVI
match performance
expectations.
EWING
Questions that are Strategy 1: Ask for
closely linked to a demonstration.
performance Strategy 2: Ask for
expectations are Descriptions of Past
likely to reveal the Experience with Job
candidate’s ability to Barriers. This
perform the job. requires the
Page 25
interviewer to
The “know” the
specific job barriers.
Staffing Example
Example- Instead of
Process “give me an
example of a time
you
dealt with a difficult Strategy 3: Ask for
member?”, a Description of
state…”give me an Behavior in
example of a time Comparable
when you dealt with Situations. An
a difficult member effective interviewer
who had a valid would ask, “Can
complaint against you give me an
the credit union?”. example in which
Page 26
you had several
The things that needed
to be done at
Staffing the same time that
Process were of equal
importance?
INTERVI What did you do?
You can use non-
EWING work
experiences to
describe this
The
situation.”
For this strategy to
Staffing
be successful, the
interviewer must
Process
know how a well-
qualified candidate
INTERVI
would behave EWING
and recognize the
Strategy 4: Ask
competency
requirement can be how past
demonstrated in a Behavior Relates
range of similar to Performance
situations. Expectations. Ask
Page 27
the
question, “Tell
me about how
your work
experience
qualifies you for
The
this job”, Staffing
as opposed to
“Tell me about Process
yourself”. INTERVI
This elicits a
response more EWING
geared Strategy 5:
toward measuring Ask for
if the individual
Descriptions of
fits with
performance Accomplishme
expectations and nts. Ask
job candidates how
requirements. they meet
Page 28
competency
requirements
or how TERMI
they produce
accomplishme NATIN
nts for the
organization.
G Page 30

“What have
you done to
A
make the Necessar
organization
more y Evil of
effective?” the
Page 29
 “At-Will” employment
HR means the employer and
the employee
can terminate
Function employment at any time
for any or no reason.
(Of course the employer
! can’t terminate for
“illegal reasons”,
The like discrimination).
But…this does not mean
that a terminated
Staffing employee can’t sue
your Credit Union!
Process Take the necessary
precautions to prevent
TERMIN expensive litigation
from occurring!

ATING The
Page 31

“At-Will Staffing
Employment”
Process
TERMIN The
ATING Staffing
Page 32

Performance Process
Appraisals
“The
TERMIN
Path of ATING
Page 33

Least “Performance
Resistan Appraisals”
Managers sometime have
ce is a tendency to rate staff
who are under-
Avoidanc achievers as “meets
expectations” or
e.” “average” in order to
“keep
the peace” at the office.
Train and demand that
your managers to give The
honest appraisals to
their staff. If there is a
problem, maybe it can be
Staffing
fixed?! If not,
there is documentation Process
that a problem existed
and you tried in good TERMIN
faith to fix it.
If you fire Sally (a
minority over age 50) for
ATING
Page 34
poor performance, and
she “meets expectations” “Documentation
and has no disciplinary and Discipline
documentation in
her personnel file….your Policies”
CU could stand to be All Disciplinary actions
sued in court for a and policy infractions
HUGE sum of money!! (late, tardy, etc.) should
be documented, dated
and (preferably and when
appropriate)
signed by the manager
and employee.
Perhaps a formal or
informal progressive The
discipline policy may be
implemented. No matter
how this is documented,
Staffing
the most
important element is Process
CONSISTENCY! CU’s
need to show a pattern TERMIN
of consistency in
executing their
termination procedures.
ATING
Make certain you include
language in your policies
manual and
other personnel
documents that does not
imply any sort of
“employment
contract”….I.e. reiterate
the “at-will” disclaimer
and
avoid contractual
language, however small
the implication.