STAFFING STRATS AND ETHICS

• Staffing Strategy - making key decisions about the acquisition, deployment, and retention of the organization’s workforce
• Staffing Strategy - outgrowth of the interplay between organization strategy and HR strategy
• Hire Yourself or Outsource

  • In-house recruitment
  • Staffing outsourcing - RPO
• Acquire or Develop Talent

  • "Buy-or-make-your-talent" - pure acquisition; pure development
• Strategic Staffing Decisions are an outgrowth of the interplay between organization strategy and HR strategy
• Acquire or Develop Talent options:

  • "Buy-or-make-your-talent"
  • Pure acquisition
  • Pure development
• Hire Yourself or Outsource options:

  • In-house recruitment
  • Staffing outsourcing
  • RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)
• External or Internal Hiring:

  • A mix of internal and external hiring is necessary in most situations
  • Internal hiring emphasis for cultivating a stable, committed workforce
  • External hiring for specific entry-level jobs or rapid organization growth
• Core Workforce:

  • Regular employees central to core goods and services
  • Full-time or part-time

  Flexible Workforce:

  • Peripheral or Contingent Workers on an as-needed basis
• Hire or Retain:

  • Acceptance of turnover level
  • Minimize turnover by hiring replacements and striving for optimal mix of hiring and retention
• National or Global Staffing:

  • Organizations may staff with foreign workers to overcome labor shortages or excessive costs
• Attract or Relocate:

  • Bring labor to the organization or bring the organization to labor
• Overstaff or Understaff:

  • Overstaffing during dips in demand to stockpile talent
  • Understaffing during chronic labor shortages or economic downturn predictions
• Short or Long-Term Focus:

  • Organizations focus on short-term needs when forced to choose
• Staffing Quality: Person/Job or Person/Organization Match

  • Person/Job match for finite tasks
  • Person/Organization match for poorly defined and fluid jobs
• Specific or General KSAOs:

  • Specific KSAOs focus on job-specific competencies
  • General KSAOs applicable across a variety of jobs
• Exceptional or Acceptable Workforce Quality:

  • Exceptional Quality for preeminent KSAOs
  • Acceptable Quality for less high-powered, possibly less expensive workforce
• Active or Passive Diversity:

  • Active diversity strategy for legal and customer needs
  • Passive diversity strategy for time-consuming diversification
• Staffing Ethics involve determining moral principles and guidelines for acceptable practice
• Actions and outcomes that can raise staffing ethics issues include:

  • Hiring without proper assessment
  • Ignoring successful applicants
  • Failing to advance diversity initiatives
  • Making overly generous job offers causing dissatisfaction
• Organizational ethics aim to raise expectations, legitimize dialogue, encourage decision-making, prevent misconduct, and provide a basis for enforcement
• Responses to suspected ethical lapses:

  • Do nothing due to fear of retaliation or lack of trust
  • Seek advice from various sources
• Suggestions for Ethical Staffing Practice:

  • Represent the organization's interest
  • Beware of conflicts of interest
  • Remember the job applicant
  • Follow policies, procedures, and laws
  • Consult professional codes of conduct
  • Seek ethics advice