Explain staffing as a part of human resource management

Staffing refers to the function of finding the right people for the right job. It is an important aspect of management as it ensures that the right people with the needed qualifications are chosen for the work.

It ensures that the vacancies are filled and always remain occupied. Staffing involves various stages including recruitment through various sources, right selection out of the applicants, placement and orientation, training of the employees, etc. Managing the human element is a requisite function of any organisation as it serves the basis of the level of efficiency of the organisation. Thus, success of any organisation depends on how effectively this function can be performed and to what extent the productivity can be increased with efficient staffing. Nowadays, it is seen that organisations that are large in size, maintain a separate department for dealing with this function. This department is generally known as 'Human Resource Department'. Under this department, the various tasks of staffing are performed by specialised managers. Along with staffing they also take care of the labour grievances. Human resource management thus act as a link between the workers and the managers.

However, staffing does not necessarily require a separate department and rather, is a function to be performed by every manager himself. Staffing forms an essential part of management. Managers here play an important role as they make sure about the optimum utilisation of the manpower. It is their task to watch if there is any vacancy and also, if any extra manpower is needed. Subsequently, they should work on how the recruitment has to be done, what qualifications are necessary for the applicants to apply for the job, and to what extent, training is necessary for that particular job. As managers are more closely related to the workers, they can work on the staffing process more efficiently. They can set the required qualifications for a particular job according to their need and work. For example, if a manager needs two subordinates to work under him then he'll be able to mention the requirements more clearly. Similarly, they can perform the task of recruiting the personnel more smoothly as they would know what kind of personnel he would require and through what source he can gather an efficient pool of applicants, may it be internal or external sources, depending on his needs. As the main seekers of the employees, they can carry out the selection process of the right candidate in the best possible manner. Along with this, managers can also perform other important aspects of staffing namely, appraisal, promotions and career planning.

Thus, it can be said that staffing function is performed by every manager and not necessarily by a separate department.