Staffing Models And Strategy

Introduction				appropriate staffing model. On the other hand, if a firm
Staffing models are crucial to any form of business				decided to implement staffing models independently,
because there is a direct link between staffing models				then they also need to decide on the type of staffing.
and organizational strategy. Good staffing models				(Druker, 1995)
streamline organizations' strategic directions while at				Deciding on the most appropriate staffing model is the
the same time improve employee productivity.				hardest task because it will dictate all other steps that
Repeatedly, human resource managers and other				follow thereafter. The next step is to collect
administrative personnel complain about the lack of				information from all staff members within the
results after implementing changes in their staffing				organization. This is something that may entail a period
duties. Additionally, some managers claim that there is				of one month or more depending on the size of the
no link between staffing changes and organizational				organization. Larger institutions with nationwide
performance. These negative responses emanate				branches may require more time than other average
from the fact that such mangers may not have utilized				sized ones. Additionally, data collection heavily relies on
good staffing models to improve their organizational				the nature of activities. Some pieces of work may
strategy.				require too much time while others take up vey little so
How staffing models and strategy can improve				this all depends on the organization in question.
organizational effectiveness				Thereafter, the human resource department or the
Businesses that implement good staffing models will				team given the responsibility of implementing staffing
translate these benefits into all aspects of the				models will be expected to prepare a staffing model
organization. The most important of all the				report. The purpose of such a document is to come
departments is the financial department. Managers				up with an in depth analysis of the job positions, cost
who implement sound staffing models will not waste				and activities performed within the given organization.
valuable company resources employing unnecessary				Preparation of the report usually takes a period of one
employees. This substantially reduces overall costs of				week or more depending on the size of the
the business and may encourage competitive pricing.				organization. These can be placed in the form of
Such companies can afford to offer special prices,				Microsoft excel files or other suitable methods of
bonuses and discounts because they have minimized				report writing.
their overall operating costs. Consequently, they can still				Information is quite useless if the people is was
run at a profit. (Druker, 1995)				intended for fail to understand it. Managers need to
Not only do staffing models reduce overall operating				explain all the details of the staffing model report to
cost within any given company, but they also improve				their respective employees in order to enhance the
quality. When human resource managers or general				spirit of transparency within the organization. Some of
managers decide to employ sound staffing strategies,				the best methods of data collection and presentation
then chances are only the most appropriate				can be irrelevant to an organization if managements
employees will be selected for the job. This implies that				do not go out of their way to explain them to their
such employees will commit themselves towards				employees. For that reason, there should be a review
achieving organizational goals and will go a long way in				of the graphs and charts utilized in each model to
ensuring that such employees perform to their				enhance overall adaptation of such a system in the
maximum. It is a known fact that overall productivity in				community. (Dainty, 2000)
any company is directly linked to individual efforts - an				After a review, there should be an analysis of future
aspect that is adequately covered in good staffing				staffing needs within the organization. This part
models and staffing strategies.				employs effective use of predictive patterns. Here, the
Most organizations tend to perform poorly within their				human resource manager needs to ascertain that he
respective markets because their employees				relates future job patterns with
capabilities are never fully utilized. However, staffing				Job design
models give human resource managers the chance to				- Product volume
tap almost all of their employee's potential. If everyone				- Product type
in an organization is working at his or her optimum, then				- Etc
such an organization is likely to supersede its				One can make use of the results presented in the
competitor's performance.				review stage to come up with a relationship between
Staffing models are also particularly important in				the latter aspects and staffing needs related to
ensuring the right balance between specialists and				changes in them.
generalists. Repeatedly, many organizations make the				Companies may have to spend minimal or large
mistake of employing too many specialists. Such large				amounts of money on implementing staffing models
levels of employee supply may outstrip demand and				depending on nature and size of their business. Those
cause heavy losses for the company in question. On				companies that have a large number of unique job
the other hand, a company with very few specialists is				positions may have to employ large amounts of
unable to perform certain tasks and functions thus				financial resources towards such a process. This could
impeding its productivity and overall performance in the				be ninety thousand dollars or more. Also, companies
market. Therefore, companies need to make sure that				located in different parts of the country may require
the number and quality of specialists and generalists				higher capital to implement staffing model projects in
meets organizational needs. Staffing models provide				comparison to those ones located in one part of the
businesses with the framework for rationalizing and				City. Lastly, the total number of staff largely
balancing the latter mentioned groups. (Michell, 1999)				determines staffing model project costs.
What staffing models and strategy entail				It is important to note that very many companies
Staffing models are a representation of the relationship				testify to the kind of benefits they receive from
between staffing costs and time utilization by				staffing models. For instance, most of them use
employees. Additionally, they also indicate the kind of				staffing models to streamline organizational goals with
activities that occur within the organization and why				generalist and specialist employees. The latter are also
employees perform those duties and functions.				linked to the nature of customer segments, products
Staffing models give managers a chance to critically				and processes offered by that particular company.
analyze how employees spend their time in the				The overall result of making such linkages is to
organization. This also acts as a platform for assessing				improve overall quality and production in the company.
the most effective way of going about organizational				It is also possible to minimize on overall cost to the
duties. Normally, staffing models are depictions of how				company by ensuring that they can predict the nature
all the latter issues relate to one another through the				of problems arising in the future thus making issues
following;				less complicated for them.
- Reports				Managers normally use staffing models; to predict
- Graphs				problems in the future by creating different scenarios
- Charts				and determine how those scenarios could affect
- Other analytical tools				different parameters in the organization. The
Additionally, some companies may choose to treat				predictions depend upon the results obtained in other
these staffing models as tools for forecasting staffing				previous experiences. By playing around with different
needs in the future. In fact, there is a primary function				scenarios, managers can find out the most appropriate
of staffing models. Most organizations may not				staffing method by calculating optimum conditions.
necessarily know how to link staffing functions in the				Managers should implement optimum conditions
future together with overall product range. The charts				immediately and may witness positive results after a
and reports used in staffing models allow such a				period of twelve weeks after completing their staffing
forecast because they are scientifically based and				model projects. This will ensure that the company is
therefore have the backing of good analytical				always above its competitors.
techniques. (Dainty, 2000)				Examples of how staffing models improve
In short detail, staffing models provide the basis for				organizations
determining the job positions that utilize most of the				Graveley and Littlefield (1992) conducted research on
activities in the organization and those ones that use				a hospital that chose to implement a staffing model.
the least amount of job activity. In relation to this,				According to the writers, the issue of health provision is
staffing models also give reasons for various				directly related to prevailing economic conditions in the
outcomes in the workplace. This allows human				US. The claimed that for every rise in inflation rate,
resource managers to assess job positions that are				costs of providing health care rose by twice as much.
particularly important to the organization and those				Consequently, hospitals needed to examine the most
ones that are not. Because the latter are assessed				cost effective way of offering prenatal care for
based on explanations for those performances, then				pregnant women. The survey was comparing three
organizations may get an opportunity to sieve out				staffing models that included;
unproductive areas.				-Mixed staffing
Staffing models also provide a link between time and				-Specialist staffing
costs involved in the following organizational functions				-General staffing
- Customer segments				It should be noted that Specialist staffing in this case
- Products				refers to specialist nurses. On the other hand, general
- Processes				cases refer to general doctors while mixed cases
As these are all crucial parts of the business, then				involve merging the two types of models together.
there is need to relate them with their cost on				(Taylor, 1998)
organizational performance.				The team obtained information from the hospital's
Staffing models usually work by relating skills with time.				record keeping section. Here, they got the names of
On their own, managers may not accurately predict				one hundred women utilizing antenatal care within the
the types of staff members needed at any time.				three types of hospitals. These women were then
Staffing models are the framework within which				given the option of participating in an interview to be
managers can achieve this goal. Managers can use				conducted by the group. The women were required to
staffing models to predict the kind of staffing needs				give their opinion about the quality of service offered
that will arise in the future depending on the time				by those companies. Additionally, the researchers also
allocated to different skills in the present time.				analyzed all the hours of service and financial costs
Additionally, staffing models allow managers to link				that the various hospitals had to undergo while
activity allocation to some of the root causes in the				performing their tasks. It was found that there was a
organization. For instance, they usually examine why				similarity between the total cases admitted in all the
certain activities yield the results that they do at any				hospitals. However, the researchers revealed that
one time. Staffing models are created in such a way				most women felt more satisfied with the nurse
that they can be applied in the future. Consequently,				specialists than the general physicians. Consequently,
managers using this model will become smarter in their				the clinic that had adopted this business staffing
respective environments and will also have the ability				strategy was the most effective because they
to bring about change in their organizations in the				recorded the lowest staffing costs yet they also
future. This goes a long way in ensuring that				reported the highest customer satisfaction rates.
unnecessary problems are eliminated. (Michell, 1999)				In conclusion, this research indicated the benefits of
Staffing models may be applied in a wide range of				applying good staffing models and strategy. This is
organizations. For instance, in a company that offers				because it allows clinics or hospital the ability to
insurance services, their staffing model may entail all				determine which staffing models are the most
the hours spent by the underwriting department, the				appropriate. It gives a basis for future practices as the
claims department, accounting, life insurance				outcomes were not based on guesswork but largely
department and so on. The total time allocated to all				depended on sound scientific data. The clinic that used
the activities in the insurance firm needs to determined				specialist nurses recorded the highest level of
and the fraction spent by each activity determined.				customer satisfaction; that is, it presented high quality.
Such a model may also include the costs to the				Additionally, that same clinic recorded least staffing
business for performing any of the activities in the				costs. This indicated that the most appropriate staffing
latter mentioned departments. It is also important to				model was the specialist one.
remember that after the time allocation have been				Summary and conclusion
recorded, savings made by those department needs				Staffing models are particularly important within an
to be written in terms of financial implications				organization because they allow employers the
Staffing models may also apply to a financial institution				chance to focus only on the most important
such as a bank. Normally, each and every department				employees while getting rid of unwanted posts and
within the organization will be expected to implement				positions. This is cost effective and makes companies
staffing models. For example, the Letter of Credit				more competitive. Additionally, staffing models allow
department may have a staffing model of their own				employers to tap employees' full potential because the
while the account opening section may also have their				staffing model guides them on the most appropriate
own staffing models. Taking the example of the Letter				activities, products and processes within the
of credit department, their staffing models may have a				organization. Staffing models are crucial in the process
large number of activities. Despite the fact that some				of choosing the most productive employees. This
activities yield low levels of returns, all activities should				leads to better production and quality. (Denton et al,
be included because these small changes have the				1983)
capacity to bring significant cost implications to the				Companies that want to implement staffing strategies
respective organization if left unchecked. Additionally,				need to go through a series of steps in order to
staffing models for that department can also include a				ensure effectiveness. First of all, they need to select
link between the job positions available and time				the kind of staffing models to be used and whether
allocated to specific products offered by the				they will require help from an outside firm or they will
department under consideration. (Taylor, 1998)				implement it independently. Thereafter, companies
Staffing models can become particularly important in				need to collect data. This depends on product type
cases where the company under consideration offers				and organizational size. Thereafter, the company
their services nationwide or internationally. It is possible				needs to compile a report indicating the relationship
to find that such organizations create over seventy				between job positions, activities conducted in the
staffing models; one for every city of operation.				company and overall cost to the company. Thereafter,
Normally, such reports will entail client needs and the				there will be a review to analyze the report. This is
skills needed to fulfill them. Different cities may have				then followed by forecasting procedures where
different activity requirements and most of them may				various product types, product volumes and customer
not posses the ability to change their respective				segments are changed. The latter will be related to
organizations. Some of the benefits that could come				cost and managers must then settle on the idea that
out of staffing models for such nationwide institutions				delivers the most cost effective method to be used.
include;				In 1992, Graveley and Littlefield tested the above
- Lowering training costs				factors by comparing staffing models between three
- Increasing employee retention rates				different hospitals. It was found that the one with
- Improving customer service				specialist care was the most appropriate.
These benefits will be achieved after an analysis of				Consequently, the best approach in the use of staffing
city-city requirements within any one town.				models and strategies is to apply the most appropriate
While staffing models usually take account of primary				one. This means one that is both cost effective yet at
activities, it is important to note that there are activities				the same time top quality.
that may be repetitions from previous failures.				Reference:
Organizations that fail to pay attention to this aspect of				Denton, T. et al (1983): Potential savings from the
their business may not be very successful at				adoption of nurse staffing models in the Canadian
improving overall effectiveness. Consequently, staffing				health care system, Socio-economic Planning Science,
models should include all the work conducted by given				1983;17(4):199–209
job positions more than once. Those job positions that				Dainty, A. (2000): Improving employee resourcing within
tend to do a lot of repetition represent unproductive or				construction organizations, Proceedings of the
underproductive sections of the company. Managers				ARCOM 2000 Conference; Glasgow; Vol. 1; pp. 49-59
need to ensure that such scenarios are kept at a				Druker, J. (1995): Misunderstood and undervalued?
minimum.				Personnel Management in Construction, Human
There are a variety of staffing models to choose from				Resource Management Journal, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 77-91
out there, consequently, some firms may decide to hire				Graveley, A.& Littlefield, H. (1992): Cost effective
outside help in the form of private consultants. The				analysis of three staffing models in pre natal care; 2,
latter have experience with the kind of staffing models				82, 180-184
that work for particular groups and also ways of				Michell, J. (1999): Measurement in Psychology.
implementing them. However, not all organizations may				Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
choose to outsource. Generally, it may be necessary				Taylor, S.
to meet with those specialty firms to discuss the most

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