Importance of Staffing in Organizations. Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction

Staffing is a very important function in any organizations, regardless of its size. In business, employees are often referred to as human capital. As with any form of capital, the right mix and quantity is very crucial in how the organization will perform and ultimately achieve its targets and goals. (Lesson 24: Staffing principles). This is especially true in a very competitive environment. Retailing is a field where a high level of competition exists and so the function of staffing, especially for the outlets, has to be given serious consideration.

Tanglewood being a successful player in the retail sector should have an effective staffing plan to so that it may survive and grow in such an environment. This report is placed before the management of the Company so that it can improve its staffing policy and reduce or even eliminate the current problems faced with regard to finding and retaining good employees. The management is reminded of the fact that the company has several major challenges with regard to this issue. The first is to find the right employee.

The second is to find ways to retain the good ones among them. The employee turnover in the retail sector as well as for Tanglewood is quite high (above 50%) and the third challenge is to find ways to bring this rate down. Finally, the company has to comply with the provisions of the Equal Employment Opportunity requirements. This report is aimed at finding solutions for all the challenges mentioned above.

Staffing Plan

The staffing plan for Tanglewood will take the following route.

1. The first step will be the forecast of labor requirements for the coming year. The company has already done this and the decision is that it will be the same as the previous year.
2. The next step is to calculate the exact number of incumbents in all the five categories of employees covered in this report. This will be done by filling up the columns in the ‘forecast of availabilities’ column in the Markov Analysis Table.
3. To assess availability of qualified hands, an environmental scan will form the third step.
4. The fourth step would be to do a gap analysis based on the Markov Analysis table.
5. The final step is to develop an action plan with reference to the Washington area. If found successful, Tanglewood can take steps to implement it in the rest of its territories. During this process, the issue of EEO requirements with regard to hiring female and minority incumbents will also be considered.

One more important area will be covered namely the review of the company’s staffing policy. It is to be noted that the main focus will be on the store manager group even though other categories may be included in the report.

Staffing requirements

Tanglewood has already completed an assessment and has decided that the requirements for the coming year will be the same as that of the previous year. Hence the staff requirements for each of the five categories of employees are given below.

Forecast of labor availability

This will be done by calculating the number of employees that are bound to leave the organization in the coming year. The percentage of those who will be available next year is given in the Transition Probability Matrix (Markov Analysis Information table). The calculated figures are given in bold in the required columns. The number of future promotions and the exit figures are also given alongside the availability figures.

• Store associates – Availability 43%. Promotions 6%
• Shift leader – Availability 54%. Promotions 16%
• Department manager – Availability 64%. Promotions 6%
• Assistant store manager – Availability 52%. Promotions 8%
• Store manager – Availability 66%. Promotions N/A

So a total number of 4,335 store associates, 360 shift leaders, 255 department managers, 60 assistant managers and 17 store managers is expected to leave the company in the coming year. The next step is to find the gap analysis or the number required to fill these vacancies.

Environmental scan

An environmental scan is proposed to understand the availability of qualified hands. It is also needed to comply with the EEO requirements of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (US Department of Labor). “Environmental scanning is the acquisition and use of information about events, trends, and relationships in an organization’s external environment, the knowledge of which would assist management in planning the organization’s future course of action.” (Choo, 2001). It has been estimated that obtaining qualified candidates for managerial posts in Washington area is not very difficult.

But many are reluctant to become managers of stores in smaller towns. It would be relatively easy to find managers for the company flagship store in Spokane and also in Seattle. The Spokane store needs only one store manager and there is a 66% chance that he will stay with the company. Five assistants store mangers can also be filled if the need arises. Problems might come in finding adequate store associates. This is because nearly 170 associates (only 43% are available) will be required to fill the gap. Finding the required number of department managers and shift leaders can also cause a little bit of concern. In Pacific Northwest areas, there would be no problem in finding the required number of additions since unemployment rates are quite high at present.

Gap analysis

Gap analysis simply refers to the difference between the present state and the target state of a situation. “Gap analysis consists of defining the present state, the desired or target’ state and hence the gap between them.” (Gap analysis). In this case the gap would consist of the difference between targeted employee requirement and the exit figures of staff. The gap analysis if Tanglewoods is given in the table below.

1. = Store Associates
2. = Shift leader
3. = Department manager
4. = Assistant store manager
5. = Store manager

Hence Tanglewoods will need to fill a gap of 4845 store associates, 840 shift leaders, 595 departmental managers, 90 assistant store managers and 33 store managers.

Action plan in Spokane Store in Washington

It is proposed that an action plan for this store be formulated. Once successful, this plan can be sent for approval and acceptance by management and put into practice in other areas as well. The requirements for this store are one store manager, 5 asst. store managers, 30 department managers, 42 shift leaders and 300 store associates. The requirements for filling the gap for the next year are given below

1. Store manager – Availability 66% – Hence there would be no need to find a suitable replacement because even if the person leaves, there are five asst. store mangers who could be promoted in place. So, there would be no need to find external hands for this post.
2. Assistant store managers – Availability 52% – This would mean replacing approximately 3 persons if the need arises. This should not also be a problem because of the availability of qualified external sources. Moreover there are 30 departmental heads that could come in handy in case of need. Just like the above case, the posts can be filled internally.
3. Departmental heads – Availability 64% – In this case 10 persons will be needed to fill the gap. Even with a promotion rate of 16% for shift leaders, the number would only come to 7 persons. Hence hiring from outside is necessary.
4. Shift leaders – Availability 54%- In this case twenty persons will be required to fill the gap. If 6% of store assistants are promoted, the number will come to 18, which is two short of requirement. There is a possibility that outside hiring might be required.
5. Store associates: Availability 43% – A maximum of 171 persons will be needed to fill the gap in this case. Only hiring from outside is possible here.

For the top two managerial posts the gap can be filled internally. For departmental heads and shift leaders a possibility of external hiring exists. A recruitment drive for the above two posts can be combined with that of hiring store assistants. A separate spending on this regard is not necessary. The main concern is store associates which can only be filled by external hiring. The company policy of media, referral, kiosks, agency and state services can be used for this purpose. A recruitment guide should also be developed for this purpose.

Equal employment Opportunity requirements

The company policy is to focus on gender representation and to focus on demographic groups in future. As per the data provided by the company steps to avoid discrimination is required only for shift leaders and department mangers for women and department managers in the case of demographic groups. Women departmental managers incumbency percentage for department manager is as high as 78% (target 80% in all cases as per EEO requirements). In the case of demographic groups the figure is 70%. Both these can be fulfilled through proper recruitment. A higher figure is found in the case of women shift leaders. This area should be given more serious consideration.

Areas of concern and suggestions

The main area of concern is the availability of store assistants. For all posts, especially for the store assistants, attempts should be taken to increase retention ratios. In urban areas, it would not be difficult to find adequate staff through internal promotions and external recruitment. As for recruitment and promotion practices, it is quite adequate for all posts. A higher percentage could be tested if it will ensure higher retention. It is seen that women and demographic groups are not considered for the top two posts. This should be changed since it can be considered to be discriminatory. (Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964, 1997). Recruiting methods are also adequate, though more focus on the right method of recruitment should be made.

Conclusion

The report on the staffing and action plan has been presented here. The main areas of concern are store assistants and possible discrimination charges due to the absence of women/demographic representation for the posts of store asst. manager and store manager. More focus should be immediately given for demographic groups representation for all posts. Barring the above mentioned factors, the staffing plan of Tanglewood is quite satisfactory.

References

Lesson 24: Staffing principles. Principles of Management. Rai University. Web.

Choo, Chun Wei. (2001). Environmental scanning as information seeking and organizational learning: Introduction. Information Research, 7, No. 1. Web.

Gap analysis. Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge. Web.

Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964. (1997). The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Web.