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4Staffing


Stages of DevelopmentStages of Development

Characteristics of a business – such as its growth rate, product lines, market share, entry opportunity, and technology – change with the organization’s stage of development Four major stages of development:

Embryonic (new organizations) High growth Mature Aging


The Link Between Development Stages The Link Between Development Stages & Staffing Strategies& Staffing Strategies

Embryonic Stage (new organizations) High growth rates, basic product lines, heavy emphasis on product

engineering, and little or no customer loyalty Management selection strategy:

Entrepreneurs who thrive in high-risk environments



High-Growth Stage Refine and extend product lines; build customer loyalty Concerns: fighting for market share and building excellence in the

management team Management selection strategy

Entrepreneurs for growth Growth directors to build stable management systems



Mature Maintenance of market share, cost reductions through economies of

scale, more rigid management controls over workers’ actions, and the generation of cash to develop new product lines

Less flexibility and variability Management selection strategy

Bureaucrats who are comfortable with repetition and can develop economies of scale



Aging Struggle to hold market share in a declining market, and extreme cost

control obtained through consistency and centralized procedures; economic survival becomes the primary motivation

Management selection strategy Entrepreneurs who will cut, reorganize, and survive


Organizational CultureOrganizational Culture

Culture is the pattern of basic assumptions a given group has invented, discovered, or developed in learning to adapt both to its external and internal environments

Organizational culture is embedded and transmitted through mechanisms such as the following: Formal statements of organizational philosophy and materials used for

recruitment, selection, and socialization of new employees Promotion criteria Stories, legends, and myths about key people and events What leaders pay attention to, measure, and control Implicit, and possibly unconscious, criteria that leaders use to

determine who fits key slots


The Implications of OrganizationalThe Implications of OrganizationalCulture for Staffing DecisionsCulture for Staffing Decisions

Cultures vary across organizations; individuals will consider this information if it is available to them in their job-search process Recruiters assess person-job fit by focusing on specific knowledge,

skills, and abilities; they assess person-organization fit by focusing more on values and personality characteristics

Linking staffing decisions to cultural factors may ensure employees have internalized the strategic intent and core values of the enterprise, making it more likely that they will act in the interest of the company and as dedicated team members, regardless of their formal job duties

Individuals who choose jobs and organizations that are consistent with their own values, beliefs, and attitudes are more likely to be productive, satisfied employees


Screening & Selection Methods:Screening & Selection Methods:Employment Application FormsEmployment Application Forms

Statistics show a relationship between applicant responses to specific questions and later measures of job performance; these weighted application blanks (WABs) are highly predictive High rate of accuracy for determining those who will stay on the job

longer Research has found that items “conventional wisdom” might suggest,

or those used by interviewers, did not predict employee turnover accurately


Screening & Selection Methods:Screening & Selection Methods:RecommendationsRecommendations

Evidence shows, unfortunately, that there is little candor, and therefore, little value, in written recommendations and referrals, especially those that must, by law, be revealed to applicants if they petition to see them Meaningful recommendations include four major characteristics:

Degree of writer familiarity with the candidate Degree of writer familiarity with the job in question Specific examples of performance Individuals or groups to whom the candidate is compared


Screening & Selection Methods:Screening & Selection Methods:Reference ChecksReference Checks

Request job-related information only Obtain written permission from the job candidate Stay away from subjective areas When possible, use public records to evaluate on-the-job behavior

or personal conduct


Improving Pre-Employment InterviewsImproving Pre-Employment Interviews

Six ideas to shape interviewer behavior non-biased hiring: Focus only on the competencies necessary for the job, and distinguish

between entry-level and full-performance competencies Screen resumes and application forms by focusing on three elements:

Key words that match job requirements Quantifiers and qualifiers that show whether applicants have these

requirements Skills that might transfer from previous jobs to the new job

Develop interview questions that are strictly based on job analysis results; use open-ended questions; and use questions relevant to the individual’s ability to perform, motivation to do a good job, and overall “fit” with the firm


Improving Pre-Employment InterviewsImproving Pre-Employment Interviews

Six ideas to shape interviewer behavior non-biased hiring (continued) Consider asking “What would you do if...?” questions Conduct the interview in a relaxed physical setting Develop a form containing a list of competencies weighted for overall

importance to the job, and evaluate each applicant relative to each competency


Work-Sample Tests & Staffing DecisionsWork-Sample Tests & Staffing Decisions

Work-sample tests, or situational tests, are standardized measures of behavior whose primary objective is to assess the ability to do rather than the ability to know Difficult to fake since they are miniature replicas of actual job

requirements Unlikely to lead to charges of discrimination or invasion of privacy Produce smaller minority/non-minority group differences in

performance, along with modest losses in predictive validity; however, since the content of the test reflects the essential content of the job, the tests demonstrate content-oriented evidence of validity

Not cost-effective when large numbers of people must be evaluated


Most Popular Situational TestsMost Popular Situational Tests

Leaderless Group Discussion A group of participants is given a job-related topic and is asked simply

to carry on a discussion about it for a period of time No one is appointed leader; no one is told where to sit Observers rate the performance of each participant according to preset

characteristics Accurately forecasts managerial performance in virtually all the

functional areas of business



In-Basket Test A situational test designed to simulate important aspects of a position,

the “in-basket” tests an individual’s ability to work independently The job candidate does not say what he would do; he/she performs the

tasks as though he/she were actually on the job Scores are determined by describing or evaluating what the candidate did

in terms of such dimensions as self-confidence, organizational and planning abilities, written communications, decision making, risk taking, and administrative abilities

Major advantages Flexibility to fit many types of situations and modes of administration Permits direct observation of individual behavior within the context of

job-relevant, standardized problem situations



Business Game A living case in which candidates play themselves, not an assigned

role, and are evaluated within a group Major advantages

Flexibility to fit many different types of situations Compressed time – events that might not actually occur for months or

years are made to occur in a matter of hours Interesting because of their realism, their competitive nature, and the

immediacy and objectivity of their feedback Increased understanding of complex interrelationships among

organizational units



Business Game (continued) Drawbacks

In the context of training, some participants may become so engrossed in “beating the system” that they fail to grasp the underlying management principles being taught

Creative approaches to solving problems presented by the game may be stifled


The Assessment CenterThe Assessment Center

A method that evaluates a candidate’s potential for management based on three sources: Multiple assessment techniques Standardized methods of making inferences from such techniques,

because assessors are trained to distinguish between effective and ineffective behaviors by the candidates

Pooled judgments from multiple assessors to rate each candidate’s behavior


Advantages in the Advantages in the Use of Assessment CentersUse of Assessment Centers

May be used in a wide variety of settings and for a variety of purposes May be tailored to the characteristics of a specific job In addition to evaluating and selecting managers, the method may be

used for other purposes Train and upgrade management skills Encourage creativity among research and engineering professionals Resolve interpersonal and interdepartmental conflicts Assist individuals in career planning Train managers in performance appraisal Provide information for workforce planning and organization design

Cost-effective


Potential Problems with the Potential Problems with the Use of Assessment CentersUse of Assessment Centers

Adoption of the assessment center method without analyzing the need for it and without adequate preparation to use it wisely

Blind acceptance of assessment data without considering other information on candidates, such as past and current performance

The tendency to rate only general “exercise effectiveness,” rather than performance relative to individual behavioral dimensions, as the number of dimensions exceeds the ability of assessors to evaluate each dimension individually

Lack of control over the information generated during assessment. Failure to evaluate the utility of the program in terms of dollar

benefits relative to costs Inadequate feedback to participants

staffing

Education

mcgrawhill companies

rights r

growth growth directors

highgrowth stage

new product lines

organizations individuals

basic product lines

declining market