NCERT Textbook - Staffing | Business Studies (BST) Class 12 - Commerce PDF Download

 Page 1


STAFFING
CHAPTER
“Our assets walk out of the door each evening. We have to 
make sure that they come back the next morning” (as stated 
by Narayana Murthy former, CEO of INFOSYS.)
At a time when organisations are debating the strategic 
importance of their human resources, Infosys, a consulting and 
software services organisation, includes its human resources 
on its balance sheet to affirm their asset value. The rationale 
for this is as follows: “The long term success of a company 
is usually examined on certain financial and non-financial 
parameters. Human resources are among these new non-
financial parameters that challenge the usefulness of evaluating 
corporate success solely on traditional measures. Human 
resources represent the collective expertise, innovation, 
leadership, entrepreneurial and managerial skills endowed in 
the employees of an organisation.” 
As a knowledge intensive company, Infosys recognises 
the value of its human assets in maintaining its competitive 
position. It realises that these assets can easily walk away, 
as competitors in India and abroad covet its IT talent. 
Consequently, the challenge facing Infosys is how to attract, 
retain and develop its human assets in a highly competitive 
and dynamic environment?
Most of the current human resource practices at Infosys 
result from the vision of the leaders and the culture that they 
have created. Narayana Murthy, known for his leadership and 
vision is the public image of Infosys. His leadership style is 
humble and straight-forward, quite uncommon in the  world 
of Indian business. He believes in sharing wealth with his 
employees and in leading by example. In a knowledge-based 
business like Infosys, he sees the importance of consistency in 
rhetoric and action in empowering employees. He is credited 
with creating a culture of closeness and empowerment at 
Infosys. His management style, rare among Indian business 
leaders, is based on western management. 
6
After studying this 
chapter, you should be 
able to:
n define staffing;
n establish its 
relationship with 
Human Resource 
Management;
n state the need and 
importance of staffing;
n describe the steps in 
the staffing process;
n state the meaning 
of recruitment and 
selection;
n identify important 
sources of 
recruitment;
n describe the steps in 
the selection process;
n appreciate the 
need of training and 
development; and
n explain various on the 
job and off the job 
methods of training. 
Source: Sumita Raghuram, Fordham Graduate 
School of Business
LEARNIN G 
OBJECTIVES
Management of Human Resources at INFOSYS
Ch_06.indd   139 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
Page 2


STAFFING
CHAPTER
“Our assets walk out of the door each evening. We have to 
make sure that they come back the next morning” (as stated 
by Narayana Murthy former, CEO of INFOSYS.)
At a time when organisations are debating the strategic 
importance of their human resources, Infosys, a consulting and 
software services organisation, includes its human resources 
on its balance sheet to affirm their asset value. The rationale 
for this is as follows: “The long term success of a company 
is usually examined on certain financial and non-financial 
parameters. Human resources are among these new non-
financial parameters that challenge the usefulness of evaluating 
corporate success solely on traditional measures. Human 
resources represent the collective expertise, innovation, 
leadership, entrepreneurial and managerial skills endowed in 
the employees of an organisation.” 
As a knowledge intensive company, Infosys recognises 
the value of its human assets in maintaining its competitive 
position. It realises that these assets can easily walk away, 
as competitors in India and abroad covet its IT talent. 
Consequently, the challenge facing Infosys is how to attract, 
retain and develop its human assets in a highly competitive 
and dynamic environment?
Most of the current human resource practices at Infosys 
result from the vision of the leaders and the culture that they 
have created. Narayana Murthy, known for his leadership and 
vision is the public image of Infosys. His leadership style is 
humble and straight-forward, quite uncommon in the  world 
of Indian business. He believes in sharing wealth with his 
employees and in leading by example. In a knowledge-based 
business like Infosys, he sees the importance of consistency in 
rhetoric and action in empowering employees. He is credited 
with creating a culture of closeness and empowerment at 
Infosys. His management style, rare among Indian business 
leaders, is based on western management. 
6
After studying this 
chapter, you should be 
able to:
n define staffing;
n establish its 
relationship with 
Human Resource 
Management;
n state the need and 
importance of staffing;
n describe the steps in 
the staffing process;
n state the meaning 
of recruitment and 
selection;
n identify important 
sources of 
recruitment;
n describe the steps in 
the selection process;
n appreciate the 
need of training and 
development; and
n explain various on the 
job and off the job 
methods of training. 
Source: Sumita Raghuram, Fordham Graduate 
School of Business
LEARNIN G 
OBJECTIVES
Management of Human Resources at INFOSYS
Ch_06.indd   139 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
140 Business Studies
Introduct Ion The foundation of any organisation is 
the talented and hardworking people, 
who are the principal assets of any 
firm. It is an established fact that the 
growth of an organisation requires 
the continual infusion of quality 
staff. Thus, adequate staffing or the 
provision for appropriate human 
resources is an essential requirement 
for any organisation’s success. It is, 
therefore, believed that an organisation 
can achieve its objectives only when 
it has the right persons in the right 
positions. 
Mean Ing After planning and selection of the  
organisation structure, the next step 
in the management process is to fill 
the various posts provided in the 
organisation. This is termed as the 
management of staffing function. In 
the simplest terms, staffing is ‘putting 
people to jobs’. It begins with workforce 
planning and includes different other 
function like recruitment, selection, 
training, development, promotion, 
compensation and performance 
appraisal of work force. In other 
words, staffing is that part of the 
process of management which is 
concerned with obtaining, utilising 
and maintaining a satisfactory and 
satisfied work force. Today, staffing 
may involve any combination of 
employees including daily wagers, 
consultants and contract employees. 
Staffing recognises the importance 
of every single person employed 
by an organisation as it is the 
individual worker, who is the ultimate 
performer. 
Staffing has been described as 
the managerial function of filling 
and keeping filled the positions in 
the organisation structure. This is 
achieved by, first of all, identifying 
requirement of work force, followed 
by recruitment, selection, placement, 
promotion, appraisal and development 
of personnel, to fill the roles designed 
into the organisation  structure.
In a new enterprise, the staffing 
function follows the planning and 
organising functions. After deciding 
what is to be done, how it is to be done 
and after creation of the organisation 
structure, the management is in a 
position to know the human resource 
requirements of the enterprise at 
different levels. Once the number and 
types of personnel to be selected is 
determined, management starts with 
the activities relating to recruiting, 
selecting and training people, to fulfill 
the requirements of the enterprise. 
In an existing  enterprise, staffing is 
a continuous process because new 
jobs may be created and some of the 
existing employees may leave the 
organisation.
IMportance of Staff Ing In any organisation, there is a need  
for people to perform work. The 
staffing function of management 
Ch_06.indd   140 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
Page 3


STAFFING
CHAPTER
“Our assets walk out of the door each evening. We have to 
make sure that they come back the next morning” (as stated 
by Narayana Murthy former, CEO of INFOSYS.)
At a time when organisations are debating the strategic 
importance of their human resources, Infosys, a consulting and 
software services organisation, includes its human resources 
on its balance sheet to affirm their asset value. The rationale 
for this is as follows: “The long term success of a company 
is usually examined on certain financial and non-financial 
parameters. Human resources are among these new non-
financial parameters that challenge the usefulness of evaluating 
corporate success solely on traditional measures. Human 
resources represent the collective expertise, innovation, 
leadership, entrepreneurial and managerial skills endowed in 
the employees of an organisation.” 
As a knowledge intensive company, Infosys recognises 
the value of its human assets in maintaining its competitive 
position. It realises that these assets can easily walk away, 
as competitors in India and abroad covet its IT talent. 
Consequently, the challenge facing Infosys is how to attract, 
retain and develop its human assets in a highly competitive 
and dynamic environment?
Most of the current human resource practices at Infosys 
result from the vision of the leaders and the culture that they 
have created. Narayana Murthy, known for his leadership and 
vision is the public image of Infosys. His leadership style is 
humble and straight-forward, quite uncommon in the  world 
of Indian business. He believes in sharing wealth with his 
employees and in leading by example. In a knowledge-based 
business like Infosys, he sees the importance of consistency in 
rhetoric and action in empowering employees. He is credited 
with creating a culture of closeness and empowerment at 
Infosys. His management style, rare among Indian business 
leaders, is based on western management. 
6
After studying this 
chapter, you should be 
able to:
n define staffing;
n establish its 
relationship with 
Human Resource 
Management;
n state the need and 
importance of staffing;
n describe the steps in 
the staffing process;
n state the meaning 
of recruitment and 
selection;
n identify important 
sources of 
recruitment;
n describe the steps in 
the selection process;
n appreciate the 
need of training and 
development; and
n explain various on the 
job and off the job 
methods of training. 
Source: Sumita Raghuram, Fordham Graduate 
School of Business
LEARNIN G 
OBJECTIVES
Management of Human Resources at INFOSYS
Ch_06.indd   139 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
140 Business Studies
Introduct Ion The foundation of any organisation is 
the talented and hardworking people, 
who are the principal assets of any 
firm. It is an established fact that the 
growth of an organisation requires 
the continual infusion of quality 
staff. Thus, adequate staffing or the 
provision for appropriate human 
resources is an essential requirement 
for any organisation’s success. It is, 
therefore, believed that an organisation 
can achieve its objectives only when 
it has the right persons in the right 
positions. 
Mean Ing After planning and selection of the  
organisation structure, the next step 
in the management process is to fill 
the various posts provided in the 
organisation. This is termed as the 
management of staffing function. In 
the simplest terms, staffing is ‘putting 
people to jobs’. It begins with workforce 
planning and includes different other 
function like recruitment, selection, 
training, development, promotion, 
compensation and performance 
appraisal of work force. In other 
words, staffing is that part of the 
process of management which is 
concerned with obtaining, utilising 
and maintaining a satisfactory and 
satisfied work force. Today, staffing 
may involve any combination of 
employees including daily wagers, 
consultants and contract employees. 
Staffing recognises the importance 
of every single person employed 
by an organisation as it is the 
individual worker, who is the ultimate 
performer. 
Staffing has been described as 
the managerial function of filling 
and keeping filled the positions in 
the organisation structure. This is 
achieved by, first of all, identifying 
requirement of work force, followed 
by recruitment, selection, placement, 
promotion, appraisal and development 
of personnel, to fill the roles designed 
into the organisation  structure.
In a new enterprise, the staffing 
function follows the planning and 
organising functions. After deciding 
what is to be done, how it is to be done 
and after creation of the organisation 
structure, the management is in a 
position to know the human resource 
requirements of the enterprise at 
different levels. Once the number and 
types of personnel to be selected is 
determined, management starts with 
the activities relating to recruiting, 
selecting and training people, to fulfill 
the requirements of the enterprise. 
In an existing  enterprise, staffing is 
a continuous process because new 
jobs may be created and some of the 
existing employees may leave the 
organisation.
IMportance of Staff Ing In any organisation, there is a need  
for people to perform work. The 
staffing function of management 
Ch_06.indd   140 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
Staffing 141
fulfills this requirement and finds 
the right people for the right job. 
Basically, staffing fills the positions as 
shown in the organisation structure. 
Human resources are the foundation 
of any business. The right people 
can help you take your business to 
the top; the wrong people can break 
your business. Hence, staffing is the 
most fundamental and critical drive 
of organisational performance. The 
staffing function has assumed greater 
importance these days because of 
rapid advancement of technology, 
increasing size of orga nisation and 
complicated behaviour of human 
beings. Human resources are the most 
important asset of an organisation. 
The ability of an organisation to 
achieve its goal depends upon the 
quality of its human resources. 
Therefore, staffing is a very important 
managerial function. No organisation 
can be successful unless it can fill 
and keep filled the various positions 
provided for in the structure with the 
right kind of people. 
Proper  staffing  ensures the  
following benefits to the organisation:
 (i) helps in discovering and obtai­
ning competent personnel for 
various jobs;
 (ii) makes for higher performance, 
by putting right person on the 
right job;
 (iii) ensures the continuous survival 
and growth of the enterprise 
through the succession planning 
for managers;
 (iv) helps to ensure optimum utili­
sation of the human resources. 
By avoiding overmanning, it 
prevents under­ utilisation of 
personnel and high labour 
costs. At the same time it avoids 
disruption of work by indicating 
in advance the shortages of 
personnel; and
 (v) improves job satisfaction and 
morale of employees through 
objective assessment and fair 
reward for their contribution.
Staffing function must be performed 
efficiently by all organisations. If right 
kind of employees are not available, 
it will lead to wastage of materials, 
time, effort and energy, resulting in 
lower productivity and poor quality 
of products. The enterprise will not 
be able to sell its products profitably. 
It is, therefore, essential that right 
kind of people must be available in 
right number at the right time. They 
should be given adequate training 
so that wastage is minimum. They 
must also be induced to show higher 
productivity and quality by offering 
them proper incentives.
Staffing as part of Human 
Resource Management
It is a function which all managers 
need to perform. It is a separate and 
specialised function and there are 
many aspects of human relations 
to be considered. It is the job of 
managers to fill positions in their 
organisation and to make sure that 
Ch_06.indd   141 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
Page 4


STAFFING
CHAPTER
“Our assets walk out of the door each evening. We have to 
make sure that they come back the next morning” (as stated 
by Narayana Murthy former, CEO of INFOSYS.)
At a time when organisations are debating the strategic 
importance of their human resources, Infosys, a consulting and 
software services organisation, includes its human resources 
on its balance sheet to affirm their asset value. The rationale 
for this is as follows: “The long term success of a company 
is usually examined on certain financial and non-financial 
parameters. Human resources are among these new non-
financial parameters that challenge the usefulness of evaluating 
corporate success solely on traditional measures. Human 
resources represent the collective expertise, innovation, 
leadership, entrepreneurial and managerial skills endowed in 
the employees of an organisation.” 
As a knowledge intensive company, Infosys recognises 
the value of its human assets in maintaining its competitive 
position. It realises that these assets can easily walk away, 
as competitors in India and abroad covet its IT talent. 
Consequently, the challenge facing Infosys is how to attract, 
retain and develop its human assets in a highly competitive 
and dynamic environment?
Most of the current human resource practices at Infosys 
result from the vision of the leaders and the culture that they 
have created. Narayana Murthy, known for his leadership and 
vision is the public image of Infosys. His leadership style is 
humble and straight-forward, quite uncommon in the  world 
of Indian business. He believes in sharing wealth with his 
employees and in leading by example. In a knowledge-based 
business like Infosys, he sees the importance of consistency in 
rhetoric and action in empowering employees. He is credited 
with creating a culture of closeness and empowerment at 
Infosys. His management style, rare among Indian business 
leaders, is based on western management. 
6
After studying this 
chapter, you should be 
able to:
n define staffing;
n establish its 
relationship with 
Human Resource 
Management;
n state the need and 
importance of staffing;
n describe the steps in 
the staffing process;
n state the meaning 
of recruitment and 
selection;
n identify important 
sources of 
recruitment;
n describe the steps in 
the selection process;
n appreciate the 
need of training and 
development; and
n explain various on the 
job and off the job 
methods of training. 
Source: Sumita Raghuram, Fordham Graduate 
School of Business
LEARNIN G 
OBJECTIVES
Management of Human Resources at INFOSYS
Ch_06.indd   139 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
140 Business Studies
Introduct Ion The foundation of any organisation is 
the talented and hardworking people, 
who are the principal assets of any 
firm. It is an established fact that the 
growth of an organisation requires 
the continual infusion of quality 
staff. Thus, adequate staffing or the 
provision for appropriate human 
resources is an essential requirement 
for any organisation’s success. It is, 
therefore, believed that an organisation 
can achieve its objectives only when 
it has the right persons in the right 
positions. 
Mean Ing After planning and selection of the  
organisation structure, the next step 
in the management process is to fill 
the various posts provided in the 
organisation. This is termed as the 
management of staffing function. In 
the simplest terms, staffing is ‘putting 
people to jobs’. It begins with workforce 
planning and includes different other 
function like recruitment, selection, 
training, development, promotion, 
compensation and performance 
appraisal of work force. In other 
words, staffing is that part of the 
process of management which is 
concerned with obtaining, utilising 
and maintaining a satisfactory and 
satisfied work force. Today, staffing 
may involve any combination of 
employees including daily wagers, 
consultants and contract employees. 
Staffing recognises the importance 
of every single person employed 
by an organisation as it is the 
individual worker, who is the ultimate 
performer. 
Staffing has been described as 
the managerial function of filling 
and keeping filled the positions in 
the organisation structure. This is 
achieved by, first of all, identifying 
requirement of work force, followed 
by recruitment, selection, placement, 
promotion, appraisal and development 
of personnel, to fill the roles designed 
into the organisation  structure.
In a new enterprise, the staffing 
function follows the planning and 
organising functions. After deciding 
what is to be done, how it is to be done 
and after creation of the organisation 
structure, the management is in a 
position to know the human resource 
requirements of the enterprise at 
different levels. Once the number and 
types of personnel to be selected is 
determined, management starts with 
the activities relating to recruiting, 
selecting and training people, to fulfill 
the requirements of the enterprise. 
In an existing  enterprise, staffing is 
a continuous process because new 
jobs may be created and some of the 
existing employees may leave the 
organisation.
IMportance of Staff Ing In any organisation, there is a need  
for people to perform work. The 
staffing function of management 
Ch_06.indd   140 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
Staffing 141
fulfills this requirement and finds 
the right people for the right job. 
Basically, staffing fills the positions as 
shown in the organisation structure. 
Human resources are the foundation 
of any business. The right people 
can help you take your business to 
the top; the wrong people can break 
your business. Hence, staffing is the 
most fundamental and critical drive 
of organisational performance. The 
staffing function has assumed greater 
importance these days because of 
rapid advancement of technology, 
increasing size of orga nisation and 
complicated behaviour of human 
beings. Human resources are the most 
important asset of an organisation. 
The ability of an organisation to 
achieve its goal depends upon the 
quality of its human resources. 
Therefore, staffing is a very important 
managerial function. No organisation 
can be successful unless it can fill 
and keep filled the various positions 
provided for in the structure with the 
right kind of people. 
Proper  staffing  ensures the  
following benefits to the organisation:
 (i) helps in discovering and obtai­
ning competent personnel for 
various jobs;
 (ii) makes for higher performance, 
by putting right person on the 
right job;
 (iii) ensures the continuous survival 
and growth of the enterprise 
through the succession planning 
for managers;
 (iv) helps to ensure optimum utili­
sation of the human resources. 
By avoiding overmanning, it 
prevents under­ utilisation of 
personnel and high labour 
costs. At the same time it avoids 
disruption of work by indicating 
in advance the shortages of 
personnel; and
 (v) improves job satisfaction and 
morale of employees through 
objective assessment and fair 
reward for their contribution.
Staffing function must be performed 
efficiently by all organisations. If right 
kind of employees are not available, 
it will lead to wastage of materials, 
time, effort and energy, resulting in 
lower productivity and poor quality 
of products. The enterprise will not 
be able to sell its products profitably. 
It is, therefore, essential that right 
kind of people must be available in 
right number at the right time. They 
should be given adequate training 
so that wastage is minimum. They 
must also be induced to show higher 
productivity and quality by offering 
them proper incentives.
Staffing as part of Human 
Resource Management
It is a function which all managers 
need to perform. It is a separate and 
specialised function and there are 
many aspects of human relations 
to be considered. It is the job of 
managers to fill positions in their 
organisation and to make sure that 
Ch_06.indd   141 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
142 Business Studies
they remain occupied with qualified 
people. Staffing is closely linked to 
organising since after the structure 
and positions have been decided, 
people are required to work in these 
positions. Subsequently, they need 
to be trained and motivated to work 
in harmony with the goals of the 
organisation. Thus, staffing is seen as 
a generic function of management. 
The staffing function deals with 
the human element of management. 
Managing the human component of 
an organisation is the most important 
task because the performance of 
an organisation depends upon how 
well this function is performed. 
The success of an organisation in 
achieving its goals is determined to 
a great extent on the competence, 
motivation and performance of its 
human resource.
It is the responsibility of all managers 
to directly deal with and select people 
to work for the organisation. When 
the manager performs the staffing 
function his role is slightly limited. 
Some of these responsibilities will 
include placing the right person 
on the right job, introducing new 
employees to the organisation, 
training employees and improving 
their performance, developing their 
abilities, maintaining their morale and 
protecting their health and physical 
conditions. In small organisations, 
managers may perform all duties 
related to employees salaries, welfare 
and working conditions.
But as organisations grow and 
number of persons employed 
increases, a separate department 
called the human resource department 
is formed which has specialists in 
managing people. The management 
of human resource is a specialised 
area which requires the expertise of 
many people. The number of human 
resource specialists and size of this 
department gives an indication of 
the size of the business as well. For 
a very large company, the Human 
Resources Department itself will 
contain specialists for each function 
of this department.
Human Resource Management 
includes many specialised activities 
and duties which the human resource 
perso nnel must perform. These duties 
are:
n Recruitment, i.e., search for 
qualified people
n Analysing jobs, collecting inform­
ation about jobs to prepare job 
descriptions.
n Developing compensation and 
incentive plans.
n Training and development of  
employees for efficient perfor­ mance and career growth.
n Maintaining labour relations and 
union management relations.
n Handling grievances and 
complaints.
n Providing for social security and 
welfare of employees.
n Defending the company in law suits 
and avoiding legal complications.
Ch_06.indd   142 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
Page 5


STAFFING
CHAPTER
“Our assets walk out of the door each evening. We have to 
make sure that they come back the next morning” (as stated 
by Narayana Murthy former, CEO of INFOSYS.)
At a time when organisations are debating the strategic 
importance of their human resources, Infosys, a consulting and 
software services organisation, includes its human resources 
on its balance sheet to affirm their asset value. The rationale 
for this is as follows: “The long term success of a company 
is usually examined on certain financial and non-financial 
parameters. Human resources are among these new non-
financial parameters that challenge the usefulness of evaluating 
corporate success solely on traditional measures. Human 
resources represent the collective expertise, innovation, 
leadership, entrepreneurial and managerial skills endowed in 
the employees of an organisation.” 
As a knowledge intensive company, Infosys recognises 
the value of its human assets in maintaining its competitive 
position. It realises that these assets can easily walk away, 
as competitors in India and abroad covet its IT talent. 
Consequently, the challenge facing Infosys is how to attract, 
retain and develop its human assets in a highly competitive 
and dynamic environment?
Most of the current human resource practices at Infosys 
result from the vision of the leaders and the culture that they 
have created. Narayana Murthy, known for his leadership and 
vision is the public image of Infosys. His leadership style is 
humble and straight-forward, quite uncommon in the  world 
of Indian business. He believes in sharing wealth with his 
employees and in leading by example. In a knowledge-based 
business like Infosys, he sees the importance of consistency in 
rhetoric and action in empowering employees. He is credited 
with creating a culture of closeness and empowerment at 
Infosys. His management style, rare among Indian business 
leaders, is based on western management. 
6
After studying this 
chapter, you should be 
able to:
n define staffing;
n establish its 
relationship with 
Human Resource 
Management;
n state the need and 
importance of staffing;
n describe the steps in 
the staffing process;
n state the meaning 
of recruitment and 
selection;
n identify important 
sources of 
recruitment;
n describe the steps in 
the selection process;
n appreciate the 
need of training and 
development; and
n explain various on the 
job and off the job 
methods of training. 
Source: Sumita Raghuram, Fordham Graduate 
School of Business
LEARNIN G 
OBJECTIVES
Management of Human Resources at INFOSYS
Ch_06.indd   139 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
140 Business Studies
Introduct Ion The foundation of any organisation is 
the talented and hardworking people, 
who are the principal assets of any 
firm. It is an established fact that the 
growth of an organisation requires 
the continual infusion of quality 
staff. Thus, adequate staffing or the 
provision for appropriate human 
resources is an essential requirement 
for any organisation’s success. It is, 
therefore, believed that an organisation 
can achieve its objectives only when 
it has the right persons in the right 
positions. 
Mean Ing After planning and selection of the  
organisation structure, the next step 
in the management process is to fill 
the various posts provided in the 
organisation. This is termed as the 
management of staffing function. In 
the simplest terms, staffing is ‘putting 
people to jobs’. It begins with workforce 
planning and includes different other 
function like recruitment, selection, 
training, development, promotion, 
compensation and performance 
appraisal of work force. In other 
words, staffing is that part of the 
process of management which is 
concerned with obtaining, utilising 
and maintaining a satisfactory and 
satisfied work force. Today, staffing 
may involve any combination of 
employees including daily wagers, 
consultants and contract employees. 
Staffing recognises the importance 
of every single person employed 
by an organisation as it is the 
individual worker, who is the ultimate 
performer. 
Staffing has been described as 
the managerial function of filling 
and keeping filled the positions in 
the organisation structure. This is 
achieved by, first of all, identifying 
requirement of work force, followed 
by recruitment, selection, placement, 
promotion, appraisal and development 
of personnel, to fill the roles designed 
into the organisation  structure.
In a new enterprise, the staffing 
function follows the planning and 
organising functions. After deciding 
what is to be done, how it is to be done 
and after creation of the organisation 
structure, the management is in a 
position to know the human resource 
requirements of the enterprise at 
different levels. Once the number and 
types of personnel to be selected is 
determined, management starts with 
the activities relating to recruiting, 
selecting and training people, to fulfill 
the requirements of the enterprise. 
In an existing  enterprise, staffing is 
a continuous process because new 
jobs may be created and some of the 
existing employees may leave the 
organisation.
IMportance of Staff Ing In any organisation, there is a need  
for people to perform work. The 
staffing function of management 
Ch_06.indd   140 08-08-2022   10:06:10
Reprint 2024-25
Staffing 141
fulfills this requirement and finds 
the right people for the right job. 
Basically, staffing fills the positions as 
shown in the organisation structure. 
Human resources are the foundation 
of any business. The right people 
can help you take your business to 
the top; the wrong people can break 
your business. Hence, staffing is the 
most fundamental and critical drive 
of organisational performance. The 
staffing function has assumed greater 
importance these days because of 
rapid advancement of technology, 
increasing size of orga nisation and 
complicated behaviour of human 
beings. Human resources are the most 
important asset of an organisation. 
The ability of an organisation to 
achieve its goal depends upon the 
quality of its human resources. 
Therefore, staffing is a very important 
managerial function. No organisation 
can be successful unless it can fill 
and keep filled the various positions 
provided for in the structure with the 
right kind of people. 
Proper  staffing  ensures the  
following benefits to the organisation:
 (i) helps in discovering and obtai­
ning competent personnel for 
various jobs;
 (ii) makes for higher performance, 
by putting right person on the 
right job;
 (iii) ensures the continuous survival 
and growth of the enterprise 
through the succession planning 
for managers;
 (iv) helps to ensure optimum utili­
sation of the human resources. 
By avoiding overmanning, it 
prevents under­ utilisation of 
personnel and high labour 
costs. At the same time it avoids 
disruption of work by indicating 
in advance the shortages of 
personnel; and
 (v) improves job satisfaction and 
morale of employees through 
objective assessment and fair 
reward for their contribution.
Staffing function must be performed 
efficiently by all organisations. If right 
kind of employees are not available, 
it will lead to wastage of materials, 
time, effort and energy, resulting in 
lower productivity and poor quality 
of products. The enterprise will not 
be able to sell its products profitably. 
It is, therefore, essential that right 
kind of people must be available in 
right number at the right time. They 
should be given adequate training 
so that wastage is minimum. They 
must also be induced to show higher 
productivity and quality by offering 
them proper incentives.
Staffing as part of Human 
Resource Management
It is a function which all managers 
need to perform. It is a separate and 
specialised function and there are 
many aspects of human relations 
to be considered. It is the job of 
managers to fill positions in their 
organisation and to make sure that 
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142 Business Studies
they remain occupied with qualified 
people. Staffing is closely linked to 
organising since after the structure 
and positions have been decided, 
people are required to work in these 
positions. Subsequently, they need 
to be trained and motivated to work 
in harmony with the goals of the 
organisation. Thus, staffing is seen as 
a generic function of management. 
The staffing function deals with 
the human element of management. 
Managing the human component of 
an organisation is the most important 
task because the performance of 
an organisation depends upon how 
well this function is performed. 
The success of an organisation in 
achieving its goals is determined to 
a great extent on the competence, 
motivation and performance of its 
human resource.
It is the responsibility of all managers 
to directly deal with and select people 
to work for the organisation. When 
the manager performs the staffing 
function his role is slightly limited. 
Some of these responsibilities will 
include placing the right person 
on the right job, introducing new 
employees to the organisation, 
training employees and improving 
their performance, developing their 
abilities, maintaining their morale and 
protecting their health and physical 
conditions. In small organisations, 
managers may perform all duties 
related to employees salaries, welfare 
and working conditions.
But as organisations grow and 
number of persons employed 
increases, a separate department 
called the human resource department 
is formed which has specialists in 
managing people. The management 
of human resource is a specialised 
area which requires the expertise of 
many people. The number of human 
resource specialists and size of this 
department gives an indication of 
the size of the business as well. For 
a very large company, the Human 
Resources Department itself will 
contain specialists for each function 
of this department.
Human Resource Management 
includes many specialised activities 
and duties which the human resource 
perso nnel must perform. These duties 
are:
n Recruitment, i.e., search for 
qualified people
n Analysing jobs, collecting inform­
ation about jobs to prepare job 
descriptions.
n Developing compensation and 
incentive plans.
n Training and development of  
employees for efficient perfor­ mance and career growth.
n Maintaining labour relations and 
union management relations.
n Handling grievances and 
complaints.
n Providing for social security and 
welfare of employees.
n Defending the company in law suits 
and avoiding legal complications.
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Staffing 143
e volut Ion of Hu Man 
r e Source Manage Ment 
Human resource management has 
replaced the traditional concept of 
labour welfare and personnel manag­
ement. Human Resource Management 
(HRM) in its present form has 
evolved from a number of significant 
inter­related developments, which 
date back to the era of industrial 
revolution. Emergence of trade union 
movement led to the need of a person 
who could act as an effective link 
between the owners and workers. 
Thus, the concept of labour welfare 
officer came into being. His role was 
limited to the bare minimum welfare 
activities of employees. In fact, he was 
looked down by both the workers and 
the owners. 
With the introduction of factory 
system, thousands of persons began 
to be employed under one roof. The job 
of hiring people for the organisation 
was given to one man, who later on 
was assigned the responsibility of 
recruitment, selection and placement 
of personnel. This led to the 
emergence of personnel officer in the 
first place and personnel manager, 
later on. 
Human relations approach recog­ nises human factor as the most 
important instrument of success in  
an organisation. Fast changing tech­
nological developments, however, nec­ essitated new skill development and 
training of employees. People came to 
be recognised as a valuable resource, 
which can be further developed. 
Increase in scope of the work led to 
replacement of personnel manager 
with human resource manager.
You may have observed that all 
these aspects  are concerned with 
the human element in industry as 
distinct from the mechanical side 
of the enterprise. Thus, staffing is 
an inherent part of human resource 
management as it is the practice of 
finding, evaluating and establishing 
a working relationship with people, 
for a purpose. 
It is important to understand 
that staffing is both a function of 
management just like planning, 
organising, directing, and controlling 
as well as a distinct functional area 
of management just as marketing 
management and financial 
management. Staffing, is therefore, 
referred to as both a line as well 
as a staff activity i.e., an essential 
function of the manager as well as an 
advisory role played by the Human 
Resource Department.
Staff Ing p roce SS
As you are now aware, the prime 
concern of the staffing function 
in the management process 
is the timely fulfillment of the 
manpower requirements within an 
organisation. These requirements 
may arise in case of starting a new 
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