What is meant by the "Estimating man-power requirements" as a step in the process of Staffing?

Controlling labor costs presents a significant financial challenge to small business owners. There must be enough employees scheduled to serve customers and complete the company's work objectives, but not so many that it drives up production costs unnecessarily or makes the product or service too costly. Skilled owners and managers learn the art of demand forecasting so they can accurately calculate manpower requirements and schedule the correct number of employees neither too few to get the job done nor so many that costs are out of control. The steps involved in the staffing process are: 1. Estimating manpower requirement: Staffing process begins with the estimation of manpower requirement which means finding out number and type of employees needed by the organization in near future. Manpower requirement is not only to find out the number of people needed but also the type of people. Type means what should be the qualification educational background of the people whom we need to appoint. While assessing the type of manpower required company should also make policy regarding a number of people to be appointed from backward classes, women force, minority, etc. For estimating manpower Requirement Company will take following three steps: i. Workload Analysis: This requires finding number and type of employees required to perform various jobs designed in organizational structure. ii. Workforce Analysis: It means analyzing existing workforce or employees already occupying the job positions and how many of them are overburdened or under burdened. iii. Comparison: After doing workload analysis and workforce analysis, the manager compares both as an excess of workload over workforce indicated understaffing and you need to appoint more people whereas an excess of the workforce over workload indicated over staffing and you need to remove or transfer some employees elsewhere. As both overstaffing as well as understaffing are undesirable. The manager tries to find out the manpower requirement by equating workload analysis to workforce analysis. 2. Recruitment: It refers to the process of inducing the people to apply for the job in the organization. After assessing the number and type of employee required, the manager tries that more and more people should apply for the job so that the organization can get more choice and select better candidates. If we can fulfill the requirement from inside the organization through transfers and promotion, then it is very economical and fast but generally, the organization has to fulfill its requirement from outside the organization. To recruit people from outside the organizations to contact various placement consultants, employment exchanges, contractors etc. but the most common way to recruit fresh talent is through advertisement. The company advertises in newspapers etc. and many job seekers after reading the advertisement applies for the job. 3. Selection: It refers to choosing the most suitable candidate to fill the vacant job position. The selection is done through a process, which involves the test, interviews, etc. In selection number of selected candidate is less than the number of rejected candidates that is why selection is called negative process also. The main objectives of selection are: (i) To select the best among the available. (ii) To make selected candidate realize that how seriously things are done in the organization. 4. Placement and Orientation: Placement refers to occupying of the post by the candidate for which he is selected. After selection, the employee is given appointment letter and is asked to occupy the vacant job position. Orientation refers to the introduction of new employees to the existing employee's large organizations organize orientation programmes to familiarize the new employees with the existing whereas in small organizations superior takes the new employees on round and introduces him to the existing employees. 5. Training and Development: To improve the competence of employees and to motivate them it is necessary to provide training and development opportunities for employees so that they can reach the top and keep improving their skill. Organisations may have in-house training centers or arrange with some institutions to provide training for their employees. Training and development not only motivate employees but these improve the efficiency of work also. By offering the opportunities for career advancement to their employee's organizations can improve their effectiveness and efficiency. In most of the large, scale organizations there is a separate human resource department which performs staffing function but in small organizations, the line managers only perform all the functions. So small organizations in which there is no human resource department include following steps also in the staffing process. i. Performance Appraisal: After taking training and performing the job for sometimes there is a need that employee's performance must be evaluated. Performance appraisal refers to evaluating the performance of employees against some standards. The standards are made known to employees in advance. Superiors prepare a feedback report on the basis of performance appraisal. ii. Promotion and Career Planning: Promotion refers to being placed in a higher job position with more pay, job satisfaction, and responsibility. Generally on the basis of feedback report of employee's, the performance they are given promotion and opportunities for higher job positions. iii. Compensation: It refers to the price of the job. It includes pays, reward and other incentives given to employees. It includes direct as well as indirect payments. Direct payments such as wages, salary, etc. Indirect payments such as medical facility, insurance, etc. The managers must fix the right compensation on the basis of qualification, type of job, etc. Direct financial payments are of two types: (i) Time-based payment: This plan means salary/wages are paid on the daily, weekly or monthly basis. (ii) Performance-based: Performance based. Under this method, the payment is made to employees on the basis of a number of pieces or units produced by the employees. Some pay plans use time-based payment in combination with some incentives such as bonus, commission, etc. Organisations must consider various factors before fixing the compensation such as Labour laws, Minimum Wages Payment Act, Union's policy, Competitor's policy, etc. read less