THE STAFFING PROCESS

The workforce is changing. The number of working single parents has increased and will continue to grow. People are living longer; therefore, employees are concerned with elder care. New fathers, as well as mothers, see the value of bonding with new babies and want time off for this purpose.

Staffing includes much more than simply filling a vacancy. It also involves determining long-term personnel needs, orientation and training, transfers and reassignment, rotation, performance evaluation, and terminations. The moment a vacancy or personnel change becomes a reality, experienced supervisors ask themselves these questions:

• Is the function performed by the employee who is leaving absolutely necessary?

• Could the tasks be divided among other employees?

• What skills are missing among the staff?

• What kind of new person will contribute to greater productivity?

• Is someone being trained to eventually take my job as supervisor?

The goal of every supervisor should be to hire, develop, and maintain the most cohesive and productive staff possible. It is not a goal easily reached.

Preparation for the Interview

It is impossible to hire the best available applicant for a given job unless the skills and duties required are known ahead of time. If a printed job description is available, it should be carefully reviewed and brought up to date. If not, the competencies required should be written out by the supervisor. Only with such data at hand can the best match between applicants and job be achieved. Here are four additional tips:

Tip 1:	Federal and state civil rights laws must be upheld in hiring decisions. Sex, race, and age have nothing to do with how an individual will perform and cannot play a part in the selection process. You must seek and hire the best-qualified person for the job. Disabled people should be considered equally by focusing on what they can do and how they can contribute to productivity.
Tip 2:	The practice of first come, first hired should be avoided. You can not find the best applicant without taking the time to discover what the market has to offer.
Tip 3:	Screening written applications and interviewing should be done studiously. The more one rushes the process, the more subjective one becomes and the more mistakes are made.
Tip 4:	As an interview approaches, review the competencies you seek in an applicant (a competency is a skill that can be observed or measured); have a list of questions you intend to ask that will tell you about the applicant's prior related experiences; know what information you need to provide each applicant regarding the organization and the job—both advantages and disadvantages; and have a pad available for taking notes.

Interviewing Techniques

Interviewing a prospective new employee is a form of counseling, and the five Rs outlined in Chapter 10 (pp. 101–106) apply. Generally speaking, it is a good idea to follow these additional steps:

Step 1.	Put the applicant at ease so that you can get the most realistic view of how the applicant would perform on the job to be filled.
Step 2.	Encourage the applicant to talk through appropriate questions so that you will learn about her or his potential ability to contribute to your department.
Step 3.	Provide the applicant with an opportunity to ask questions.
Step 4.	Verify the data on the application form, especially those pertaining to training and skills.

Interview Questions

Listed here are some typical questions that interviewers often ask job seekers. Their purpose is to generate a dialogue so that a decision can be based on as much information as possible.

• Why do you want to work here?

• What are your skill levels?

• What can you contribute?

• Why should we hire you?

• Why did you leave your last job?

• Do you have any weaknesses?

• Tell me about yourself.

• Tell me about a time when you had to:

  • solve a problem quickly

  • make a decision

  • deliver bad news

  • make an unexpected change

  • meet a deadline

  • organize an event

Care should be taken to ask the same questions of all applicants so that each individual is given the same opportunity to communicate and, from your point of view, more objective comparisons can be made. Questions of a highly personal nature or those that will embarrass or confuse the applicant should not be used. Do not ask questions that are discriminatory in nature. For example, questions about religious affiliations are not proper. For a complete list of questions you should not ask contact your local Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) office and request information. The material they provide is free of charge and indispensable (see the EEOC Guidelines for Managers and Supervisors found at the end of this chapter).

Employment interviews are normally divided into two approaches. One is a guided pattern (directive); the other is less structured or unguided (nondirective). For an inexperienced interviewer, a guided pattern is often best. For example, a novice might consider using the following Job Qualification Checklist. The fictitious word CASSI is designed to help the super visor remember to rate all five categories in each interview.

Although no system is perfect, any guided pattern has the advantage of providing at least some objectivity. Of course, the interviewer must ask the right questions so that the characteristics stated in the Checklist surface.

Ending the Interview

It is important to terminate the interview in a friendly manner, without making a false commitment. A suitable closing comment might be: “We will make a decision this Friday. If you do not hear from us by next Monday, we still appreciate your interest in our organization and we will keep your application on file.”

Even under ideal circumstances, a final choice is difficult to make. It is usually advisable to talk to a superior—especially if two or more candidates appear to be equally qualified.