Strategic Staffing Handbook

¶ … Staffing Handbook, not an Employee Handbook

Remember that no more than 10% of the completed Handbook can be from borrowed material (so plan accordingly on any borrowed material used in the draft). The majority of the Handbook must be original -- meaning written by the student. ALL sources used (textbook, Internet, etc.) must be cited via proper APA citations (both in-text with quotation marks and a References section). This includes any forms or samples in the Handbook. Everything in the Handbook will count towards the "no more than 10% borrowed" requirement, including forms. It is advisable if you create these yourself.

See the Course Project tab for lengthier descriptions of each section. The specifics of the requirements of each section are NOT included here.

Text font can be no larger than 12.

You do not need to include a table of contents.

Be sure to insert your fictitious company name, where needed, in the Handbook below.

Your Handbook must be full 10-12 pages (not including this page, the cover page, or any reference page), double-spaced. You may single-space any forms or samples you create.

Note that the spacing placed between sections is for illustration purposes only. Some sections you write may be longer than others. However, remember the final page count of text required (10-12 full pages).

Save this document with the following title for the Draft/Week 3: LASTNAME_HRM410_Draft_CourseProject.doc (or .docx)

Save your finalized Course Project/Week 7 with the following title:

LASTNAME_HRM410_Final_ CourseProject.doc (or .docx)

Proceed to the next page to begin creating your Handbook.

STAFFING HANDBOOK

The Beacon Corporation

Handbook Date:

July 22, 2011

DEFINITION OF STRATEGIC STAFFING

When considering the ever-changing and highly competitive global landscape of business today, we at the Beacon Corporation realize the need to stay at the cutting edge of our field in order to sustain profitability in the long-term. With the current exponential growth of technology and the computerization of business and learning, consumers and investors have become much more connected to the businesses they patronize (Kurzweil, 2001). Accordingly, the Beacon Corporation is faced with the continuous task of finding new ways to understand and subsequently accommodate the needs of our customers and stakeholders, while simultaneously securing lucrative business models and job environments. In achieving these goals, it is critical for us to seek out and obtain the most qualified and reliable human resources. This is especially the case when considering that we operate in the highly intellectual software industry. Over the last number of years, our company has begun to rely increasingly upon the inventive minds of our labor force to carry us into a profitable future. Therefore, in order for Beacon Inc. To ensure that it has the best possible set of working parts in the engine of the corporate car, we must have a sophisticated system in place to attract the finest individuals. This strategic staffing process embodies the genuine pursuit of those individuals possessing a wide range of usable skills. Attributes like the ability self-motivate, communication skills, technical expertise, integrity, market knowledge, and problem-solving skills will all be considered for virtually every applicant. By targeting the best and brightest in these areas, we at the Beacon Corporation hope to poise ourselves for an increasingly innovative future. Additionally, the structural facets of Beacon's strategic staffing system rest on several tactical cornerstones including periodic managerial conferences to determine each department's staffing needs, constructive job analysis, internal and external job posting, advertising, highly applicable information collection material, candidate data screening, thoughtful interviewing, and a strategically created array of pre-employment assessments. The culmination of these various meticulously selected inputs comprises Beacon Inc.'s strategic staffing approach. We believe that the all-encompassing nature of this methodology will allow Beacon to effectively staff its departments and marginalize any human-resource related future profitability risks.

MANAGERIAL CONFERENCES

Three times each year, middle and upper managers from all departments will conduct a meeting to discuss current staffing logistics and future projects or endeavors that may require additional staffing (both permanent and non-permanent). If the executive body deems a reasonable need for human resource expansion, the discussion will proceed to determine the precise number of staff members needed to effectively meet the goals of the expansion plan or project proposal.

In many cases, multiple departments will request additional human resources for their respective proposals. This type of situation will call for additional decisive sessions on behalf of leadership groups. Upon deciding how many jobs will be created and to which department will such human resources be allocated, an informative session will be held with the relevant department's managerial team. Such sessions will aim to determine a precise number of staff members to be hired, a timeline for recruitment and generalized responsibility quotas.

JOB ANALYSIS

Upon receiving the usable data from leadership bodies as to staffing requirements, department managers and human resource professionals will work in concert to construct a detailed list of job-specific qualities each candidate must possess (Breaugh & Starke, 2000). And while Beacon's generic list of attributes will apply to all potential applicants, these newly constructed requirements will be largely based upon the specifications of the chosen project or proposal. Being that an effective job analysis is critical in achieving the greatest levels of efficiency in the staffing process, the collective result of middle management's consultations will then be discussed with executives to ensure that all bases have been covered (Breaugh & Starke, 2000). Below is an example of the customizable template used by the Beacon Corporation for conducting thorough and effective job analyses.

JOB ANALYSIS FORM

1.) Introduction

a. This section begins with a basic summary of the position. A general idea of the nature of the potential candidate's responsibilities will be outlined in this introductory area.

2.) Specific Job Duties

a. This aspect of the job analysis form will list the job-specific duties this staff member will be responsible for on a daily basis. Things like data input, design programming, network configuration and product presentation will be located in this section.

3.) Resources

a. This area of the job analysis form will list the various technological resources the staff member will be regularly utilizing in the office. Without question, proficiency in the use of specified resources will be a critical aspect of effective staffing. Things like operating systems (i.e. Microsoft Windows), word processing programs, web design software and customer relations software will be exhibited in this section.

4.) Reporting Structure

a. This aspect of the analysis form will detail the specifics of how the staff member will report and present his or her products, ideas and achievements to superiors. The relevant departmental chain of command for the Beacon Corporation will be described in this section.

5.) Educational Requirements

a. Almost all positions at the Beacon Corporation require a minimum education level of at least a Bachelor's degree. However, the prestige or specific demands of a newly created position may prompt managers to require a graduate level degree or at least specify mandated areas of study for Bachelor degree-holding applicants. This type of information will be presented in this section.

POSTINGS

The posting of job positions represents yet another critical aspect of Beacon's commitment to efficient staffing. Accordingly, our job postings (both internal and external) are concise in nature and primarily focused on providing a succinct description of the vital data needed to ascertain the essence of the posted employment position (Kickul, 2001). Undoubtedly, external job postings will include a bit more company information (i.e. brief company background and mission), whereas internal postings will primarily focus on the details of the position itself (Kickul, 2001). Below is a brief sample of a typical internal job posting at the Beacon Corporation:

STAFF OPPORTUNITY

Position: Design Team Manager

Reports to: Board of Directors

Location: Design Department

Qualifications:

Proficiency in various design software programs including (but not limited to): PrimoPDF, Adobe Illustrator, AutoCAD, and CorelDRAW (CNET, 2011).

Superior communication skills.

Ability to effectively motivate and mobilize subordinates.

Must be a proficient and creative problem-solver.

Must be able to accurately and reliably complete assignments in a timely fashion.

Responsibilities:

Aligning team members in accordance with specific project goals.

Monitoring the activities of all team members.

Periodically assessing the performance of each team member.

Reporting final products of group work directly to the executive body.

Addressing the concerns of superiors and other invested stakeholders.

ADVERTISING

While the Beacon Corporation uses all of the aforementioned corporate tools to initiate job positions and inform candidates of their existence, our company also invests in advertising as a means of attracting interest. This historically proven way to appeal to young up-and-comers and experienced professionals can be achieved through the relatively traditional marketing means of attracting employees, although the contemporary settings in which useful advertising can now be secured have shown to be much more effective. Even though the utilization of more conventional employee recruitment advertising has certainly slowed, this technique can still be marginally effective in the process of covering all bases. Therefore, Beacon continues to advertise many of its positions in places like job fairs, newspapers and on-campus kiosks, although our research has shown this to only be one side of the coin. Another more effectual arena for job advertising (especially for software-based careers) is the Internet. Locations like Facebook, Craigslist, Google and Twitter are all extremely popular with progressive firms looking to attract young employees (Braddy, Thompson, Wuensch, & Grossnickle, 2003). Moreover, by including a link to Beacon's website, students and professionals are easily able to learn about us from the comfort of their own home, apartment or dorm room. Thus, in assuring that the targeted young inventive minds are not immediately dissuaded by the enormity and complexity of the Beacon Corporation, we believe it is very important to present direct and easily understandable information about the company on the website. In fact, recent studies have indicated that navigational ease on a firm's website (especially concerning job advertisements) has a directly favorable effect on the potential applicant's impression of the firm and the given position (Braddy, Thompson, Wuensch, & Grossnickle, 2003). Consequently, through our extensive diligence in researching this modern corporate aid, we believe that we have created a reliable and effective means of attracting the interest of many bright young minds to carry Beacon Inc. into a profitable future.

APPLICATION PROCESS

OUR APPLICATION FORM

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Full Name:

Street Address:

City, State, Zip Code:

Are you a citizen of The United States?

If not, are you eligible to work in The United States?

Have you ever been convicted of a felony?

JOB POSITION AND AVAILABILITY

Position Applied For:

How did you learn about this position?

Monday-Friday Availability (Please include the number of hours per week you are available):

What date are you available to start work?

EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

Please list all schools attended after high school along with the name and field of the degree or diploma received and the year of graduation.

Skills and Qualifications: (please list any licenses, skills, additional training or awards you may have received as related to the position)

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Current or last position held:

Company name:

Location:

Supervisor:

Phone:

Email:

Employment period: (from: XX/XX/XX to: XX/XX/XX)

Responsibilities:

Salary:

Reason for Leaving:

Previous Position:

Company name:

Location:

Supervisor:

Phone:

Email:

Employment period: (from: XX/XX/XX to: XX/XX/XX)

Responsibilities:

Salary:

Reason for Leaving:

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Please provide the full name, address, employer, title, phone number and email address of any further references you may have.

The application form outlined above will be used to determine if each applicant is adequately qualified for future employment at the Beacon Corporation. This determination will be made strictly based upon the general requirements and specifications set out in job postings and initial job analyses. Applications will be initially divided into those who meet the requirements and those who fall short. This elementary categorization process can be completed by relatively low-level employees and help to save time and increase efficiency in the upper level staff selection process.

CANDIDATE DATA SCREENING

Once the initial round of filtration is completed, managers in the relevant departments will engage in further data screening for the applicants who have met the general requirements. Being that the interviewing process demands a great deal of time and expenditure, and considering that a large portion of applicants typically meet generic requirements, this step is essential in effectively utilizing company time in the selection process. Ideally, the Beacon Corporation recommends that no more than five highly qualified applicants should be interviewed. We believe that effective data screening can make this policy into reality. Applicant data screening by upper and middle managers will involve extensive examinations of the applicant's educational background, contacting multiple previous employers and references as well as deciding whether or not the skills/experience listed on the candidate's application match those on the previously created job analysis.