Most people probably think of staffing as mere
interviewing of applicants. However, staffing is much more than job interviews.
It begins with recruitment, continues with selection, includes placement and
ends with induction. A mistake at any stage of the process could result in
filling your hospital with misfits.
The foundation for a successful staffing
must be laid during manpower planning where the job description and
specification is decided. The job description highlights the work activities to
be carried out by the position advertised while the job specification describes
the qualifications, skills and characteristics that that position requires.
Staffing does not just involve filling the positions
provided for by the manpower plan but goes beyond that to ensure that the
positions remain filled. Failure to successfully employ the right personnel
could be expensive to the organization.
Hence, you should avoid these staffing mistakes. But
first, let’s get a basic understanding of the different stages of the staffing
process.
Recruitment is informing job seekers that
vacancies exist in the hospital as well as receiving their applications. It
involves attracting a pool of potential applicants that the hospital can choose
from. Internal recruitment is the filling of vacancies using in-house
employees. External recruiting is the filling of vacancies with candidates outside
the hospital.
Selection is the sorting
out of application forms, short listing candidates and the actual interview of
suitably qualified candidates. During interviews, you should endeavor to strike
a balance between certificate and competence, charisma and character, expertise
and experience, skill and stamina, independence and interdependence (teamwork),
and finally imitation and innovation.
Placement or employment is the appointment
of the employee into various positions. Medical and physical evaluation of the
employee is also done at this stage.
Induction is the series of activities aimed
at integrating the new employee into the hospital. This is the period when new
employees are taught about the hospital’s vision and core values as well as
their role in achieving it. It actually begins at recruitment when key
information about the organization is passed across to prospective employees
through adverts. It continues all through to the final induction stage. The aim
of induction is to help the employee adjust to the new job with its policies, procedures,
environment and colleagues.
Mistake
#1
Poorly
Designed Job Description and Specification: This will
attract the wrong candidates and lead to employing the wrong people. To avoid
this mistake, the work done during the manpower planning phase of human
resource management must be thorough and comprehensive.
Mistake
#2
Halo
Effect: This is a common mistake whereby the interviewer
likes the candidate because (s)he possesses a certain trait that appeals to the
interviewer. This perception distorts the interviewer’s perception of other
traits and reduces objectivity. For example, the interviewer may select a less
qualified candidate because they share similar hobbies or attended same school.
Mistake
#3
Horns
Effect: In this case, the interviewer dislikes the candidate
because (s)he has a certain trait that the interviewer finds distasteful. It may be the personality, dressing etc of
the candidate.
Mistake
#4
Stereotyping:
This is another common mistake where the interviewer’s perception of the
candidate is based on his/her previous experiences. For example, some people
may have certain wrong perception of females which they apply to all females.
To avoid Mistakes #2, 3 and 4, it is important
to enhance objectivity by appointing to the interview panel people with varied
backgrounds, gender, tribe, religion etc.
Mistake
#5
Mismatched
Goals: This occurs when the goals and expectations of the
selected candidate are at variance to those of the hospital. Having such
employees could eventually lead to disenchantment and poor performance. This
can be avoided by extensively discussing the remuneration, working conditions,
organizational goals and expectations during placement. Candidates whose goals
do not match that of the hospital should not be retained irrespective of how
qualified they are.
Mistake
#6
Hasty
Conclusion: Many interviewers conclude on the
preferred candidate even before they have seen them all. To avoid this, ensure
you interview all the selected candidates and spend adequate time considering
successful ones before you decide on whom to retain.
Mistake
#7
Poorly
Conducted Induction: A poorly conducted induction will leave
employees confused about the hospital’s culture and the role they must play to
fit in. The end result will be poor performance and high labor turnover.
In my next post, I will discuss the third area of human resource management-Performance Appraisal and Motivation.
See you soon.....
No comments:
Post a Comment