Staffing is the most fundamental and critical driver of organizational performance. In the simplest sense, staffing is putting people to work. It begins with workforce design and includes recruiting, assessment, development, workforce planning, and retention. Today, staffing may involve any combination of employees, contingent workers, contractors, consultants, and outsourced operations working around the world. And although it may involve tens of thousands, staffing recognizes the importance of every single person: the individual worker is the ultimate performer. Whether the workforce is an individual, a small team, a department, an organization, or a global enterprise, staffing is a complex and dynamic function.

From On Staffing: Advice and Perspectives From HR Leaders

Foreward

By John Kitson and Lou Manzi

Let’s get one thing straight from the start: Staffing is the most important function in any organization. And while this evolving function itself takes many forms and is performed by many different people, it remains true that to get the job done effectively, you have to have the right person doing the job.

Staffing has changed significantly over the past several years. Staffing used to be about hiring people, short and simple. Today, staffing is so much more. It’s about conducting research and sourcing candidates from places that until recently either didn't exist or were never even thought of as potential staffing avenues. It’s about assessing skills and placing people in jobs where they will succeed. It’s about coaching and providing career paths. It’s about implementing programs that retain top performers and show non-performers the way out the door. It’s about determining the human capital requirements of the organization and making certain that the appropriate people are in place. And staffing is about ensuring that the human capital engaged to conduct the organization’s business has the talent needed to meet performance expectations.

A lot has changed in the world of work, too. Consider:

Workforce composition and employees’ skills, attitudes and perspectives on relationships with employers have been dramatically revised, as the work world moved from a "career-for-life" mentality to one that embraces change and multiple career paths and opportunities. The Internet and highly sophisticated software implementation in organizations are changing the fundamentals for how employees and their companies work together. In addition to creating more opportunities for communication, the Internet has also increased the speed and quantity of information exchange so employees can access greater amounts of information in very little time and from virtually anywhere in the world. New technology also means that companies are outsourcing more tasks. In fact, analysts predict that outsourcing will continue to grow. Globalization means that organizations throughout the world are expanding their geographical reach so that global business skills and a global way of thinking will be key for success. In today's world of work, there’s a lot more competition -- competition for customers and competition for employees. We're all aware that the demand for workers continues to outpace supply; regardless of economic conditions, we will experience labor shortages for the next 15 to 20 years. At the same time, workers must constantly learn new skills as a result of the increased demand for better-trained and better-educated employees. The attitudes, motivations and needs of the emerging workforce are noticeably shifting, which means that the definition of the employer-employee relationship will continue to evolve.

All of these developments present an incredible array of challenges for organizations that manage people and for people who must manage their careers within and across organizations. And that’s why the staffing profession has changed so dramatically. How we address the challenges of an evolving and dynamic workforce directly impacts the success of the organizations we serve.

Today’s staffing professionals must not only understand and intuit the needs of organizations but be prepared to shift priorities and responsibilities as those needs change. We have to be business and financial analysts, sales and marketing specialists, strategic planners, coaches and mentors. We have to be creative in sourcing practices and more targeted in staffing selection as we recruit for performance, not just competencies. Our recruiting processes have to operate faster and with greater flexibility. And we have to measure our own results.

We are also called upon to be leaders within our organizations and among other staffing professionals. Because as technology and competition continue to level the playing field, human capital performance will become the only sustainable advantage an organization has over its competitors. Once we’ve hired the right person for the job, we have to have the compensation and benefits packages, development programs and retention strategies in place that will keep them on board. That means turning our organizations into learning organizations, turning our managers into coaches and mentors, minimizing barriers to entry and closing most of the exits so our competitors don’t benefit from attracting the best people first or luring them away. We have to train for the project, not a life-long commitment, and create as many career paths as we have people.

Unquestionably, staffing has evolved into a profession all its own. And the impact staffing professionals can have on the success of organizations will continue to grow.

On Staffing: Advice and Perspectives is a compendium of staffing knowledge, an outstanding collection of essays from some of the most highly-regarded people in our profession today. It is insightful, thought provoking and full of innovative ideas. But more importantly, it offers you the knowledge and expertise that only people who share incredible enthusiasm for the staffing profession can bring to you. In a world that constantly demands more and demands it better and faster, we must continuously assess our skills and performance, drawing from every available resource in order to improve. With On Staffing: Advice and Perspectives, we have a new and remarkable resource. I have no doubt that this book will positively impact the contribution you make as a staffing professional.