Staffing and Using Rewards to Develop Talent

Overview

"Organizations are made up of combinations of physical, financial and human capital. The term human capital refers to the knowledge, skill, and ability of people, and their motivation to use them successfully on he job." (Heneman and Herbert Gerhard, 2010).

In order to maximize human capital organizations must set standards and rewards in order to enhance employees motivation and develop talent. Maximizing capital starts with hiring staff that can effectively work in your organization. Once the staff is set in place rewards can be illustrated in order to gain the most out of these strategies. These rewards programs include career and development plans, compensation, and setting individual objectives for employees.

Staffing

"Staffing is the process of acquiring, deploying, and retaining a workforce of sufficient quantity and quality to create positive impacts on the organization’s effectiveness. " (Heneman and Herbert Gerhard, 2010)

Staffing Implications

Acquisition 

Acquisition activities involve creating external staffing systems allow applicants into the organization. It also involves planning for types of people needed, establishing job requirements in the form of the qualifications or KSAOs that are  needed to perform the job effectively, establishing the types of rewards the job will provide, conducting external recruitment campaigns,  the use of selection tools to evaluate the KSAOs, determining which applicants are the most qualified and will receive job offers, and putting together job offers that applicants will hopefully accept. (Heneman and Herbert Gerhard, 2010).

Deployment

The second implication is deployment. Deployment refers to the placement of new hires within the  actual job they will hold, something that may not be entirely clear at the time of hire, such as the specific work unit or where they will be located. Deployment also contributes to  the movement of current employees throughout the organization and through internal staffing systems that handle promotions, transfers, and new project assignments for employees. (Heneman and Herbert Gerhard, 2010)

Retention Systems

Retention systems are created to manage the movement employees out of the organization. These outflows are not voluntary on the part of the employee. For instance, an employee may have to deal with layoffs or the sale of a business unit to another organization. Other outflows are voluntary and are initiated by the employee, such as leaving the organization to take another job or leaving the organization because your spouse or partner has been transferred to a new geographic location. (Heneman and Herbert Gerhard, 2010)

Quality and Quantity

When staffing your organization its important to focus on the quality and quantity of employees that your organization needs to perform effectively. Having the correct quantity of employees means having a correct head count to conduct business. On the other hand having quality employees entails having people with the requite KSAO's so that jobs are performed effectively (Heneman and Herbert Gerhard, 2010). The hiring process for a manager of a gas station would entail hiring enough employees to fulfill sufficient hours to receive business. It would also require making sure that certain employees that have the capability of things such as managing payroll, teaching employees how to use the register, and maintaining the gas pumps. 

Using Rewards to Develop Talent

Once staffing has been achieved you then begin implement and finish the reward programs to maximize the talent in your organization.  Due to increased globalization, stiffer competition and the shrinking labor pool, companies no longer can afford to view traditional rewards programs as a cost to manage. HR departments now must research what their employees are looking to gain and develop total rewards systems that match what they have contributed to the organization and align to corporate ROI. (Kleiner, 2007) 

"Many companies rely on benchmarks and perceived best practices to design their reward programs, but then they do little to create better benefits portals on their intranet sites, introduce on boarding and exit interviews, explore methodologies for measuring ways to implement non financial reward programs or consider the possibility of managing rewards elements in an integrated fashion."(Kleiner, 2007).  

Kleiner believes this is no longer the correct way to go about rewarding your employees.  According to him  "HR leaders need to be focused on linking rewards strategy to people strategy and people strategy to business strategy. It is time to deal with this highly dynamic set of circumstances — urgent requirements for talent and increasingly complex people issues — by taking a rigorous approach to finding out what your employees truly want, what really gets their juices flowing and enhances their loyalty and then developing a total rewards system (base pay, bonuses, health and welfare benefits and intangibles such as culture, training and career opportunities) that rewards them for the value they bring." (Kleiner, 2007) 

Career and Development Plans

A career and development plans can be a reward that can makes or breaks an employees true contribution to the organization. These plans are personal and career development assessments and interests according to the departmental needs and your job. These plans according to (Human Resources at University of Berkley, 2013).

1. Summarize the career development information you have clarified by engaging in the exercises in each of the phases of the career development model
2. Supplies a framework for career development conversations with your supervisor
3. Provides a roadmap for you and your supervisor to use to create development activities that will help you enhance your knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

For example a employee sits down with the human resource manager at a job he's been working at for a couple of years and that he has gained respect at. He list out some potential goals and objectives he would like to attain within the organization and some personal goals he would like to attain. Essentially they map out what he will his possibilities of achievement are and what it will take to get to where the employee wants. If the employee disagrees with what hes going to have to due to attain this or there not willing to help him get to where he wants in may create a negative attitude or force a good employee to resign. If the organization is willing to help the employee with his career and development plan this will create a positive reward and he/she will work more effectively and create more output for the organization. This leads to our next subject compensation. 

Compensation

First, I would like agree with Kleiner in the aspect that organization should figure out what people really want in order to create a proper total rewards systems. One of those total rewards may be compensation. Compensation in business can be defined as receiving a reward, for instance money for a task that you've completed or something you contributed to the organization. For example a salesman at a car dealership goes over and above and sells more then every other employee and more then his quota. The business dealership may act on this and in return compensate him for his hard work with a bonus. If this path continues they may look at the employee as more valuable and raise his base salary. Most of the time people work hard to be rewarded in the aspect of compensation with higher wages or more money. They want to able to have more luxuries and support what they may need easier. This type of reward "fuels" people its what keeps people working hard and makes organizations competitive. 

Setting Individual Objectives

Individual objectives go hand and hand with both career planning and compensation   These objectives may result in pay raises, new levels within the organization, or even both.  An example of a setting an individual objective is a college student who is interning at a organization was to sit down with his boss and have a one on one about the job. Throughout the conversation his boss informs him of what his task are going to be and that if he completes the task well he will be hired as an official employee after the internship. Setting individual objectives with employees gives them short-term and long-term goals that they can complete and continue to be engaged and focused on the success of the organization. It's one of the most important rewards and motivates employees along with enhances the overall human capital for the organization.

Citations

Acemoglu, Daron. "Reward structures and the allocation of talent." European Economic Review 39.1 (1995): 17-33.

"Career Planning: Career Development Action Plan." Human Resources at UC Berkeley |. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
Heneman, Herbert Gerhard. "Staffing Models and Strategy." Staffing Organizations: Recruitment and Selection in Canada. [Whitby, ON.]: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2010. 1-27. Print.

Kleiner, Dick. "Aligning Rewards with Business Strategy." - Talent Management Magazine. N.p., 1 Sept. 2007. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

Mathis, Robert L., and John Harold. Jackson. Human Resource Management. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-western, 2003. Print.

"Pay for Talent: Integrated Talent Management Helps to Retain Key Employees and Drive Business Success." Pay For Talent. ADP Research Institute, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.