Chapter 6 Staffing Decisions
Module 6.1 Conceptual Issues in Staffing
The Impact of Staffing Practices on Firm Performance
Staffing practices do have a positive association with work performance
E.g. identified a number of “high‐performance work practices” based on theory and performance work practices” based on theory and
research and then examined the relationship between those practices and outcomes such
as turnover, firm productivity, and corporate financial performance
High‐performance work practicesperformance work practicesinclude the use of formal job analyses, selection from within
for key positions, the amount of training received by employees, merit ‐performance work practices” based on theory and based promotions, and the
use of formal assessment devices for selection.
Of cource, HWPs might be improving work performance
But it is not at all clear that HR practices drive firm performance
An example of economic recession (10 years ago)
The results indicated that selective staffing and internal training contributed to the
generation of slack resources that helped organizations to recover from the effects of the
Great Recession. (productivity improved after higher selection procedures)
Thus, the authors concluded that HPWPs such as staffing and training can be used
strategically to weather (überstehen) recessions and economic uncertainty.
HWPs and culture
variables such as collectivism, femininity, or even power distance play a role in the way in
which HR practices translate into firm success.
Stakeholder in the Staffing process
who are the different stakeholders in the staffing process and what are their roles?
Line managers:
gather information about applicants, decides who to hire and fire
Co-workers:
Are also influenced by staffing process if i.e. a layoff occurs=more tasks for less people
Applicants:
Also have to be incorporated: might have strong feelings when they are not accepted=bad view on
the organization as a whole
Staffing from the international perspective
define multinational staffing. what do members from collectivist cultures prefer in terms of form
of assessment?
Multinational staffingProcedures that involve staffing for organizations in more than one
country.
they deny individual assessment, group assessment favoured
MODULE 6.2 Evaluation of Staffing Outcomes
, - define selection ratio. what is better, lower of higher SR?
Selection ratio (SR)Index ranging from 0 to 1 that reflects the ratio of positions to applicants;
calculated by dividing the number of positions available by the number of applicants.
higher is better
Cut-off score
- what type of cut scores should an organisation choose?
how can we know if someone who hasnt been hired would have performed above/below what
was originally predicted?
In many situations, the best staffing strategy is to choose a cut score that minimizes both
types of errors (false positive, false negative)
In some situations, however, where the cost of a performance mistake can be catastrophic
(e.g., hiring workers at a nuclear power plant), a better strategy might be to be very
selective and accept a higher false negative error rate to reduce the frequency of false
positive errors.
how can we know if someone who hasnt been hired would have performed above/below what
was originally predicted?
we can collect data on another group of individuals who are similar to the applicants—
current employees. This is the concurrent validity design we studied in Chapter 2
- in which 2 ways can you establish a cut score? which of these fare better in court?
❧Criterion-referenced cut score • Consider a specific desired level of performance & find test
score corresponding to that level, (as for example, you need to meet specific criterions to me
accepted e.g. pilot)
❧Norm-referenced cut score • Based on some index of all test-takers’ scores rather than any
notion of job performance, the minimum criterion is not clearly defined (e.g., cut score to pass any
course: 6
When a test ends up in court and there are discussions of how cut scores were set, norm-
referenced cut scores fare poorly compared with criterion ‐performance work practices” based on theory and referenced scores
- define base rate in the context of utility. what if base rate is very high?
percentage of current workforce that is performing successfully.
If performance is very high (i.e., the base rate of success is high), then any new staffing system is
likely to add very little to the productivity of the organization.
Utility
Utility analysisTechnique that assesses the economic return on investment of human resource
interventions such as staffing and training.
Related to selection ratio
Base ratePercentage of the current workforce that is performing successfully
If performance is very high (i.e., the base rate of success is high), then any new system is
likely to add very little to the productivity of the organization.
Module 6.1 Conceptual Issues in Staffing
The Impact of Staffing Practices on Firm Performance
Staffing practices do have a positive association with work performance
E.g. identified a number of “high‐performance work practices” based on theory and performance work practices” based on theory and
research and then examined the relationship between those practices and outcomes such
as turnover, firm productivity, and corporate financial performance
High‐performance work practicesperformance work practicesinclude the use of formal job analyses, selection from within
for key positions, the amount of training received by employees, merit ‐performance work practices” based on theory and based promotions, and the
use of formal assessment devices for selection.
Of cource, HWPs might be improving work performance
But it is not at all clear that HR practices drive firm performance
An example of economic recession (10 years ago)
The results indicated that selective staffing and internal training contributed to the
generation of slack resources that helped organizations to recover from the effects of the
Great Recession. (productivity improved after higher selection procedures)
Thus, the authors concluded that HPWPs such as staffing and training can be used
strategically to weather (überstehen) recessions and economic uncertainty.
HWPs and culture
variables such as collectivism, femininity, or even power distance play a role in the way in
which HR practices translate into firm success.
Stakeholder in the Staffing process
who are the different stakeholders in the staffing process and what are their roles?
Line managers:
gather information about applicants, decides who to hire and fire
Co-workers:
Are also influenced by staffing process if i.e. a layoff occurs=more tasks for less people
Applicants:
Also have to be incorporated: might have strong feelings when they are not accepted=bad view on
the organization as a whole
Staffing from the international perspective
define multinational staffing. what do members from collectivist cultures prefer in terms of form
of assessment?
Multinational staffingProcedures that involve staffing for organizations in more than one
country.
they deny individual assessment, group assessment favoured
MODULE 6.2 Evaluation of Staffing Outcomes
, - define selection ratio. what is better, lower of higher SR?
Selection ratio (SR)Index ranging from 0 to 1 that reflects the ratio of positions to applicants;
calculated by dividing the number of positions available by the number of applicants.
higher is better
Cut-off score
- what type of cut scores should an organisation choose?
how can we know if someone who hasnt been hired would have performed above/below what
was originally predicted?
In many situations, the best staffing strategy is to choose a cut score that minimizes both
types of errors (false positive, false negative)
In some situations, however, where the cost of a performance mistake can be catastrophic
(e.g., hiring workers at a nuclear power plant), a better strategy might be to be very
selective and accept a higher false negative error rate to reduce the frequency of false
positive errors.
how can we know if someone who hasnt been hired would have performed above/below what
was originally predicted?
we can collect data on another group of individuals who are similar to the applicants—
current employees. This is the concurrent validity design we studied in Chapter 2
- in which 2 ways can you establish a cut score? which of these fare better in court?
❧Criterion-referenced cut score • Consider a specific desired level of performance & find test
score corresponding to that level, (as for example, you need to meet specific criterions to me
accepted e.g. pilot)
❧Norm-referenced cut score • Based on some index of all test-takers’ scores rather than any
notion of job performance, the minimum criterion is not clearly defined (e.g., cut score to pass any
course: 6
When a test ends up in court and there are discussions of how cut scores were set, norm-
referenced cut scores fare poorly compared with criterion ‐performance work practices” based on theory and referenced scores
- define base rate in the context of utility. what if base rate is very high?
percentage of current workforce that is performing successfully.
If performance is very high (i.e., the base rate of success is high), then any new staffing system is
likely to add very little to the productivity of the organization.
Utility
Utility analysisTechnique that assesses the economic return on investment of human resource
interventions such as staffing and training.
Related to selection ratio
Base ratePercentage of the current workforce that is performing successfully
If performance is very high (i.e., the base rate of success is high), then any new system is
likely to add very little to the productivity of the organization.
