Unit –IV

Staffing, Motivation &Leadership

Staffing:

Staffing – What is the Meaning of Staffing?

Staffing is an important management function through which positions in an organisation are

filled by qualified people. The function of staffing may be very simple in case of a sole
proprietorship concern where the owners run it with help from a few hired hands. As the size of
the concern goes up when the business expands, more and more people are required to run it
efficiently.

Definition:

According to Ernest Dale, “Keeping the jobs filled with right people is the staffing phase of the
management job…” In this way, staffing involves recruitment, selection, training, development,
promotion, compensation, etc. of subordinate managers.

In the words of Koontz and O’Donnell, “The managerial function of staffing involves manning
the organisation structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of
personnel to fill the roles designed into structure.”

The following are the major elements or functions of staffing:

1. Developing job descriptions.

2. Preparing job specifications.

3. Determining manpower requirements.

4. Making recruitment or getting applicants for the jobs.

5. Selecting the best qualified among those who seek the jobs.

6. Making provisions for transfers and promotions.

7. Providing training for improving skills and performance.

8. Making correct or appropriate placement.

9. Formulating suitable compensation plans.

10. Maintaining sound management-worker relationship.

11. Appraising the performance.

12. Making adequate provision for retirement.

According to McFarland, “Staffing activities consist of appointing individuals to vacant or newly

created organisational positions, either by attracting them as candidates for employment from
outside the organisation, or by moving them into the position by promoting or transferring them
from within the organisation.” It may be observed that staffing has recently been recognised as a

distinct and separate managerial function. Earlier, it was a part of organising function.

Staffing – 8 Steps Involved in Staffing Process

Step # 1. Determination of Manpower Requirements:

The very first step in staffing is to plan the manpower inventory required by a concern in order to
match them with the job requirements and demands. Therefore, it involves forecasting and
determining the future manpower needs of the concern.

Step # 2. Recruitment:

Once the requirements are notified, the concern invites and solicits applications according to the
invitations made to the desirable candidates.

Step # 3. Selection:

This is the screening step of staffing in which the solicited applications are screened out and
suitable candidates are appointed as per the requirements.

Step # 4. Orientation and Placement:

Once screening takes place, the appointed candidates are made familiar to the work units and
work environment through the orientation programmes. Placement takes place by putting right
man on the right job.

Step # 5. Training and Development:

Training is a part of incentives given to the workers in order to develop and grow them within
the concern. Training is generally given according to the nature of activities and scope of
expansion in it. Along with it, the workers are developed by providing them extra benefits of in
depth knowledge of their functional areas. Development also includes giving them key and
important jobs as a test or examination in order to analyse their performances.

Step # 6. Remuneration or Compensation:

It is a kind of compensation provided monetarily to the employees for their work performances.
This is given according to the nature of job- skilled or unskilled, physical or mental, etc.
Remuneration forms an important monetary incentive for the employees.

Step # 7. Performance Evaluation:

In order to keep a track or record of the behaviour, attitudes as well as opinions of the workers
towards their jobs. For this regular assessment is done to evaluate and supervise different work
units in a concern. It is basically concerning to know the development cycle and growth patterns
of the employees in a concern.

Step # 8. Promotion and Transfer:

Promotion is said to be a non-monetary incentive in which the worker is shifted from a higher
job demanding bigger responsibilities as well as shifting the workers and transferring them to
different work units and branches of the same organisation.

Motivation:

The term motivation is derived from the Latin word movere, meaning "to move." Motivation can
be broadly defined as the forces acting on or within a person that cause the arousal, direction,
and persistence of goal-directed, voluntary effort

Motivation is a state of mind, filled with energy and enthusiasm, which drives a person to work
in a certain way to achieve desired goals. Motivation is a force which pushes people to work with
a high level of commitment and focus, even if things are going against them. Motivation
translates into a certain kind of human behaviour.  In short, motivation is the driving force behind
human actions.

There are many different forces that guide and direct our motivations. It is important to ensure
that every team member in an organization is motivated. Various psychologists have studied
human behaviour and have formalized their findings in the form of various motivational theories.
These motivational theories provide insights into the way people behave and what motivates
them.

Maslow’s theory of hierarchical needs

Abraham Maslow postulated that a person will be motivated when all his needs are fulfilled.
People do not work for security or money, but they work to contribute and to use their skills. He
demonstrated this by creating a pyramid to show how people are motivated and mentioned that
ONE CANNOT ASCEND TO THE NEXT LEVEL UNLESS LOWER-LEVEL NEEDS ARE
FULFILLED. The lowest level needs in the pyramid are basic needs and unless these lower-level
needs are satisfied people do not look at working toward satisfying the upper-level needs.
Below is the hierarchy of needs:

Physiological needs: are basic needs for survival such as air, sleep, food, water, clothing, sex,
and shelter.

Safety needs: Protection from threats, deprivation, and other dangers (e.g., health, secure
employment, and property)

Social (belongingness and love) needs: The need for association, affiliation, friendship, and so
on.

Self-esteem needs:  The need for respect and recognition.

Self-actualization needs:  The opportunity for personal development, learning, and

fun/creative/challenging work.  Self-actualization is the highest-level need to which a human
being can aspire.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

The leader will have to understand at what level the team members are currently, and seek out to
help them to satisfy those specific needs and accordingly work to help fulfil those needs. This
will help the team members perform better and move ahead with the project. Also, as their needs
get fulfilled, the team members will start performing, till the time they start thinking of fulfilling
the next upper level of need as mentioned in the pyramid.

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

The idea that a manager’s attitude has an impact on employee motivation was originally
proposed by Douglas McGregor, a management professor at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology during the 1950s and 1960s. In his 1960 book, The Human Side of Enterprise,
McGregor proposed two theories by which managers perceive and address employee motivation.
He referred to these opposing motivational methods as Theory X and Theory Y management.
Each assumes that the manager’s role is to organize resources, including people, to best benefit
the company. However, beyond this commonality, the attitudes and assumptions they embody
are quite different.

Theory X

According to McGregor, Theory X management assumes the following:

Work is inherently distasteful to most people, and they will attempt to avoid work whenever
possible.
Most people are not ambitious, have little desire for responsibility, and prefer to be directed.

Most people have little aptitude for creativity in solving organizational problems.

Motivation occurs only at the physiological and security levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Most people are self-centered. As a result, they must be closely controlled and often coerced to
achieve organizational objectives.

Most people resist change.

Most people are gullible and unintelligent.

Essentially, Theory X assumes that the primary source of employee motivation is monetary, with
security as a strong second. Under Theory X, one can take a hard or soft approach to getting
results.

Theory Y

The higher-level needs of esteem and self-actualization are ongoing needs that, for most people,
are never completely satisfied. As such, it is these higher-level needs through which employees
can best be motivated.

In strong contrast to Theory X, Theory Y management makes the following assumptions:

 Work can be as natural as play if the conditions are favorable.

 People will be self-directed and creative to meet their work and organizational objectives
if they are committed to them.

 People will be committed to their quality and productivity objectives if rewards are in
place that address higher needs such as self-fulfillment.

 The capacity for creativity spreads throughout organizations.

 Most people can handle responsibility because creativity and ingenuity are common in
the population.

 Under these conditions, people will seek responsibility.

Under these assumptions, there is an opportunity to align personal goals with organizational
goals by using the employee’s own need for fulfillment as the motivator. McGregor stressed that
Theory Y management does not imply a soft approach.

McGregor recognized that some people may not have reached the level of maturity assumed by
Theory Y and may initially need tighter controls that can be relaxed as the employee develops.
Theory Z stresses the need to help workers become generalists, rather than specialists. It views
job rotations and continual training as a means of increasing employees’ knowledge of the
company and its processes while building a variety of skills and abilities. Since workers are
given much more time to receive training, rotate through jobs, and master the intricacies of the
company’s operations, promotions tend to be slower. The rationale for the drawn-out time frame
is that it helps develop a more dedicated, loyal, and permanent workforce, which benefits the
company; the employees, meanwhile, have the opportunity to fully develop their careers at one
company. When employees rise to a higher level of management, it is expected that they will use
Theory Z to “bring up,” train, and develop other employees in a similar fashion.

Ouchi’s Theory Z makes certain assumptions about workers. One assumption is that they seek to
build cooperative and intimate working relationships with their coworkers. In other words,
employees have a strong desire for affiliation. Another assumption is that workers expect
reciprocity and support from the company. According to Theory Z, people want to maintain a
work-life balance, and they value a working environment in which things like family, culture,
and traditions are considered to be just as important as the work itself. Under Theory Z
management, not only do workers have a sense of cohesion with their fellow workers, they also
develop a sense of order, discipline, and a moral obligation to work hard. Finally, Theory Z
assumes that given the right management support, workers can be trusted to do their jobs to their
utmost ability and look after for their own and others’ well-being.

Theory Z also makes assumptions about company culture. If a company wants to realize
the benefits described above, it need to have the following:

 A strong company philosophy and culture: The company philosophy and culture need
to be understood and embodied by all employees, and employees need to believe in the
work they’re doing.

 Long-term staff development and employment: The organization and management

team need to have measures and programs in place to develop employees. Employment is
usually long-term, and promotion is steady and measured. This leads to loyalty from team
members.

 Consensus in decisions: Employees are encouraged and expected to take part in

organizational decisions.

 Generalist employees: Because employees have a greater responsibility in making

decisions and understand all aspects of the organization, they ought to be generalists.
However, employees are still expected to have specialized career responsibilities.

 Concern for the happiness and well-being of workers: The organization shows sincere
concern for the health and happiness of its employees and their families. It
takes measures and creates programs to help foster this happiness and well-being.
  Informal control with formalized measures: Employees are empowered to perform
tasks the way they see fit, and management is quite hands-off. However, there should be
formalized measures in place to assess work quality and performance.

 Individual responsibility: The organization recognizes the individual contributions but

always within the context of the team as a whole.

Leadership:

The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For example:

 A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal cause.

 An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his group to follow.

 An executive, developing her company's strategy to beat the competition.

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring
vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to
"win" as a team or an organization; and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.

Leadership: a Definition

According to the idea of transformational leadership , an effective leader is a person who does
the following:

1. Creates an inspiring vision of the future.

2. Motivates and inspires people to engage with that vision.

3. Manages delivery of the vision.

4. Coaches and builds a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the vision.

Leadership styles
Similarly, leadership experts believe there are different types of leadership styles and that some
leaders have a dominant single style, while other leaders use different styles in different
situations or with different followers. Commonly identified leadership styles include affiliative,
authoritative, coaching, coercive, charismatic, democratic, innovative, command and control (or
bureaucratic), laissez-faire, pacesetter (or transactional), servant, situational and
transformational.
All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective. As discussed earlier, few leaders
adopt the carrot approach and a few adopt the stick approach. Thus, all of the leaders do not get
the things done in the same manner. Their style varies. The leadership style varies with the kind
of people the leader interacts and deals with. A perfect/standard leadership style is one which
assists a leader in getting the best out of the people who follow him.

Some of the important leadership styles are as follows:

Autocratic leadership style: In this style of leadership, a leader has complete command
and hold over their employees/team. The team cannot put forward their views even if they are
best for the team’s or organizational interests. They cannot criticize or question the leader’s way
of getting things done. The leader himself gets the things done. The advantage of this style is that
it leads to speedy decision-making and greater productivity under leader’s supervision.
Drawbacks of this leadership style are that it leads to greater employee absenteeism and
turnover. This leadership style works only when the leader is the best in performing or when the
job is monotonous, unskilled and routine in nature or where the project is short-term and risky.

The Laissez Faire Leadership Style: Here, the leader totally trusts their employees/team
to perform the job themselves. He just concentrates on the intellectual/rational aspect of his work
and does not focus on the management aspect of his work. The team/employees are welcomed to
share their views and provide suggestions which are best for organizational interests. This
leadership style works only when the employees are skilled, loyal, experienced and intellectual.

Democrative/Participative leadership style: The leaders invite and encourage the team
members to play an important role in decision-making process, though the ultimate decision-
making power rests with the leader. The leader guides the employees on what to perform and
how to perform, while the employees communicate to the leader their experience and the
suggestions if any. The advantages of this leadership style are that it leads to satisfied, motivated
and more skilled employees. It leads to an optimistic work environment and also encourages
creativity. This leadership style has the only drawback that it is time-consuming.
 Bureaucratic leadership: Here the leaders strictly adhere to the organizational rules and
policies. Also, they make sure that the employees/team also strictly follows the rules and
procedures. Promotions take place on the basis of employees’ ability to adhere to organizational
rules. This leadership style gradually develops over time. This leadership style is more suitable
when safe work conditions and quality are required. But this leadership style discourages
creativity and does not make employees self-contented.