Free, Online Guide to Staffing

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Adapted from the Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision.

Also see the
Library's Human Resources Blog

Description and Some Definitions

Staffing includes a broad scope of activities -- the activities are best depicted by glancing at the sections of this topic listed below. The word "hiring" is sometimes used interchangeably with "staffing", which does an injustice to the broad scope of activities involved in staffing. Hiring might be thought more specifically as the selection phase of the overall process of staffing. Also note that the word "recruiting" is sometimes used interchangeably with "staffing", although many see "recruiting" as referring more specifically to the sourcing and advertising phases of the overall process of staffing. Staffing is sometimes considered to be a subset of the activities in "Human Resource Management". To further confuse things, many people refer to "Talent Management" as the activities of Human Resource Management. Each of these terms has its own topic in the Library and the introductory sections of each topic tries to explain the use of that particular term.

Sections of This Topic Include:

All Aspects of Staffing
General Information About Staffing
Legal Considerations

All Aspects of Staffing

The following aspects are listed roughly in the order of use.

Workforce planning
- - - Succession Planning
Specifying Jobs and Roles
- - - Job and Task Analysis
- - - Job Descriptions
- - - Specifying Competencies (desired capabilities -- also includes lists for various roles)
Recruiting
- - - Sourcing (identifying sources for job candidates)
- - - Advertising for job openings
- - - Online Recruiting
Outsourcing (having services and functions performed by non-employees)
- - - Consultants (Getting and Using)
- - - - - Sample "Request for Proposal" (issued by organization seeking consultant)
- - - - - Sample "Contract for Services" (agreement between organization and consultant)
- - - Volunteer Programs
- - - Temporary / Contingent Workers
Screening Applicants
- - - Interviewing Candidates
- - - Background Checks
- - - Testing Job Candidates
Selecting (Hiring) New Employees
- - - Job Offers
New Employee Orientation
Training and Development
Retaining Employees
Outplacing and Downsizing (laying off employees)
Exit Interviews

General Resources

Basic Guide to Staffing and Supervision
Basic Guide to Management and Supervision

These free guides are adapted from a comprehensive publication which provides complete how-to, step-by-step directions for all of the most important activities in management and supervision, Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision.

General Information About Staffing

Note that many of the above sections also include a "General Resources" section with resources that are more focused on the topic in that section.
Hiring Without the Guesswork (gives broad overview of staffing)
TIPS on the Hiring Process

Legal Considerations in Staffing

Avoiding Employee Lawsuits
Employee Laws (addresses major laws, topics and issues)
Employees vs. Contractors -- What's the Difference? Employer vs. Independent Contractor
Employee or Independent Contractor?

For the Category of Human Resources:

Recommended Books

For-Profit

Nonprofit

For-Profit

Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business: by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Includes step-by-step guidelines, tips and tools to effectively lead:
1. Yourself
2. Other individuals in the business
3. Groups and teams in the business
4. Business organizations
5. As well as all functions within the business organization.

Many of the Library's materials about business, leadership and management are adapted from this book. Just click on the title of the book above to see the Index and Table of Contents.

The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just hover your cursor over the image of the book. A "bubble" of information will be displayed. You can click on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.

Nonprofit

Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision With Nonprofit Staff: by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Includes step-by-step guidelines, tips and tools customized for personnel in nonprofits to effectively lead:
1. Yourself
2. Other individuals in the nonprofit
3. Groups and teams in the nonprofit
4. Nonprofit organizations
5. As well as all functions within the nonprofit organization.

Many of the Library's materials about nonprofit leadership and management are adapted from this book. Just click on the title of the book above to see the Index and Table of Contents.