Employee Resourcing

1. Introduction and resourcing strategies

Today’s world of work is unrecognizable from the workplace of only a few years ago.
Employers and employees have embraced revolutionary communications advances, the
introduction of flexible working arrangements, greater diversity in the workplace, and
significant restructuring of working arrangements through outsourcing, Gig economies
and other various arrangements. When resourcing people all these factors need to be well
captured and accommodated.

Resourcing strategies are concerned with matching human capital resources to the
strategic and operational needs of the organization and ensuring the effective utilization
of those resources. The strategies contribute to the formulation of business strategy by
defining future human capital requirements, identify opportunities, to make better use of
human capital, and pointing out how human capital constraints may affect the
implementation of the business plan, unless action is taken. These constraints could
include skill shortages, problems in recruiting and retaining people, low productivity,
high absenteeism, insufficient flexibility, or an employee relations climate that inhibits
cooperation and commitment.

Resourcing strategies are based on human resource planning processes that ensure human
capital needs are identified and plans are made to satisfy them. ‘Make or buy’ decisions
may have to be made. To a greater or lesser extent, organizations can concentrate on
growing their own talent and promoting from within ( a ‘make’ decision ) But they may
decide to buy in workers from else where who already have the capabilities they need ( a
‘buy’ decision). A policy choice needs to be made on the extent to which a ‘make’ or
‘buy’ approach is adopted.

a) Global and National context: The Macro Picture:

Emerging themes pertaining to employee resourcing

 Globalization,
 Market economy,
 Privatization,
 Technological innovation,
 Climate change and sustainability,
 Changing customs and expectations
 Future of work and WFH

b) Organizational context:

 Employer expectations about employee behaviour

 Adding economic value
 New forms of work contracts

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  Cost of wages and benefits

c) Employee context:

 People’s expectations
 Work ethics
 Vocational choice
 Job enhancement
 Career development
 Concept of employability

2. How Ageing Population has Impacted Resourcing

 Fertility decline has been the primary

 Determinant of population ageing. Over the last half century, the total fertility rate
decreased globally by almost half, from 5.0 to 2.7 children per woman.
 Over the next half century, it is expected to drop to the replacement level of 2.1children
per woman. Fertility is well below the replacement level in the more developed regions
 Minimum retirement aga has been increased to 60

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3. Foreign Employment & Foreign Labour

 A large demand for skilled and unskilled labour from Sri Lanka, from the Middle East, Cyprus,
Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore, Korea push up the price of labour, here.

 Hence attracting the best talent from the job market is a huge challenge from the employee cost
point of view

4. Worker of the Future (Artificial intelligence)

 Knowledge worker: Increasingly, the knowledge gives organizations a competitive advantage.

 Skill shifts are:

 From unskilled, manual blue-collar workers to highly skilled computer programmers, operators
of computer driven equipment, and professional, technically qualified managers.

 Knowledge provides new business opportunities in the service sector, such as software
development, Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs), maintaining and repairing bio-medical
equipment, financial services

 Multi-skilled workers will have competitive advantage

 A multi-skilled employee is someone who has multiple skills and competencies.

5. Demanding and new Jobs : IT/ software related Global by 2030

 Artificial Intelligence Educator
 Big Data Analytics Researcher
 Cloud Computing Manager
 Cyber Physical Systems Manager
 Decision Modelling Designer
 Design Synthesis Facility Planner
 Design Synthesis Supply Chain Manager
 Energy and Resource Efficiency Manager
 Industrial Computer Engineer
 Industrial Data Scientist
 Industrial User Experience Designer
 Industrial User Interface Designer
 Internet of Services Providers
 IT Solution Architect
 Machine Designer
 Machine to Machine Monitoring and Evaluation Manager
 Process Designer
 Robot Co-ordinator
 Robotic Programmer
 Skilled Maintenance Technician
 Smart Factory Engineering and Monitoring Manager
 Smart Product Behavioral Researcher
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  Smart Procut Designer
 Virtual Reality Manager
 Virtual Reality Programmer etc.

6. Segmentation of the workforce: -

a) Core workers:

 They deliver functional flexibility by being trained, re-trained and re-deployed across
tasks.
 They provide organization-specific skills
 Since training is costly, organizations give core workers long-term employment security.
 Long-term employment helps build skills and expertise
 Organizations try to motivate and retain, through soft HRM techniques.

b) Peripheral workers:

 They deliver numerical flexibility (flexi-hours)

 Their skills can be easily obtained in the open market
 Their cooperation is not critical to organizational performance
They are: -
 Full-time employees with little prospect of secure, continuous employment
 Workers who are on non-standard contracts of employment (temporary, part-time, casual)
 Distance workers (work contracted out) who supply their labour under contracts for
service rather than ‘contract of service’.
7. Types of Employment
Types of employment have significant consequences in law since it is used as a tool in determining the
obligations owed by the employers towards their employees. In Sri Lanka following types of
employment are largely speaking of.
a) Probationers
A Probationer is an employee who enters into a contract of employment with the employer. The
sole purpose of having a probationary period is to ascertain and evaluate the capability and
capacity of the employee. Most often contract itself contains a provision for the extension of the
probationary period.
b)    Apprentice
An Apprentice cannot be considered as a workman or an employee. Thus there is no contract of
service between an employer and employee. An Apprentice is merely acquiring the knowledge of
he/she is interested in and an employer merely undertakes to train him.
However some statutes including Industrial Dispute Act, EPF Act and Termination of Employment
Act, have brought in an Apprentice within the definition of a workman.

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 c)    Fixed Term Contract
Employee under a Fixed Term Contract is a person who is employed by the employer for a
specified period of time and at the end of the said period contract is considered to be expired.

d)    Casual Employees
 A Casual Employee is a person who is engaged in a particular job. In other words casual
employees are engaged in work only when the work is available and cannot demand work from
the employer.

e) Seasonal Employment
A person is engaged in a Seasonal Employment only for a particular season. Further not obliged
in law to re-employ such worker

8. Define Job Requirements

To hire right, define the job requirements. This must be stemming from your manpower plan in
the organization. When defining the job, you need to pay attention to : overall purpose of the
role, Job description, person specification, Job level and job grade, type of contract Ex,
Permanent , Fixed Term , Outsourced etc. , reporting lines . Then envision who your ideal
candidate might be in terms of experience , knowledge , skills and personal qualities.

9. Why hiring right matters ?

Hiring good people is one of the most critical contributions you can make to your organization.
When you make smart hiring decisions, you:
a) Set the stage for exceptional performance by you, your team, and your overall
organization
b) Support your organization’s growth plans
c) Help your organization differentiate itself from competitors by staffing it with people
who bring valuable skills to their work
Conversely, bad hiring decisions drag down performance. Such decisions stem from all-too-
common errors in the hiring process. They’re also expensive and painful to correct.

10. Develop a Job Description

If you’re hiring for a new position, you’ll need to develop a job description. To do so, spend time
learning about the job function. Talk with those who will interact with and/or rely on the person
who ultimately fills the open position.
Include the following information in your job description:
 Job title, business unit, organization
 Summary of the job tasks, responsibilities, and objectives
 Hiring manager, reporting manager
 Details of Compensation, hours, location
 Background (education, experience) required
 Personal characteristics required

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 If your organization has a required format or standard job description, use it as a model. Also
find out if your company’s human resources department must approve certain aspects of the job
description, such as compensation details.

EXAMPLE
You want to hire a senior accountant. You prepare the following job description:

Date : July 1, 2021

Position Title : Senior Accountant
Hours/Location : Monday - Friday, 9:00 - 5:00; Colombo office
Compensation : LKR 3,600,000 – LKR 4,000,000 annual salary
Department : Finance
Reports To : Head of Finance

Summary : (summary statement/brief overview of position)

As a member of the accounting team, support management of the company through timely and
accurate reporting of financial information and analysis of our inventory position.

Key Responsibilities: (specific key duties/responsibilities of position)

 Contribute to an accurate and speedy close by completing account reconciliations and
other actions as required.
 Liaise with product business groups and partner-distributors to analyze operational
information. Create worksheets used to post journal entries to the general ledger.
 Ensure accurate transfer of data from the inventory system to the general ledger,
determine that the system is functioning properly, and recommend system improvements.
Implement cycle count procedures during cycle counts to determine correctness and
recommend improvements.
 Assist with licensing processing as required.
 Liaise between outside distributors and internal departments for sales data. Analyze data
to ensure accurate and reliable information.
 Reconcile selected accounts to the appropriate subsidiary ledgers. Analyze accounts to
ensure appropriate adjustments are recorded.
 Prepare segments of the annual audit work as assigned.
 Special projects as assigned.

Requirements: (education, experience, communication/organization skills, work environment, etc.)

 Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Accounting or Business Administration.
 Proficiency in Sri Lanka Accounting standards
 3-6 years of progressive responsibility in general accounting.
 Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate well verbally and in writing.

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11. Determine the Ideal Candidate

If you need to fill an existing position, review the current job description to determine the ideal
candidate. Consider what capabilities and personal characteristics the candidate should have, and
how to determine whether they share your organization’s values.

12. Job Advertisements

Well defined advertisements will attract a very good pool of candidates which will help the
organization to screen candidates with diverse experience. You must give a brief description
about your organization and also the all the details of the Job Description. Giving a timeline to
apply will be beneficial and also you have to clearly mention the mode of application
Ex. Post, E- mail, Fax or hand delivery. To demonstrate your ethical practices, you also can say
“any form of canvassing for this post will be considered as a dis-qualification”

13. Shortlisting Candidates

This activity should be handled very carefully ensuring all candidates are being treated equally
which is in line with the defined job role as well as the job advertisement. Human Resource
professionals and hiring managers need to jointly perform this function eliminating biasedness.

14. Assessing Capabilities

To assess the capabilities which are essential for the job, focus on the education or training, work
experience, and skills required to perform it. Determine if a specific background is truly necessary.
Sometimes, you can substitute relevant work experience for a certain educational background or
degree.
To define the experience requirements for the ideal candidate:
 Analyze the specific tasks and responsibilities the position entails
 Distinguish between the type and level of experience that are must-have versus nice-to-
have
 Determine whether your organization can afford the time needed for on-the-job learning
for a strong candidate who lacks some experience requirements
Consider if you want someone with industry experience, functional experience, and large- or small-
company experience.

15. Personal characteristics

Personal characteristics indicate how the ideal candidate will approach the job and relate to
coworkers. Evaluate the following personal characteristics relative to the job’s tasks and
responsibilities:

a) Analytical and creative abilities. A candidate's abilities in these two areas determine how they
assesses problems and comes up with new approaches to solving them. Determine whether your
open position needs a problem solver—or someone who’s comfortable working within
established processes.

b) Decision-making style. Some people are extremely analytical and rely on facts to make
decisions. Others rely more on intuition. Some make decisions quickly. Others ponder them for a

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 long time. Some depend on consensus. Others seek their own counsel. Determine whether a
particular decision-making style is required for success in the job and, if so, what that style is.

c) Interpersonal skills. Think about the tasks that will be performed in the position. Identify traits
that would translate into good performance on those tasks. For example, an ideal controller might
be patient and formal, demonstrating careful, cautious, detail-oriented behavior. For the ideal
sales manager, high extroversion and informality might be desirable.

d) Motivation. A candidate's goals, interests, energy level, agility and job progression often
demonstrate their level of motivation. If the position calls for a high degree of independence, you
might look for goal-oriented, high-energy, or self-directed candidates.

16. Shared Values in Sourcing People

Many organizations have a set of values that are important to how they operate. You want to hire
employees who share those values and will advance the organization’s mission and strategy. With a
clear sense of your organization’s values, you can ask questions of all candidates that reveal how well
they will demonstrate and uphold them.

For example, if your organization emphasizes stellar customer service, give all candidates a scenario
with a disgruntled customer and ask them to role-play it with you. Then compare the ways different
candidates respond. While alignment with the company’s values is important, many interviewers fall
into the trap of being drawn toward candidates with similar backgrounds and interests. However,
studies show that homogeneous groups often fail to innovate or challenge the status quo. Even worse,
managers who hire people like themselves perpetuate a lack of diversity in their organizations and
contribute to systematic discrimination.

DOs DONTs

Pre-screen candidates for skills and expertise Prioritize candidates with backgrounds and interests
(like schools, sports, hobbies) similar to yours

Ask all candidates to respond to behavioral Focus interview questions on common background
questions or scenarios based on the or personal interests
organization’s values .

Focus on whether a candidate can contribute Allow an interpersonal connection or common

to the organization’s mission and strategy background to prevent you from considering
another, more skilled candidate

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17. Develop a Structured Interview Process
Interview process should be reviewed periodically as the candidates can go through same and most
updated processes where the degree of acceptance will be greater. Great candidates know they are in
demand and pretty much in the driver's seat. You will lose great candidates if your process is too
short, too long, or inconsistent. Too often, when you ask a hiring manager when they want to fill a
position, their response is ASAP or yesterday, which doesn't tell you when to start your interviewing
process. If possible, obtain a specific target date to fill. This guides the timing of when to schedule
interviews so the position is filled by the target date. Your interview process should be structured,
consistent, comprehensive, and at the same time, efficient. This helps eliminate emotion, bias, and
ensures that you're legally compliant. If a job offer is extended too fast or decisions are delayed, you
could lose top talent. 
The first step in your process should be the phone interview. It determines if a candidate is
qualified and should be forwarded on for a second interview. Telephone interviews save time,
money, and can be conducted anywhere when both parties are available. There are also advantages for
the prospective candidate who quickly determines if their level of interest increased or decreased as a
result of the phone interview. Whenever possible, the second interview should be a panel interview. It
should include no more than four people. The panel members should either directly or indirectly
interact with the prospective candidate if hired so they have a vested interest in hiring the best
person. This may not be feasible for lower level, high volume hires, but is effective for most other
positions. One person is the leader, while the other panel members have a defined supporting role. All
panel members should prepare in advance by reading the job requisition, understanding the
performance objectives, and being aware of the characteristics and culture of the department. After
the interview, panel members meet to review their interviewing notes and scorecards to determine if
the candidate is screened in or out of consideration. 
Next, the third interview is scheduled, which is a job audition/trade test. Watching a job in action will
either increase or decrease the candidate's level of interest. Your potential hire has a chance to
experience your company, culture, and peers first-hand while they audition for your job. This is a very
effective way to uncover red flags that didn't surface during the interview. The final interview is
conducted by the prospective hire's direct report, who may have also led the panel or the most senior
manager / GM/ Director who is authorized to make the final decision. The candidate has been
screened in, and was also impressive during their job audition. In addition, there are no concerns as a
result of reference checks, assessments, or background checks. Detailed data and the candidate
scorecards have been reviewed. During this interview, the hiring manager determines if this
person aligns with the company culture, core values, department, and current team members. They
ask the candidate if they have any questions, which often reveal their priorities and quantifies their
level if interest. If the final interview is successful, a compensation package is compiled and the job
offer is extended to the candidate. 

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 a. Assessment centres
A more comprehensive approach to selection is provided by the use of assessment centres. These incorporate a
range of assessment techniques and typically have the following features:
 The focus of the centre is on behaviour
 Exercise are used to capture and simulate the key dimensions of the job. These include one-to-one role
plays and group exercises. It is assumed that performance in these simulations predicts behaviour on the
job.
 Interviews and tests will be used in addition to group exercises.
 Performance is measured in several dimensions in terms of the competencies required to achieve the
target level of performance in a particular job or at a particular level in the organization.
 Several candidates or participants are assessed together to allow interaction and to make the experience
more open and participative.
 Several assessors and observers are used in order to increase the objectivity of assessments. Involving
senior managers is desirable to ensure that they ‘own’ the process. Assessors must be carefully trained.

b. References
The purpose of a reference is to obtain in confidence information about a prospective employee and opinion
about his or her character and suitability for a job. The information is straightforward and essential. It is simply
necessary to confirm the nature of the previous job, the period of time in employment, the reason for leaving (if
relevant) , performance records and the conduct. Contacting the current employer for references is considered to
be an unethical practice.
b. Job offer
After the interviewing and testing procedure has been completed, a provisional decision to make an offer by
telephone or in writing can be done. This is normally ‘subject to satisfactory reference’ and the candidate of
course , be told that these will be told taken up. One of the most important aspects of employee resourcing is
negotiating salaries and other benefits which must be in line with the market rate, experience, scarcity to find
these people in the market, and affordability to pay.

18. Eliminate Hiring Obstacles

If it takes too long to apply online, many candidates, especially those who are currently working, will
get frustrated and log off. Senior people will not have time to fill lengthy online job applications and
only very few people will have those are the candidates who are unemployed, or conducting and
active job search. Candidates should be able to answer a few simple questions about their career
goals, and then upload their resume or CV, or share their LinkedIn Profile.  You could probably fill
many of your current requisitions with candidates you've already interviewed. If you are limited by
budget and salary ranges, especially if it's not competitive which can be an obstacle, and money is
always a factor when a candidate is considering a job offer. However, just as important are
benefits, perks, location, company culture, training offered, bonuses, incentives, flexibility, and
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 opportunities for advancement. When you're interviewing, remember that most candidates want to
advance their career, not just make more money. 

19. Develop a “position scorecard”

A position scorecard is a separate document from a job description. Hiring teams use the scorecard to
define and prioritize what’s most important in the role. They also use it to evaluate candidates’
potential for success.
Scorecards typically have 7-10 key “accountabilities” that the new hire will need to meet in the near-
to midterm. They may also contain questions that hiring-team members will consider while evaluating
candidates. For instance:

Accountability Examples of Questions to Consider

Grow revenue Grow from what to what?
How? (Organic, acquisitions, etc.)
What will be hardest here?

Execute Change Initiative What initiatives or improvements do we want this

person to lead
What will be hardest here

What direct reports will this person manage?

Build/manage an exceptional team What is the current state of the team?
What changes or additions will need to be made?

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20. To Create a Position Scorecard:

1. Model the first draft of the scorecard on someone who currently holds the position or
has held it or a similar role previously. Then add any accountabilities that were lacking
in the model.

2. If the role and the business environment have evolved since the model’s time, reflect
those changes in the scorecard draft.

Express each accountability in a specific, measurable way. For example, for the key
accountability “Increase revenue,” include a percentage or an amount, a time frame, and
expectations for how the person will achieve that growth.

3. Include any personal characteristics—such as an affinity for a lively, cooperative

working environment—that will enhance candidates’ ability to achieve accountabilities.

4. Sequence the accountabilities on the scorecard in a way that reflects their relative
importance.

5. Distribute the scorecard to key stakeholders in the hiring process—such as interviewers

and others involved in the search—to get their feedback.

6. Carefully consider and incorporate stakeholders’ feedback. Reach agreement on the

listed accountabilities.

Sources
Define Job Requirements | Harvard ManageMentor (myhbp.org)

Robert Chavez — President and CEO, Hermès of Paris, Inc

Neil Gaydon — CEO, Pace Plc.
Esther Alegria — Vice President of Manufacturing and General Manager, Biogen Idec
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/barbara-bruno?u=91368458
Babara Bruno
http://chamberscolombo.com/2020june09/types-employment.html
HRM – Michael Armstrong 9th edition
CQHRM syllabus – CIPM Sri Lanka

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