Staffing Plan

This paper outlines a staffing plan for Raymond James, including how to determine number people to hire and a recruitment strategy to ensure appropriate candidates are hired.

Staffing Plan

Recruiting in all industries is a game of numbers as well as a game of networking and relationships. It is a dynamic and on-going process that must constantly be monitored and evaluated for its strengths and weaknesses (Cowan, 1992). Industry standards estimate that one needs to interview over 20 candidates to hire one employee (Cowan, 1992). Due to attrition and employee failure, a company must recruit at least 30 percent of the total number of existing employees every year to achieve an overall growth of 10 percent (Cowan, 1992). To use this formula as a basis for goal-setting, it is important to analyze the previous years' goals and results. If the goals were met or if they failed to achieve the objectives, it is crucial to examine the factors that came into play, whether they were economic trends or internal issues. This information should provide a solid plan to identify the most successful methods to seek high-quality employees.

Recruiting Plan

A successful recruitment planning policy will assist an organization in meeting corporate objectives by developing strategies designed to recruit people with the right skills and experience. Recruitment planning should take into account the key principles of Equal Opportunities policies as well as ensuring merit, equity, efficiency and effectiveness.

Recruitment planning needs to form an essential and integrated part of the planning process; each industry needs to address recruitment planning and incorporate strategic long-term as well as operational short-term needs.

Recruitment Strategies

Ten basic guidelines are followed when recruiting employees. The job should be properly defined as well as the attributes necessary to perform the job. The salary range should be competitive within the marketplace. The use of good recruiting sources, such as employee referrals or recruiting firms help to increase the amount of time the employee stays with the company (Hutton, 1984). References are checked and the decision is made quickly. Once the offer is accepted, the company keeps in touch and provides training and orientation within the first week of employment.

The best source of referrals is through the existing workforce as these generally result in higher retention rates than those recruited through other sources (Cowan, 1992). Raymond James has a communication piece describing the parameters of the referral program in terms of what it means to the employees. Fliers are printed and given to employees on a monthly basis. For those employees that are married, the fliers are mailed to their home as it helps to involve their spouses in that type of program. Recruits from personal sources are prescreened as employees who feel the candidate has attributes that lead them to believe that he or she would be successful within the company recommend them. Candidates from personal sources tend to outperform those from impersonal sources and remain with the company longer (Nahorney, 1992).

Other sources of locating perspective employees are client referrals, advertising, career seminars, campus recruiting, walk-ins, employment agencies and technology. The methodology that companies can use to obtain resources is vastly improving on the Internet because there is more connectivity to more people in more locations (Internet Wire, 2002). Internet technology allows the company to establish a relationship with the candidate while applying on-line for a position. A prospective applicant is able to tailor his or her requirements and customize his or her needs by answering a few questions. This technology also helps the company to weed out the wrong people for the jobs, thus saving all parties time and energy.

Succession Planning

The aim should be to ensure the availability of suitably qualified people