Collective Staffing: Planning Phase
Collective Staffing
The term “collective staffing” is actually a misnomer for “pool staffing”. When a number of managers from the same department, or from different departments, are involved, the staffing activity becomes a “collective” which normally results in a “pool”; however, this does not prevent an individual manager from independently running an appointment process that may also result in a “pool”.
“Pool staffing” may fall into one of four generic types, which may evolve one into the other – specifically:
- Fully qualified (no further assessment)
- Essentially qualified (only essential qualifications are determined)
- Partially qualified (any one or any number of qualifications are determined)
- Inventory (a “cache” of potential candidates)
Challenges of Pool Staffing
The challenges of “pool staffing” (whether “collective” or “individual”) are multi-faceted – including (but not restricted to) … determining the most effective type of pool, bringing the various parties of a collective to agree on the content of the Statement of Merit Criteria and developing appropriate assessment tools.
Through consultation with the stakeholders, CAWLAR Consulting will develop a comprehensive staffing plan, including:
- Determining the appropriate type of pool
- Governance (who will be responsible for what?)
- Facilitating the development of the Statement of Merit Criteria
- Identifying appropriate assessment tools
- Determining a reasonable validity period
- Establishing a “refresh” mechanism
- Determining a viable communication strategy
CAWLAR Consulting will also “teach” departmental staff the “how to’s” of collective/pool staffing.