Implementing a Flexible Staffing Strategy to Address the Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Position Organizations for Long-Term Success

Introduction

One of the functions of critical human resource management is to design the staffing strategy. Staffing strategy is the process of planning and executing the means of recruiting, selecting, placing, and keeping employees in an organization necessary to meet both current and future human resource needs. A number of variables characterize staffing strategy effectiveness as being under the influence of the external environment, which may mean challenges or opportunities for the organization (Hearst Newspapers, 2021). This essay is going to argue that, clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic is actually an existing external factor affecting organizations, besides having a universal effect on human life and a flexible staffing strategy to help in case activities are affected.

External Factors Impacting the Organization

The new normal came with changes in most organizations; the security and health safety requirements necessitated that most organizations be forced to develop remote working policies in line with the government’s direction. The change had such an instant consequence that the staffing strategies had to be changed immediately to fit the new order of working via remote control with ease for the organization.

Strategy to Address the External Factor

Under the flexible staffing strategy, however, the workforce will combine the whole full-time, part-time, and contingent workers. This opportunity allows an organization to have an adaptable staff as the business needs may frequently change. The following are the benefits that accrue to an organization that has adopted a flexible staffing system:

Reducing labor costs by hiring contingent workers

Flexible staffing seeks to cut the cost of labor (primarily by recruiting personnel on a need basis—for short-term projects or peak periods). With the different types of contingent workers available on the job market, line from freelancers to contractors and temp employees, all of them are brought on board for that critical need with no hassle that comes with bringing in full-time workers (Vichitkulwongsa, 2020). Such an ability to work will allow organizations to scale back labor costs and be more efficiently mobilized across pressure placed between economic uncertainty or shifting business needs (Hancock et al., 2020). “Including contingent workers in the workforce on a project or contracted basis gives a company access to special skills and expertise that it would not have otherwise in-house for the measure, either short-term or for niche area projects” (Hearst Newspapers, 2021).

Attracting a wider pool of talent through flexible work arrangements

Currently, one of the remodeled practices that is more debated within the labor market is remote work or flexibility in hours of work, which may have more importance and change the paradigm as a consequence of the pandemic. Doing so risks an organization’s need for more critical high-performing talent groups since the flexible kind of staff offered by other firms proves to be attractive and a ways-of-retention tool. New job-seeker generations place the work-life balance and flexibility of the workplace at the very top of the list of critical factors in work choice (Kniffin et al., 2021). By implementing the above recommendations, organizations will make a distinction and be preferred most by job seekers seeking to attain the work-life balance goal with fearsome competition (Narayanan et al., 2020). Adapting to remote work now opens up the talent market that was there for the scope alone to the global level (Choudhury et al., 2020).

Improving employee retention through better work-life balance and accommodating individual needs

This would also result in some employee retention strategies. With such, an organization can also be assured that its staff members are sure to get a good balance in their jobs and individual arrangements. The employees will be satisfied with their jobs and become committed to the organization only when they feel that the employers welcome their need for accommodation at the professional and personal levels (Narayanan et al., 2020). More specifically, flexible work arrangements help those employees feel much relieved from work pressure that, at most times, leads to stress and weariness (Kniffin et al., 201). In further extension, flexible work arrangements give a representation of those ways that an organization can retain talent within its walls concerning life change as a case associated with necessary movement due to family circumstances (Kniffin et al., 2021).

Implementing a Flexible Staffing Strategy

To achieve these objectives through the implementation of a flexible employment strategy, organizations must take a deliberate approach to planning, legislation, technological investment, and employee help.

Conducting a Thorough Analysis of Current and Future Staffing Needs

Organization diagnoses aim to ensure a comprehensive analysis of the current and expected staffing needs. It involves an assessment of the current workforce that clearly defines human ability in the organization and helps in the identification of any gaps or redundancies (Vichitkulwongsa, 2020). It helps human resource leaders reflect on the organizational strategic objectives described, the expected changes in the market, and the mix of full-time, part-time, and contingent workers for the future to ensure impending needs are met, again with some focus on specific skills and competencies to meet the changes (Hearst Newspapers, 2021). Comparisons to such future requirements with available skills and competencies can sensitively help companies identify skills gaps and sensitize them to make decisions concerning the kind of training, recruitment, or strategic partnerships that may need to be put in place (Kniffin et al., 2021).

Develop Clear Policies and Guidelines for Remote Work and Flexible Work Arrangements

The second step in the implementation of the flexible staffing strategy is to give out clear guidelines and policies that work best with remote and flexible work. Organizations will come up with ways of determining eligibility to be followed for roles in which employees are supposed to work remotely or have a flexible working arrangement, not left out on factors related to their job responsibilities, their performance history, and tenure (Narayanan et al., 2020). Policies should hence clarify what work is expected from those working remotely at home or those working under flexible hours. All communications during different working hours, communication procedures, and performance standards must be outlined clearly for all workers to understand their responsibilities and for the purpose of holding everyone responsible for their work (Kniffin et al., 2021). The organization should also develop policies regarding the protection of touchy data and information and data security in a scenario where employees are working remotely (Narayanan et al., 2020).

Invest in Technology and Tools that Facilitate Remote Collaboration and Communication

Invest in the technology and tools that will support offsite collaboration and communication. Ideally, with the pressure of using unreliable and difficult video conferencing tools finally behind them, remote team members should be in a position to communicate and even collaborate to a level where it is possible to see each other and, indeed, share a bit in person communication (Kniffin et al., 2021). Project management application software helps a team set the stage for project planning, organizing, and distributing work in a bid to manage distributed teams and their tasks at a higher level of productivity (Narayanan et al., 2020). On the contrary, with a cloud-based file-sharing solution, remote and flexible persons are afforded a secure way of accessing, editing, and sharing documents and files without being attached to one physical location (Kniffin et al., 2021).

Provide Training and Support to Managers and Employees to Help Them Adapt to New Ways of Working

Lastly, organizations need to enable managers and staff to have managerial and organizational training and support in the adoption of new ways. Training managers should take part in managing from a distance, as well as leading and developing remote managers in getting to perform the required functions. This includes setting clear expectations, offering them feedback, and managing the morale of other team members (Edge et al., 2020). This means that an organization in place has to put the required training and resources that will facilitate the smooth running of work by the employees, as their social well-being is ensured while working in such an environment, with remote guidelines in place regarding time utilization, work-life balance, and stress management (Kniffin et al., 2021), involving regular contact and many more with team activities aiming at maintaining a positive remote work culture.

Balancing the use of contingent workers while maintaining team cohesion and company culture

On the flip side, for such a shift, one of the countervailing balancing challenges firms may have is between contingent workers and permanent employees with equipoised time so that the complementaries may serve to maintain team cohesion and firm culture. Measures towards this:

1. It is an accessible communication channel and an effective way to provide a good communication channel and source for collaboration tools to build a contingent staff that is fully integrated with the team (Vichitkulwongsa, 2020).
2. Orientation and training programs: These include arrangements that will sensitize contingent workers and educate them on the values, goals, and work processes of the organization (Duarte et al., 2020).
3. Team meetings, discussions, and even decisions should be participatory to the greatest extent possible (Vichitkulwongsa, 2020).
4. Treat all colleagues with respect, trust, and consideration in their contribution to the team, irrespective of whether they work from the office or remotely and regardless of their contract status (Hancock et al., 2020).

These steps would help an organization harness the benefits of contingent workers without ruining the team spirit and pinned culture of the company.

Future-Oriented Discussion

Flexibility in staffing is not only an immediate answer to the questions that arise during this COVID-19 pandemic but also sets the organizations up for thriving in future settings amidst changing landscapes that their workforce will be drawn into. Some of the reasons flexible staffing strategies contribute to organizational agility, innovation, and resilience include:

1. Organizations are going to be quick to make changes in employee composition with market conditions and the necessity of the business (Vichitkulwongsa, 2020).
2. Encourage the culture of lifelong learning and development, whereby the employees often face the postings, work changes, views of working in alternative ways, or a different view and skill set introduced by contingent workers (Hancock et al., 2020).
3. It increases the element of integration in employment through the extension of the opportunity to work with the organization on the grounds of different backgrounds, skills, and experiences (Choudhury et al., 2020).
4. Make the institution the most touch point to work with that will easily attract or retain the best talents; work flexibility for the ever-changing needs/preferences of the workforce (Kniffin et al., 2021).

This flexibility of approach allows them to take on change in an ever-changing business environment. It puts organizations in a better position above the uncertainties that come in, driving them towards innovation and thriving amidst potential challenges in the future.

Conclusion

Staffing in any organization is among those strategies that are highly prone to significant levels of influence by vital issues or even natural phenomena such as COVID-19. With such flexible staffing strategies, covering full and part-time, and a mix of contingent approaches, the adversities that come with the trivia of the emergence of remote work and changes around business needs are more than manageable by the organization. Accordingly, organizations should understand the need for proactive and flexible approaches to staffing to keep them on par with changes from the influences that take place outside.

References

Hearst Newspapers. (2021, February 17). External environmental factors that affect staffing forecasts. Small Business – Chron.com. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/external-environmental-factors-affect-staffing-forecasts-74842.html

Kniffin, K. M., Narayanan, J., Anseel, F., Antonakis, J., Ashford, S. P., Bakker, A. B., Bamberger, P., Bapuji, H., Bhave, D. P., Choi, V. K., Creary, S. J., Demerouti, E., Flynn, F. J., Gelfand, M. J., Greer, L. L., Johns, G., Kesebir, S., Klein, P. G., Lee, S. Y., . . . van Vugt, M. (2021). COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future research and action. American Psychologist, 76(1), 63–77. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000716

Narayanan, L., Menon, S., & Spector, P. E. (2020). Remote work and employee well-being during a pandemic: A longitudinal study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(12), 1382-1391. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000899

Vichitkulwongsa, P. (2020). Human resource management practices and contingent worker management: Implications for workforce planning. Journal of Management and Sustainability, 10(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.5539/jms.v10n2p1