556 PART FIVE StaffingActivites: Employmenr

Managers
As a general rule, a manager's primary involvement in staffing is in determinin.
who is selected for employment. Managers are the SMEs of the business, and the-,
are thus held accountable for the success of the people hired. They are far les.
involved in determining the processes followed to staff the organization, becaus;
they often do not have the time or expertise to do so. The average manager can als,_
be expected to have no knowledge of staffing research whatsoever, though tha:
doesn't mean he or she is uninterested in leaming.3l
Although they may not play a direct role in establishing process, managers cer
and should be periodically consulted by HR professionals on process issues. Ther
should be consulted because they are the consumers of HR services. As such, ther
should be provided with input into the staffing process to ensure that it is meetin.
their needs in making the best possible person/job matches.
There is an additional benefit to allowing management a role in process issues.
As a result of their involvement, managers may develop a better understanding o:
why certain practices are prescribed by HR professionals. When they are not invitec
to be part of the process to establish staffing policy and procedures, line fitonsger:
may view HR professionals as obstacles to hiring the right person for the job.
It should also be noted that the degree of managers'involvement usually depends
on the type of assessment decisions made. Decisions made using initial assessmenr
methods are usually delegated to the HR professional, as just discussed. Decision:
made using substantive assessment methods usually involve some degree of input
from the manager. Decisions made using discretionary methods are usually the
direct responsibility of the manager. As a general rule, the extent of managerial
involvement in determining outcomes should only be as great as management :
knowledge of the job. If managers are involved in hiring decisions for jobs with
which they are not familiar, then legal, measurement, and morale problems are
likely to be created.

Employees
Traditionally, employees are not considered part of the decision-making process
in staffing. slowly this tradition is changing. For example, in team assessmenr
approaches (see chapter 8), employees may have a voice in both process and out-
comes. That is, they may have ideas about how selection procedures are estab-
lished and make decisions about or provide input into who gets hired. Employee
involvement in the team approach is encouraged because it may give a sense of
ownership of the work process and help employees to better identify with orga-
nizational goals. Also, it may result in the selection of members who are more
compatible with the goals of the work team. In order for employee involvement to
be effective, employees need to be provided with staffing training just as managers
are (see Chapter 9).