How to Create a Staffing Model That Works

A staffing model is more than just a hiring plan – it's the strategic blueprint for a workforce.

A staffing model (also known as a staffing plan) aligns current and future staffing needs with a company's growth goals. So what’s its significance? Simple: a staffing model ensures that your hiring strategy matches your company’s current and future needs.

A staffing model isn’t just about filling positions; it's about building a workforce that fits the direction of a company.

In this post, we’ll break down what a staffing model is and why your staffing agency should use one- and help your clients establish their own.

Key Takeaways

• A staffing model is essential for strategic workforce planning, aligning current and future staffing needs with company growth objectives.
• Building an effective staffing model involves evaluating business goals and considering specific skills required for diverse client needs.
• Employee retention is paramount, with acknowledgment, perks, and strategic development forming integral parts of the process.

What is a Staffing Model?

A staffing model is a framework used by organizations to manage and plan their workforce effectively. It encompasses strategies, tools, and methodologies to determine the right number of employees with the appropriate skills required to meet the organization’s objectives and customer demands.

A well-designed staffing model considers various factors, including current workforce capabilities, future business needs, labor market conditions, and budget constraints. It aims to optimize workforce utilization, ensuring that an organization has the right people in the right places at the right times, thereby improving efficiency, productivity, and employee satisfaction while also reducing costs associated with overstaffing or understaffing.

Beyond determining the necessary team size, a staffing model highlights the specific skills your teams should have to reach their goals and make your company successful. With this info, you can be smart about managing your team, knowing what's coming up, and planning ahead.

Interested in building an effective staffing model for your business and that of your clients? Read on to discover how.

How to Build a Staffing Model

Building a staffing model isn’t difficult, but it does require you to have a solid grasp of your business objectives. Essentially, the goal is to assist clients in aligning their requirements with suitable candidates from your pool, ensuring stellar service delivery, all the while reducing turnover within your team. But the question remains: where should you begin?

To streamline this process, you can use a pre-made staffing model Excel template. This tool can serve as a practical aid in outlining projected staff requirements across different projects and roles. This will enhance the efficiency of your planning process and ensure a more accurate alignment with your business needs.

Evaluate Your Business Goals

Thoroughly analyzing your company's goals is essential when it comes to creating a staffing model. If, for instance, your aspirations for the coming year involve tapping into new business opportunities, consider the specific sectors or industries you plan to target. Identify the specialized skills and qualifications needed within your team to cater to the demands of these potential clients. 

On the other hand, if your focus is on fine-tuning existing strategies, assess how this refinement might impact the types of roles or expertise required. This groundwork sets the stage for crafting a staffing model that aligns precisely with your agency's evolving objectives in serving diverse clients.

Evaluate Your Needs and Hire Accordingly

Take a moment for a critical assessment of your staffing needs. Define the specific roles required and pinpoint the essential skills. Whether it's for a short-term event or a recurring need, establishing clarity on the duration is key.

Say your client needs workers for a summer festival; reflect on whether a particular skill set—such as waiting tables— might be necessary. Will you be providing hires for the entire event or only for a specific period? You can also consider exploring additional skills that could enhance the event, such as providing a security guard during busy periods.

Asking yourself these questions will help clarify what type of skilled worker to bring on board and for what duration. If existing team members possess supplementary skills to address the need, consider looking within your internal database. Alternatively, hiring a new employee may be the optimal solution if the requirement is for a resource with specific skills and no existing staff matches these criteria.

Assess Your Existing Team 

Review your candidate database to refresh your knowledge of the skilled individuals in your talent pool. Evaluate their skills, knowledge, and expertise to understand your agency's current requirements. Scrutinize your staffing model by gathering data on available candidates, including their skills, experience, and the roles they can fulfill.

Dig into each candidate's details, extracting information on skill sets, specialization, past performances, and availability. This assessment will provide you with insights into potential skill gaps or areas of expertise in your candidate pool, helping you make informed decisions and strategically plan to meet your clients' diverse needs effectively.

Pinpoint a Solution 

After assessing your staffing model, the next crucial step is devising solutions to address identified gaps, bringing you closer to assembling the necessary candidates to remain competitive in the industry.

This solution might entail recruiting additional specialized workers to enhance your agency's expertise or securing regular temporary workers to support your client's needs during periods of heightened demand and peak season.

Once you've pinpointed your client's needs, your subsequent actions will include implementing strategic candidate acquisition, placement, and retention strategies. Tailor these strategies to secure the specific talents essential for meeting client requirements and achieving your agency's goals.

Recruit Strategically 

While your staffing agency may have its preferred methods for identifying and placing candidates, the essence lies in aligning your recruitment efforts with your staffing model. This could involve reconnecting with past candidates, reaching out to potential talent in your network, or identifying high-performing candidates within your agency's talent pool for suitable placements.

Consider incorporating these recruitment strategies:

• Establishing your agency's brand identity to attract and retain top talent.
• Create detailed job descriptions for accurate candidate matching.
• Leveraging niche job boards to access specialized talent pools.
• Elevating interview proficiency to better assess candidate suitability.
• Engaging with passive candidates through targeted outreach.

Whichever route you choose, ensure that your recruitment practices align with your staffing model and the specific requirements of your staffing agency.

Craft a Precise Job Description

Creating a job description is an important step in finding the right candidates. If your job description is too vague, you can hire subpar talent who lack the necessary skills and experience to excel in the role you’re hiring for. 

A few ways you can perfect your job ad include:

1. Writing a specific job description for the position. Don’t forget to include the must-haves, like skills, tasks, requirements, and any necessary experience.
2. Making sure to separate the must-have and nice-to-haves
3. Highlighting skills that can be learned on the job after training.

While you might want to attract top talent, avoid setting unrealistic expectations in your job description, striving for a balance that attracts qualified candidates without creating an unattainable standard.

Emphasize Staff Retention 

After forming an optimal team by pooling qualified candidates using your staffing model, the crucial next step is monitoring key staffing metrics and prioritizing staff retention. While companies often turn to staffing agencies to expedite hiring, the process of finding and hiring the right candidates can still be lengthy and demanding.

Once you've identified skilled and valuable workers, the goal is to retain them for future projects. New hires cost approximately $4,700 more than placing an existing workforce member on a specific project. Given the expenses, the search for specialized skill sets, and the importance of reliability, retaining your best team members is paramount.

Consider the following strategies to enhance retention:

1. Acknowledge employee contributions and milestones both privately and publicly.
2. Provide enticing perks and benefits.
3. Conduct regular performance reviews to ensure alignment with goals.
4. Promote a collaborative and open team environment.

Continuously develop and refine your unique strategies as you move forward to prioritize retention.

Final Thoughts

Building a solid staffing model is similar to putting together a puzzle – it takes time and patience.

You begin by examining the skills your teams require, understanding the job market, and identifying your internal needs, all while staying mindful of budget and deadlines. Since there's no one-size-fits-all approach to crafting a staffing model, it's about finding what works best for your company's specific needs. This way, you can develop a tailored staffing model that brings real value to your clients.

Staffing Model and Workforce Management Scheduling Software

Crafting a staffing model is not just about numbers and skills; it also helps unveil insights for optimal work schedules. Workstaff, a workforce management software, streamlines the scheduling process, ensures seamless coordination between teams, and empowers workers through features like schedule visibility and shift-swapping capabilities. This cultivates a work environment that is not only more flexible but also more efficient. This blend of organization and flexibility enabled by Workstaff yields a content and enduring team, promoting long-term satisfaction and retention.

Staffing Model-Frequently Asked Questions