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Unit 10: Staffing and Coordination

take adequate care in taking the final decision because of economic, behavioural and social Notes
implications of the selection decisions.

Did u know? Gate hiring (where job seekers, generally blue collar employees, present
themselves at the factory gate and offer their services on a daily basis), hiring through
contractors, recruiting through word-of-mouth publicity are still in use – despite the
many possibilities for their misuse – in the small scale sector in India.

10.5 Concept of Coordination

According to Mooney and Reiley, "Coordination is the orderly arrangement of group efforts to
provide unity of action in the pursuit of a common purpose."
According to Henry Fayol, "To coordinate, means to unite and correlate all activities".

According to McFarland, "Coordination is the process whereby an executive develops an orderly
pattern of group efforts among his subordinates and secures unity of action in the pursuit of
common purpose."
On the basis of the above stated definitions, we can state the following as the essential elements
of coordination:
1. Coordination implies deliberate efforts to bring fulfillment of goal.
2. Coordination applies to the synchronised arrangement of the productivity of a group and
not any individual.
3. Coordination is needed only when there is an involvement of a group over a task. It
would not be required if an individual were to work in isolation.

4. Coordination is a continuous effort which begins with the very first action, the process of
establishment of business and runs through until its closure.
5. Coordination is necessary for all managerial functions. In organising work, managers
must see that no activity remains unassigned. In staffing, managers must ensure the
availability of competent people to handle assigned duties. In directing organisational
activities, managers must synchronise the efforts of subordinates and motivate them
through adequate rewards. In controlling organisational activities, managers must see
that activities are on the right path, doing right things, at the right time and in the right
manner. Thus, coordination transcends all managerial functions.

10.5.1 Need for Coordination

The need for coordination arises from the fact that literally all organisations are a complex
aggregation of diverse systems, which need to work or be operated in concert to produce
desired outcomes. In a large organisation, a large number of people process the work at various
levels. These people may work at cross purposes if their efforts and activities are not properly
coordinated. To simplify the picture, one could decompose an organisation into components
such as management, employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.
The components perform interdependent activities aimed at achieving certain goals. To perform
these activities, the actors require various types of inputs or resources. It may be difficult to
communicate the policies, orders and managerial actions on a face-to-face basis. Personal contact
is, rather, impossible and formal methods of coordination become essential.

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