A new staffing requirement often follows a business change: a project is approved, an employee leaves, a function expands, a new location opens or the organisation needs capability that is not available within the existing workforce.
Workforce planning connects that business need with the people, skills and capacity required to deliver it. Recruitment begins once the requirement has been defined, approved and translated into a role or group of roles that can be sourced.
For organisations that already work with us across payroll, HR outsourcing, Employer of Record (EOR) or another workforce service, a new staffing requirement should also be considered within the workforce arrangements already in place.
Establish the Business Requirement
A staffing request should begin with the business outcome the organisation is trying to support.
That could involve replacing critical capacity, expanding a function, resourcing a new contract, opening another location or bringing specialist capability into the business. The requirement should be defined in operational terms before recruitment begins.
At this stage, leadership should be aligned on the scale of the requirement, the function it supports, the intended start date, the expected duration where relevant and the business impact of leaving the position unfilled.
This gives us the context behind the hire and allows the staffing requirement to be considered against the organisation’s wider workforce priorities.
Translate the Requirement Into a Role
Once the business need is established, the next step is to turn it into a role that can be sourced and assessed consistently.
A job title provides limited direction without an agreed scope of responsibilities, seniority and required capability. The role should reflect the work the person is expected to perform, the level of responsibility, the reporting structure and the capabilities required from the outset.
For an existing position, this is an opportunity to reassess whether the previous scope still reflects the needs of the function. For a newly created role, the hiring manager should define the responsibilities, priorities and expected contribution before candidate sourcing begins.
The final scope should align the job title, responsibilities, experience, qualifications, technical requirements, location, working arrangements, compensation parameters and intended start date.
Distinguish Core Requirements From Preferences
A strong candidate brief separates what the role requires from what would strengthen a candidate’s profile.
Essential criteria should cover the experience, qualifications, licences, technical capability or language requirements required to perform the role.
Preferred criteria can capture additional experience or sector knowledge that would strengthen the appointment.
Trainable criteria should cover areas the business is prepared to develop after the employee joins.
This distinction gives us a more precise basis for sourcing and gives your interview team a consistent framework for evaluating candidates. It also reduces the risk of the specification becoming unnecessarily restrictive as the search progresses.
Align Budget, Approval and Decision Ownership
The commercial parameters and decision-making framework should be agreed before candidate engagement begins.
The organisation should have alignment on approved headcount, compensation parameters, budget ownership, interview participation and final hiring authority.
It is also important to establish how candidate feedback will be consolidated and how many interview stages are required.
For businesses where HR, finance, procurement, operations and functional leadership are all involved, defined ownership helps prevent duplicated review, conflicting feedback and late-stage changes to the requirement.
Build the Staffing Brief Around the Decision
The staffing brief should bring the business requirement, role scope and internal decision process into one working document.
For us, the most useful brief includes:
The business reason for the requirement
Role title and number of positions
Department, function and reporting line
Scope of responsibilities
Essential, preferred and trainable criteria
Required experience and qualifications
Location, working arrangements and working hours
Approved salary or rate parameters
Intended start date and duration where relevant
Interview structure and decision-makers
Headcount and budget approval status
Onboarding considerations
Nathan HR services already supporting the workforce
The value of the brief is the alignment it creates between the people requesting the hire, the people approving it and the team responsible for sourcing.
Where elements of the workforce structure are still being considered, share the requirement with us at that stage. We can review the role in the context of the timeframe, existing workforce arrangement and services already in place before the recruitment or staffing route is agreed.
Recruitment and Staffing Process
The next stages depend on the service required for the role.
For permanent recruitment, we support job advertising, candidate sourcing, screening and interviewing. Our recruitment platform also gives clients access to shortlisted candidate profiles, resumes, supporting documents and status information.
For temporary and contract staffing, we support hiring, shortlisting and interviews together with employment administration within the service, including contracts, onboarding, visa processing and payroll.
From there, the process moves through the stages relevant to the requirement: brief review, sourcing, candidate assessment, shortlist review, interviews, selection and onboarding.
Where the workforce structure still needs to be determined, we can review the requirement with you before the service route is agreed.
Review the Candidate Shortlist Against the Brief
A shortlist should be assessed against the criteria agreed at the beginning of the process.
Start with the essential requirements, then consider preferred criteria and trainable gaps separately. Feedback should refer back to the role criteria so that assessment remains consistent across candidates.
The interview structure should follow the same principle. Agree the areas each interviewer is responsible for assessing, how feedback will be consolidated and who holds final decision authority.
This keeps the selection process connected to the workforce requirement the business approved before sourcing began.
Reduce Avoidable Staffing Delays
Unresolved commercial or hiring decisions can interrupt a staffing process after sourcing has begun.
Areas that require alignment include:
Headcount or budget approval
Salary or rate parameters
Changes to responsibilities
New essential criteria introduced during sourcing
Several stakeholders without one decision owner
Additional interview stages introduced during the process
Feedback that is not linked to agreed criteria
Changes to the intended start date
Where the business requirement changes, the staffing brief should be updated so sourcing and assessment continue against the revised requirement.
The objective is to make changes visible to everyone involved and ensure that the search continues against an agreed brief.
Prepare the Business for the New Starter
Workforce planning continues beyond candidate selection. The organisation also needs to be ready to receive the employee.
Preparation should cover:
Reporting line and first-week responsibilities
Equipment, workspace and system access
Internal induction
Employee documentation and records
Payroll inputs
Policies and required acknowledgements
Training and team introductions
Ownership should be allocated across the relevant functions, including HR, the hiring manager, IT and payroll.
If the employee will be supported through a Nathan HR service you already use, include that information in the staffing requirement so responsibilities can be reviewed against your existing service arrangement.
Align the Hire With Existing Nathan HR Services
A new employee can create actions across payroll, HR administration and the employment structure already supporting your workforce.
Payroll
Our payroll services cover WPS and non-WPS salary processing, claims and reimbursements, end-of-service benefit processing, payslips and payroll reporting.
For a new joiner, confirm the employee information, approved compensation, joining date and payroll inputs required under your existing process.
Your agreed service scope determines which payroll actions sit with your team and which are managed by us.
HR Outsourcing
Our HR outsourcing services can cover all or part of an HR operation, including onboarding and offboarding, employee administration, payroll, visas, government transactions and employee support, depending on your service arrangement.
Before the employee joins, identify which onboarding and administration activities are already managed by us and which remain with your internal team.
Employer of Record and Other Workforce Services
Through our Employer of Record service, we act as the legal employer for employees engaged through that structure while you direct their day-to-day work.
The service can include employment contracts, work permits and residency visas, payroll and WPS administration, leave administration, medical insurance arrangements and end-of-service processing.
Permanent recruitment, temporary or contract staffing and EOR address different workforce requirements. When a new requirement arises, we can review the role and your existing employment structure with you before the service route is agreed.
Staffing Request Checklist
Before sending us a new staffing requirement, confirm that the following points have been addressed:
□ Business reason for the requirement agreed
□ Headcount approved
□ Budget approved
□ Role scope agreed
□ Essential criteria defined
□ Preferred criteria separated from essentials
□ Trainable criteria identified
□ Required experience confirmed
□ Location and working arrangements confirmed
□ Salary or rate parameters approved
□ Intended start date agreed
□ Duration confirmed where relevant
□ Reporting manager assigned
□ Interview participants confirmed
□ Final hiring authority confirmed
□ Interview stages agreed
□ Onboarding responsibilities identified
□ Relevant Nathan HR services identified
Submit a Staffing Requirement
If your organisation already works with us and has a new headcount requirement, share the business need, role, number of positions, approved budget and intended start date.
For permanent recruitment requirements, use our permanent recruitment service. For temporary or contract requirements, submit a staffing request.
