Staff function

A staff function is an alternate function of people that do not partake instantly in an activity as they help the line functions to reach their targets. ^[1]

Need

The business world is changing very rapidly and each day new kind of issues and problems crop up. It requires specialised input to deal with these changing conditions. It requires specialists to be available who can provide appropriate business solutions. This is the benefit of the "staff function". It provides the line function with advisory and specialist support.

Staff functions are added to help line managers in meeting their objectives. The tendency for the scope and role of effective managers to increase, sometimes to untenable levels, can be greatly mitigated by an able staff function providing invaluable support to enable a full management role to be expressed within the time and cost bounds of the job.^[2]

A specialised performance improvement staff function is needed to support the development of performance improvement skills and to help coordinate performance improvement work in the rest of the organisations.^[3] Thus helping a business organisation to work more efficiently and effectively. Staff functions like human resources can become smaller and actually have a greater impact on the business.^[4]

Line and Staff Conflict

Because of diverse positions and sorts of power inside of a line-and-staff association, rivalry in the middle of line and staff faculty is practically unpreventable. Though insignificant clash because of contrasts in perspectives is characteristic, clash with respect to line and staff faculty can upset a whole association. There is a large amount of reasons for the conflict between Line and Staff Function. Poor human relations, covering power and obligation, and abuse of staff faculty by top administration are all essential explanations behind sentiments of hatred in the middle of line and staff work force. This hatred can bring about different divisions seeing the association from a tight position as opposed to taking a gander at the association overall.^[5]

Advantages

1. Staff functions are vastly important due to the need for their careful and eye-for-detail analysis of a altering business situation, and vigilant, cautious and wary planning to meet the tasks and challenges.^[6]
2. There is scope of flexibility for staff functions to take more responsibility in the interest of organisation.^[7]
3. Staff specialists can work more effectively for long term performance improvement unhampered by the pressures of day to day problems.^[8]

Disadvantages

1. There is scope of conflict between line and staff functionaries. Decision making gets delayed or difficult if executives of staff function are more dominant than those of line functions.^[9]
2. There is a large amount of hope and expectancy from the person that has authority as the productivity of the structure is dependent on the person that has high authority.^[10]

A business can usually survive the failure of, or use substitutes for the staff function. Staff functions vary between businesses, but usually include activities like advertising, human resources, and plant maintenance.

References