Job Opening Approval

Purpose of Process (see below how HRSource™ can help):

To manage the growth in employee headcount and ensure that the employee headcount meets the business needs of the organization.

Recommended Steps in the Process:

Most companies regularly generate sales projections which can be used to generate staffing projections. A typical process includes:

  1. The marketing department develops detailed sales projections by product.

  2. Each functional group within the organization, starting with those closest to the external customer (e.g. manufacturing), project their staffing needs to meet the customer product demand. The projections roll up from lower level management up to the general manager of the functional organization.

  3. Staff (support) organizations project their staffing needs based on the projections of the internal functional groups they support.

  4. The finance organization reviews the cost of the staffing projections relative to other projected costs and projected sales revenue.

  5. The staffing projections are approved by top management, with necessary adjustments.

The principal Human Resources activity begins here. Obtain a copy of the approved staffing plan.


  1. The hiring manager completes a job opening form (see sample). The job opening form will serve as a job posting document.

  2. Discuss the recruitment strategy with the hiring manager.

  3. Record the job opening in a log file or a computer to track and administer the open position process. Indicate in the log:
    • Title of open position
    • Name of hiring manager
    • Date position open
    • Date position closed
    • Status of activity
    • Assign an open position number

  4. Indicate on the open position log (or computer system) the name of the candidate who filled the position, or indicate if it was closed without being filled.

  5. Report on the status of open positions frequently. If the number of job openings is increasing faster than they are being filled, reevaluate your recruiting approach. (See the recruiting strategy development process.)

Process Tips:

Projecting staffing needs is both an art and a science which no one has yet mastered. Under-staffing and over-staffing are both painful to the organization and employees. Encourage managers to be conscious of the impact on morale that poor projections can have, especially if the result is an involuntary reduction in headcount (layoffs). The manager with profit and loss responsibility should have responsibility for approving increases to staffing. However, because of the impact mistakes can have on the operation and reputation of the company, higher level approval is recommended. Most organizations raise the job opening approval level when the business is in a down cycle.

How HRnetSource™ Can Help:

The applicant tracking process is ideally suited for automation. Here are the steps that can be automated with HRnetSource™

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