Recruiting, selecting, and retaining staff members require short- and long-range planning. Recruitment's purpose is to attract quality applicants, based on current and projected needs. It requires a proactive plan to acquire a pool of applicants whose backgrounds and interests closely match the needs of the organization. Selection is a consideration of the overall value of an applicant in making positive contributions to the organization's vision and goals. Selection is about finding the right person for the right job at the right time.

Retention, maintaining employee stability, is primarily a result of job satisfaction, which is influenced by leaders, organizational culture, and the opportunities for personal and professional development. Dismissal, the involuntary termination of employment, is the final phase in an unsuccessful process to strengthen deficiencies or to satisfy the goals of the organization and the needs of the individual. Dismissal provides opportunities to reevaluate job descriptions and requirements and to ascertain specific reasons for employment separation. This information should be used to strengthen recruitment, selection, and retention practices.