staffs

Staffs is the plural form of staff and can refer to several meanings depending on context. The most common use denotes groups of people employed by an organization. In everyday language, the staff of a company, school, or institution is treated as a collective unit; when speaking of more than one organization, the term staffs may be used to indicate multiple groups of employees or to emphasize distinct workforces.

A second sense of staff is a long, slender rod carried in the hand for support, balance, or ceremonial purposes. In this sense, staffs refers to multiple such rods, including walking staffs, ceremonial staffs, or symbolic conduits of authority, such as a staff of office.

In music, the singular staff refers to the set of five lines on which notes are placed; the standard plural is staves, and the form staffs is rarely used in modern notation. This contrasts with the other senses where staffs is commonly accepted.

The term originates from Old English staf, meaning a stick or rod, and has broadened through metaphor to cover both physical objects and social groups. In organizational contexts, staffing refers to the processes of recruiting, training, and managing personnel.