Whenever you are faced with a new vacancy, it's typically a good practice to review your current workforce along with your candidate pipeline when identifying the right talent for the role. In this article, we will weigh the pros vs. cons of recruiting from within the business and building an external candidate pipeline. There are many different factors to consider with this decision as the hiring manager.
The Pros of Recruiting Talent From Within Your Organization Internally
- Increase Employee Morale: Employees want to see that their company values them and have provided opportunities for either forward progression or in a lateral move to learn new skill sets. When employees see this opportunity for mobility, they will want to bring new and innovative ideas to the table. Last but not least, employees with a high morale will not only increase their productivity and efficiency but could potentially increase their tenure.
- Utilizing Institutional Knowledge: Promoting or offering an employee a new position within the organization is an opportunity to sustain and build upon institutional knowledge. Additionally, the employee feels rewarded for the “hard work” they have put into the company, are now feeling empowered having gained additional responsibility, and have an opportunity to grow professionally.
- The Cost is Cheaper: Recruiting for a position internally can at times, decrease your expenses than recruiting externally. What's great about promoting from within is the ease of promoting the position with your existing internal communications. From company-wide emails to manager team meetings, to vacancy announcements in communal areas and/or a company intranet. Your time-to-fill will most likely be lower than if you were to go outside of your organization.
- Specialization: If your organization is one that operates in a more of a specialized field or industry, looking inside your organization could be your best option. Recruiting externally could prove to be more difficult if the knowledge and experience needed to perform the job function is harder to come by.
- Increase in Brand Awareness: Guess what? Recruiting internally can increase your brand awareness. Employees will definitely tell those in their network about the good things your organization is doing for them. This, in turn, will help any external recruiting efforts.
As you go through the hiring process, consult your HR department about your organization’s formal internal recruitment process. Many times an HR department’s formal process for internal recruitment will include the posting of a position internally, a review of resumes, receiving approval from an employee’s department manager to apply for a new position, and recommendations from an employee’s current manager. A formal process will ensure your recruitment is fair and objective while utilizing each of the above-mentioned benefits. If your organization does not have an internal recruitment process, speak with your HR representative about establishing one. As a recruiting consultant, my recommendation is to always look within first before going outside of your organization, but sometimes there just isn't a perfect match, and if that's the case, give me a call and we'll help you find your next great fit!
