Recruiting & Hiring

Internal Recruiting

To the extent possible, most organizations try to follow a policy of filling vacancies above entry-level through promotions and transfers. Filling jobs from within has many advantages:

Advantages

• The organization can capitalize on the costs that it has invested in recruiting and training its current employees.
• Promotion serves to reward an employee receiving the promotion for his or her past performance, and thus serves as a motivator for continued good performance.
• Promotions increase the morale of promoted employees and help to build good employee relations.
• A promotion policy is an essential part of the Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) programs that many employers have in place.
• Management has knowledge of the employee's performance record and abilities. This knowledge is likely to be a more accurate predictor of the candidate's success than information gained about outside applicants through the external recruitment process.
• Because there are no direct recruiting costs involved in filling a job from within, employers can save money.

Disadvantages

Despite all the advantages of internal recruiting described above, there are some disadvantages:

• Possible morale problems with those employees who were not promoted, and political infighting for promotions.
• Lower-level jobs will have more frequent turnover.
• Inbreeding of ideas and attitudes, i.e., "employee cloning."

External Recruiting

Sometimes certain jobs, especially at the middle or upper levels, require specialized training or new skills and experience that cannot be obtained from within the organization. Such is often the case when expanding into a new venture or implementing new technology. In either case the position must be filled from the outside. This is especially true in small organizations. Additionally, new individuals must be brought into the organization to replace those who have been promoted or terminated. Here are some advantages to consider when recruiting externally:

Advantages

• Applicants hired from the outside, particularly for certain management jobs can be a source of new ideas.
• Outsiders often bring with them the latest knowledge acquired from their previous employer and different insights into the industry.
• In some cases, it may be less costly for the employer to hire an outsider than to retrain a current employee.

If you do not already have one in place, consider implementing an employee referral bonus program.

Disadvantages

As with any course of action, there are disadvantages to consider when recruiting externally:

• Hiring an outsider may cause morale problems for those internal candidates not selected for the position.
• The person hired from the outside may not "fit" in with the organizational culture or there may be a long adjustment period.
• Outside recruiting is generally more costly and more time-consuming.

Ultimately, the HR manager will have to consider several factors when making the choice to recruit internally or externally: Is the position a vacancy or newly created position? Will the position require new skills or merely expanded duties? How would others in a department or the organization as a whole respond to an insider being promoted or an outsider being given authority?

The answer may be different from one position, department, or office location to another. Weigh your options fully before deciding.