Recruiting from Within

Posted December 04, 2019

Recruiting and obtaining new talent for your organization can be quite difficult, especially now, as it generally takes two new employees to fill the shoes of one skilled worker. The cost of turnover is also extremely high for companies due to lost productivity while positions are vacant, diminished productivity from other employees who are trying to fill the role of the vacated position, decreased productivity from managers training new hires, increased overtime labor costs, etc. As a result, many employers choose to focus some of their recruiting efforts toward their current employees. By recruiting from within, top performing employees are encouraged to flourish along with the company and contribute to its success.

How to Recruit from Within

Recruiting from within is a thoroughly rewarding process, both for your organization and your employees. Here are some tips to help guide you:

Open available positions to all of your employees via your company intranet site or career site. Also consider offering an internal job fair to promote open positions. Publish the following information for employees: available job title, salary, department, supervisor’s name and title, responsibilities of the job, qualifications and skills required for the position.
Offer internal candidates the same opportunity to interview for the position as the external candidates.
Actively recruit internal candidates that have the skills necessary to fill the position.
During employee review sessions, discuss potential new opportunities for employees who possess certain strengths applicable to open positions.
Create a policy or a standard on how long someone must reside in their current position before being promoted or moved to another position.
Offer job shadowing programs where employees can learn the skills of others to eventually transition into a different position.
Offer tuition reimbursement, internal and external trainings and use learning management systems to further the knowledge base of your employees.
Consider requiring employees to notify their current supervisor before applying for a new internal position.
Clearly communicate the internal application process and policy to your employees and be consistent in implementing the policy with all applicants.
Avoid overlooking employees in different departments for open positions.
Get management on board with internal recruiting efforts. They should not feel as though this is a threat to the stability of their departments.
Provide timely and thorough feedback for all candidates; show candidates what their strengths are and where they can improve.

Advantages of Recruiting from Within:

Capitalizes on investments made to recruit and train current employees.
Reinforces an environment of retention and new opportunities.
Rewards top performance and potential.
Reinforces engaged employee attitudes.
Improves employee morale and promotes positive working relationships.
The cost to hire from within is lower and generally takes less time. The training process for internal candidates is usually less time-consuming. And internal candidates already have established relationships with staff members that can assist them in getting acclimated to their new roles.
Management can gain a greater understanding of their employees during the application process due to making them more aware of their employee’s career aspirations and goals.

Disadvantages of Recruiting from Within:

Your current talent pool may not have what is needed to fill the position.
By filling one position, another is created, which may ultimately present recruiting challenges.
May inhibit the influx of new ideas because there are no real “new” voices offering opinions and suggestions.
Employee morale may decrease if not selected for a position.