The Advantages of Internal Recruitment

Using internal recruitment to fortify your organization can provide benefits that may not be immediately recognized. What exactly is internal recruitment? Internal recruitment is when existing vacancies in the business are filled with the existing workforce. Internal and external recruitment is very different because while internal recruitment is about using the employees you have to fill roles, external recruitment focuses on acquiring new talent from the outside to fill roles.

Here are some internal recruitment advantages:

• Lessened learning curve
  When using existing employees, they won’t have to learn the company or culture because they are already a part of the system. This also makes the onboarding process a lot easier.
• Cost savings
  While there is some training during the internal hiring process when filling a new role, there are some components that have already been covered. This helps save time and money. It can get very expensive to locate new talent that’s the right fit. From advertising or using a headhunter to the time needed for interviews, paperwork, and setup, a lot of resources and time are needed.
• Hiring time is lower
  It is easier to hire someone internally than externally because the employee is already in the system and the employee is already familiar with how the company operates. The internal employee may also know the hiring manager and people on their new team. That means the paperwork and other checks and balances needed prior to getting an employee settled are not needed.
• More employee engagement
  Hiring internally sends the message that employees are valued within the company, reinforcing a strong company culture. Whether it’s a lateral move to a different department or a promotion, employees will appreciate being recognized for what they bring to the organization.

This article outlines the advantages and disadvantages of internal and external recruitment, examples, and how it looks.

There are additional advantages of internal recruitment, including employee engagement, trust building, internal mobility, retention, brand and processes knowledge, and verified skills. There are also some internal recruitment disadvantages to consider when hiring from existing talent.

What are the disadvantages of external and internal recruitment?
Internal recruitment advantages and disadvantages vary based on the organization and how they run things. One of the main disadvantages of internal recruitment is having a smaller talent pool to pull from. If the company does not have an internal upskilling or reskilling program in place for employee development, the current talent pool may lack the skills needed for open positions.

The disadvantages of internal recruitment could leave a gap in the existing workforce while creating resentment within the organization. There are many instances of managers hindering employees from transferring or moving up. When this process is not done correctly, the advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment become glaringly obvious. It’s important to have a pulse on the company to figure out how employees really feel about internal recruiting and are completely transparent about the process. This helps in alleviating infighting and can provide additional reasons why employee development is vital.

When companies start advertising positions at an organization, they use external resources to do so. That helps define what is external recruitment. It’s when talent is found outside the organization to fill internal roles. There are many examples of external recruitment, including external recruitment methods like:

• Job Boards
• Human Resource agencies
• Career fairs
• Career centers
• Trade associations
• Employee referrals
• Social media

While there are advantages of external recruitment like tapping into new potential and gaining new skills and perspective for the company, there are many external recruitment disadvantages like the cost of acquiring a new employee, having to verify good skills, and whether they fit the culture makes this a high risk. Depending on the organization and its culture, external recruitment benefits may not outweigh internal recruitment advantages.

When considering what are the disadvantages of external and internal recruitment, you must consider how external recruitment can bring a wider pool of candidates that may be a better fit for a specific role. External recruitment advantages and disadvantages can also impact diversity which could be positive or negative depending on the culture of the company.

Overall, the goal is to remain competitive while establishing a firm base among internal and external candidates as an organization they want to be a part of.

We’ve discussed the internal recruitment process and some internal recruitment advantages, but what does that look like? Here are some internal recruitment examples to consider:

• Referrals from a supervisor
• Internal job boards
• Career ladders
• Internal promotions

There are many advantages of recruitment when it comes to internally recruiting employees, but the process should be transparent enough that employees feel that they actually have an opportunity to showcase skills and value to the organization that may not have been part of their current job role.

Internal recruitment means less training, a deeper understanding of most of the employee’s skills, and insight into how they work and their job performance history, and it may become obvious a lot sooner whether the employee would be a good fit for the new role.

For instance, a supervisor in one department got the chance to observe how an employee from another department performed in a cross-duty capacity. The supervisor was able to determine that the employee operated with efficiency, was very productive, and had more skills than what they were using in their own department. When a new position opened, the supervisor recommended the employee be promoted to the new role in their department.

Knowing what are the disadvantages of external and internal recruitment can help the HR team better position the company for growth. This also opens pipelines for the HR team to work with management in identifying employees that may be better suited in other roles, and really understanding their existing workforce to determine which roles need external recruitment.

The disadvantages of external recruitment may deter companies from looking for new talent outside the company, but a sound internal recruitment in action plan must be in place. This means using talent management software to create assessments, career pathing, and succession planning to strategically and successfully move existing talent up and around the organization. AI and data provided by talent management software can help make these decisions easier, better, and faster while your organization and workforce reap the benefits.