The Why - Is Internal Recruitment Better than External?

Time to Hire

Because the prospective candidate is already a part of the company, the recruitment process can shed off the time it takes to advertise and reach out to the public – advertisement can be done swiftly through established internal communication.

Further, there is a wealth of information on shortlisted candidates readily available to you. A consultation from HR and managers will provide you with crucial knowledge about a candidate’s behaviour, skills and personality, information that would usually take time to gather and authenticate.

Finally, meeting the candidate – and interviewing them – is no longer hampered by non-face-to-face correspondence, because they’re already in the building! (Or at least on quick dial).

Reduce the Cost of Recruitment

Time is money and with internal recruitment, you’re saving both.

There’s no need to pay for a recruitment agency to increase your outreach. No need to pay for advertisement either. Money = saved.

The risk of hiring somebody unsuitable and being forced to restart the process is also minimised when hiring internally. It’s often not until a few months have elapsed that a new employee has proven their worth to the company. For internal recruits, their calibre should already be apparent, so managers can rest assured that money is being spent wisely.

Plus, in the long run, recruiting an employee that’s already part of the family means that they’ve already received training on company policy and such. This means that time (which, had you forgotten, is money) is saved on training and productivity can be achieved more swiftly.

Improved Morale

Think about it, the opportunity to change to a more suitable - or better paying – role within your own company means that your current performance and attitude could be the difference between landing your dream job and staying put. How exciting! For businesses, giving employees the prospect of fluid movement within the company promotes a sense of aspiration and excitement that can only be a positive influence on the team’s morale.

The How – Internal Recruitment Process

Defining an Internal Recruitment Policy

Creating a policy that outlines the entire procedure of internal recruitment, as well as who’s involved, is crucial in making the process efficient. The conduct of those involved is vital: favouritism must be avoided and managers can’t go luring employees away from other departments surreptitiously. Are managers allowed to recommend the role at all? Should the length of time an employee has been in their current role affect their freedom to apply?

It’s factors like these that must be addressed in an internal recruitment policy to ensure stability and equality across the board. Internal recruitment essentially reshuffles the makeup of a company, therefore it’s important to isolate the disruption as much as possible, whilst at the same time share the vacancy with the appropriate departments.

Successful Promotion of Your Internal Position

Due to the lower cost of promoting within the company, getting the word out to prospective candidates should be relatively pain-free. This doesn’t mean effort isn’t needed though! The larger your company the more people you need to reach, and there are numerous ways to do this.

First though, outline how managers should behave regarding job promotion. As mentioned above, underhand persuasion that might weaken a candidate’s original department should be avoided. Ideally, managers should be encouraging all employees – including their own department’s – to be engaged with the internal recruitment system and to apply for any roles they’re attracted to. This will improve the overall morale (due to more opportunities) as well as help make the whole process more transparent and accessible.

The obvious things like fliers and bulletins in changing rooms and other communal areas are easy ways of exposure. Digitally speaking, many companies will have a web page dedicated to posting vacancies to their employees. Whilst this is convenient (once the page is set up, that is), it’s easy to miss. An email notification is more likely to get people’s attention and hopefully reach the perfect candidate in your midst

Staff Performance and Suitability Appraisal

Although recruiting internally will often guarantee candidates who adhere to the values of the whole company, it does not necessarily mean they’ll all be suitable for your particular role. A great employee in one department may not be suited to the department of the vacancy in question. When you have your shortlist, liaise with each candidate’s corresponding manager – and other colleagues if need be – to draw up a comprehensive picture of how they work, their strengths and what they need to work on. HR will also have a wealth of information on promising candidates; take advantage of your immediate resources and be informed about who you’re bringing in.

The Interview Process

Interviewing current employees shouldn’t be too different from interviewing external candidates. This is easier said than done though, because familiarity risks making the process biased, which totally undermines your prospects of securing the right person.

Some company’s actually hire a recruiting agency just for the interviews to avoid any chance of partiality towards certain candidates. Either way, as long as you’ve taken the appropriate measures to prevent these issues, the interview is the most exciting stage of the process. Here, you can have an explicit dialogue with your candidate, cover all the key elements of the role and discover how they’ll fit the mould.

Creativity Works Both Ways

You’ve already established trust and rapport with your employees, so whilst formalities must be reserved for the key stages (i.e. interviews), it doesn’t mean you need to be boring throughout. Ask candidates to submit a video application rather than a form, or for them to mock up a project that’s independent of funding constraints. Be creative; not only will this capture people’s attention more effectively, it’ll also cause a buzz. The opportunity to be creative excites people and stimulates new ideas, something that is invaluable to any business.

Giving Interview Feedback to Candidates

It’s always good practice to inform a candidate of the outcome of their interview – regardless of whether it was successful or not. Giving feedback after recruiting internally is even more pertinent, because for every successful candidate, there are the deflated employees who didn’t succeed. By offering honest and constructive feedback, you allay any hard feelings and, ideally, provide them an outline for self-improvement. It’s crucial for maintaining a good relationship with your employees and keeping morale up, so don’t be afraid to give criticism.