Whether to create a new position or to fill a vacancy, internal recruitment is one of the most effective solutions. However, internal recruitment remains less well known to the general public than external recruitment. In this article, we explain the advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment?
Internal recruitment: Definition
Internal recruitment is one of the weapons available to recruiters and/or managers to promote talent within a company. Whether creating a new position or filling a vacancy following retirement or resignation, a company may decide to turn to personnel already recruited to fill the desired role.
Internal recruitment can be carried out in two different ways:
- Vertical recruitment: This involves offering an employee more responsibility by giving him or her a position with a higher status than the one he or she already occupies;
- Horizontal recruitment: This involves a change of position within the same department or in another team, while retaining the same status and grade.
The internal recruitment method consists of identifying potential candidates within the company’s workforce. The aim is to fill a vacancy or fill a newly-created position, in order to meet the organization’s strategic or operational needs.
The advantages of internal recruitment
Short recruitment process
By opting for in-house recruitment, you save time in a number of ways. You don’t need to launch a recruitment campaign that will have a certain cost on your budget. It also requires more resources and more time to find the talent you need. How do I identify the best manager from my talent pool?
Another positive point is that there’s no need to prepare upstream for external job offers, or to review numerous applications. The employee has already been integrated, which saves the company time, particularly in operational terms.
You already have an idea of your staff and are in a position to know which profile may be suitable for the position to be filled. There’s also a reduction in the number of interviews, and no need to introduce the company to the person who’s going to fill the position. All you have to do is make sure that the new employee takes up his or her duties smoothly.
As the employee is already on your premises, you can make the switch more quickly than if you had to wait for an external candidate to complete his or her contract. As a result, they can take up their new duties quickly.
Reducing expenditure
Recruiting an employee saves you both time and money by eliminating the costs associated with external recruitment. Carrying out a recruitment campaign requires a certain amount of financial resources, in order to send the job vacancy to external candidates. By choosing to recruit an in-house employee, you reduce these expenses to a strict minimum. Internal communication will take center stage, and you won’t need to call in a professional to identify suitable talent.
The risk of recruitment errors is minimal
Mistakes can be made during the recruitment process. Fortunately, they don’t, GPEC supports HR in the transformation of companies. What’s more, you have no idea how the successful candidate will fit in. He or she may find that they are incompatible with both the company’s culture and the tasks entrusted to them.
How can you effectively reduce turnover? By recruiting internally, you already have an overall idea of how your employee works, and whether he or she feels at home with the company. The likelihood of resignation or breach of probation will be low.
Corporate image
By enabling staff to progress within the company or to be assigned a new position, the company’s image is enhanced. You convey a very strong message within your entity. It promotes competence through the possibility of evolution, gaining skills, being assigned new functions and even new responsibilities.
In any case, this will have an impact on personal commitment and motivation. By highlighting the work and profile of your employees in this way, you’re urging them to give their best and help promote the company.
Emphasize internal promotion
How to promote an agile internal mobility path? Recruiting an employee through internal mobility is a great sign. The other members of the workforce will understand that it is possible to progress within the company, while of course demonstrating a certain rigor along the way.
It’s essential to allow mobility while being totally objective about skills. This helps to avoid jealousy within teams or among employees who may feel frustrated. Internal recruitment is a real advantage in an ambitious human resources policy.
In this dynamic, a training plan is necessary to enable people on the move to recharge their batteries with new skills. Discover the secrets of winning teams: boost your performance. Nothing would be more disastrous than internal mobility that ends in failure. It won’t convey a good image, and there won’t be any volunteers left for the next call for applications.
Building employee loyalty
These days, loyalty in the workplace is no longer part of employees’ values, or at least no longer reflects the same enthusiasm as it used to. Offer the best possible career opportunities to the members of your team you want to keep, so that they don’t abandon you in favor of the first person who comes along and offers them a job they want.
In this way, your employees will stay with you for many years to come, and you’ll be able to create a genuine entrepreneurial spirit that will ensure the success of your business. This method will open the way to new development prospects, while at the same time creating a virtuous circle. Loyalty is one of the tips for building high-performance teams.
The risks of internal recruitment
Despite its many advantages, this type of recruitment has a few limitations.
Establishing a solid training system
Whatever the nature of the recruitment, training would be ideal before the candidate starts his or her new duties. This includes the secrets of a successful internal mobility process.
Limited choice of candidates
You narrow down your choice of candidates when you opt for internal recruitment. In fact, only a limited number of profiles will be able to aspire to the position to be filled. This means you’re faced with a probable lack of skills or qualifications. Nor do you benefit from the outside view that an external candidate could bring.
Sense of injustice among employees
Given the position to be filled, it’s possible that a multitude of candidates within the company will claim to occupy the post. To avoid tensions between them, it’s important that they all have the same level of information about the new position. Some may perceive this as favoritism rather than promotion.
Mitigating the negative effects of internal recruitment
Follow these tips to avoid the negative effects of in-house recruitment as much as possible.
More transparent recruitment process
Share your expectations with prospective employees and present them with the ideal profile you’re looking for, as well as the job description and all the responsibilities it entails. This will enable you to make an initial selection of potential candidates. Then take the time to explain the reasons for your choice to each employee who has applied. Your decision will be more readily accepted, and future changes will be more welcoming.
Ask managers for assistance
If your company is made up of several departments, it’s obvious that you don’t have an overview of every member of staff. In order to find the ideal candidate for the job, enlist the help of your managers. As they know their team and the talent within it, they’ll be able to tell you what each employee hopes to achieve, as well as the strengths of each profile.
Timing of job advertisements
If you already have a potential employee in mind for the position to be filled, discuss it with him or her. You’ll only share the information with the rest of the staff if your proposal receives negative feedback. This will avoid disappointment and feelings of favoritism.
FAQ
- How long does it take for an employee to be promoted?
As a general rule, promotions are rarely given before the employee has been with the company for 1.5 years, unless a position becomes available unexpectedly.
- Who decides on promotions?
The employer decides on promotions based on the seniority of employees, but also taking into account the skills of each of the company’s talents.
Conclusion
Whether the talent you’re looking for comes from outside or inside the company, the aim is still to fill the position. So, both recruitment processes should be considered by any employer. However, by recruiting internally, the company saves time and money, and ensures continuity.
