Blog post

8 internal recruitment methods you need to know

Promote your employees to create an environment where employees feel valued.
5
min read

Recruiting and hiring are challenging for most businesses. It does not matter the number of employees, business size, or income; recruiting is difficult. However, it may be easier to add additional employees to your team instead of filling spots because you lost essential staff.

Several experts believe one of the most effective hiring strategies is recruiting from within. This blog will give you all the details you need to know about internal recruitment.

What Is Internal Recruitment?

Internal recruitment is when you look to the current employees within your business to find a candidate for an open position. You promote your employees instead of looking for someone outside of the organization. This recruiting encourages current employees to apply and creates an environment where employees feel valued. We outline many benefits and a few disadvantages here for you.

To learn more, check out our ultimate guide on internal recruitment.

Internal Recruitment Advantages

Cost-Effective and Efficient

When a business opts to do internal recruiting, one of the valuable benefits is efficiency. You have a smaller pool of applicants which helps you identify the desired characteristics, skills, and proficiency. In addition, it eliminates the paperwork you fill out as you need fewer forms for someone that is already an employee.

When looking internally for candidates, you can save money because you do not have to pay for external recruitment activities. For example, you will not have to post on job boards or pay for background checks.

Less Time Onboarding

When you hire within, the employees already know the business. There are fewer days needed for training and introducing the employee to the company. They already know the culture of your company and fit into it. If you have promoted them, they have already proven themselves.

Continuity

When someone new fills a role, there is often a period for learning. During this time, others may have to take on some of the job's responsibilities until the new employee is comfortable. In most cases, the new employee does not have time to work with the person who did the job before.

The new employee may have to figure out some things on their own. When you hire within, the employee has some awareness of the position and may be able to step in without it a noticeable loss of productivity.

Improved Engagement

Internal recruitment shows your employees that you value them and what they bring to the company. It shows them there is an opportunity for progression in their career. When you hire from within your company, it improves the overall morale of your employees. When they see a reward for hard work, your employees will work harder and be willing to stay with your company.

Internal Recruitment Disadvantages

Limited Pool Of Candidates

When you opt to hire internally, you have a limited supply of candidates. If your pool of candidates is minimal and they do not have exactly what you need, internal recruiting may not be the way to go. When you hire internally, you still may need an external hire. Promoting someone leaves their spot open, and it often needs to be filled. You may find that bitterness, resentment, and hurt feelings occur when you hire within.

Internal Recruitment Illustration

Stagnation

When you hire internally, you risk creating stagnation in your company. A healthy company does not lack exciting ideas that create new products and services. When new thoughts and ideas are not brought into the company regularly, they can get stale. Creativity, new ideas, and open discussion is the best way to create innovation. Internal hiring limits access to outside knowledge, influence, and experience.

Lack of Diversity

Perspective is related to age, gender, ethnicity, and experience. When you only promote inside your company, you are running the risk of becoming homogenous. On the other hand, when a company hires externally, it brings in candidates with different backgrounds and experiences.

8 Internal Recruitment Methods That Work

Several internal recruitment methods work well. These methods are:

  1. Promotions
  2. Transfers
  3. Former Employees
  4. Referrals
  5. Previous Applicants
  6. Reorganizations
  7. Role Changes
  8. Contractor to Full-Time

1. Promotions

The most popular and effective method of internal recruitment is promotions. This allows you to take a talented employee and help them progress in their career. This shift into a new position is from a lower position to a higher one. It has more responsibilities, status, and remuneration. Promotion does not always come with a raise, but it often does. It is common for organizations to fill higher-level positions with internal promotions.

Promotions are a larger part of the culture of your business. Businesses that are driven towards job satisfaction and engagement promote from within. When employees see you are willing to promote them, they work harder and remain motivated. For promoted employees to be successful, they may need some training because, most likely, they are being stretched outside of their current skills.

2. Transfers

A transfer occurs when someone moves from one position to another without a change in responsibilities or rank. There may not be a pay increase. Employees can move from one department or team to another. The new job may be in another geographic location. These could be top international recruitment strategies. If you have offices in different countries, you can move employees to various countries.

This is an ideal internal recruitment method because you can move employees into places where they are most needed. In addition, it allows you to retain employees even when life changes occur that may take your employees to a different location. A transfer can occur when your business opens a new office. As your company grows, you allow your employees to grow with you.

3. Former Employees

This recruitment process involves contacting former employees and offering them a position. Even though this person may not be currently employed with your organization, this method has many benefits. First, the individual still is aware of your company and the position. This method is excellent for saving time and money.

4. Referrals

This recruitment method is low cost and effective. With this method, you hire employees based on the referrals from employees currently working for you. In some cases, employers offer bonuses for a referral that becomes an employee.

5. Previous Applicants

With this method, you can look at your database of previous applications. These candidates have either applied previously or sent in their resumes when there was no job opening. They are resources that are easily accessible. It is inexpensive, and most of the time, you will receive positive results.

6. Reorganizations

A reorganization is a great way to shift the makeup of an organization. Usually, when this happens, many people throughout the business are moved into different roles with new responsibilities. This is a common practice for companies once they streamline their processes. Typically, a reorganization comes next. It allows the company to move employees into new positions.

7. Role Changes

A role change is often referred to as a lateral move. However, it can also be a promotion for the employee. This occurs when you move someone from one role into another role. Role changes benefit employees as well as the organization.

A role change provides the ability for an organization to distribute and use the talent they have in a more meaningful way. This is an ideal way to redistribute the talent already within the company. When you realize that you have employees in roles but are better suited for a different role, this is a great way to move around employees. It keeps the entire organization adaptable.

8. Contractor to Full-Time

This is similar to promotion. However, it involves someone who is not a permanent full-time employee. This employee could be a contractor, temporary, or even part-time. This process brings that employee into the organization as a fully engaged full-time person. You already know their abilities because they have worked for you. This is also a way to keep all employees, regardless of status, engaged.

How To Create An Internal Recruitment Strategy

Create A Process

You must start with a well-defined plan and process that everyone uses before beginning internal recruitment. This plan should outline who is involved with the recruitment process, the resources that will be used, and a plan b for when this process does not work as expected.

Accurate Records

For your company to accurately assess the candidates within the company, you must have records to review. These records should include performance evaluations and should be updated regularly. It gives you valid and accurate data to use, but you can also defend the choices you made based on your records.

Job Posting System

This part of the process is often missed. The employees in your organization cannot compete for positions if they do not know about them. Therefore, you must post the available jobs and let your employees know. If you do not, you will not be able to engage with them and find employees with the appropriate skills.

Employee Engagement

It is not enough to post jobs for which your employees to see and apply. It would be best if you kept them engaged. You have to keep up the employee morale. If your employees do not feel appreciated or have a pleasant work environment, they may not be interested in applying for a higher-ranking job. They also need to know that the employee can be promoted to different jobs. They also have to have some faith in the company and know that it is long-lasting.

Employee Screening

After you have a group of viable candidates, you must screen the employees so they can be evaluated correctly and quickly. The process must remain the same to allow you to get accurate results. You do not want to allow one candidate to provide different answers that may be more in alignment with the job position.

Hiring employees is a lot of work before and after they are hired. You do a lot of upfront work to interview and screen the best candidates. Once you make a selection, you have to train them for the responsibilities of a new position. Internal recruitment strategies help you save time and money while still picking the best candidate. You want to use all of the tools you have at your disposal to locate and select the best candidate.

While there are times when hiring employees can be challenging, there are ways to make this process easier for the business and employees. Utilizing internal recruitment methods has many benefits for you and your employees. Understanding the disadvantages of internal recruitment can help you prepare for the difficulties you may encounter when hiring or promoting from within.

Employee Recognition
Engagement
Workplace Engagement
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