Recruitment is the bedrock of talent management. When you’re building a workforce to support and bolster a business, you need to find the right people to fill the right positions. It’s a crucial process that covers talent assessment, talent sourcing, candidate evaluation, the offer, and onboarding. The question is do you hire internally or externally?
What are the Differences Between Internal and External Recruitment?
An effective recruitment process is tied to a company’s success, so some businesses may combine internal and external recruitment to find the right people. Both approaches carry advantages and disadvantages.
Some human resources professionals rely on sourcing talent within the organization. Internal recruitment means announcing job opportunities in the company through emails and advertising vacancies or updating the jobs section of the company’s intranet.
Apart from announcements, internal recruitment methods include:
- Promotions
- Part-time to full-time positions (or temporary to permanent positions)
- Employee referrals
Why is Internal Recruitment Better?
Time to hire is reduced
Because you already have access to candidates and their track records, you don’t have to spend too much time attracting and engage potential talent. The employees already know the candidates you’re assessing, so determining cultural fit is no longer an issue. That means onboarding will be cut short since candidates are familiar with the company’s policies and processes. All they need to learn is their new role and the responsibilities that come with that new job.
It’s cost-effective
The cost per hire in the Philippines is estimated at $40,000, according to the Economics and Business Research. The figure’s no small thing, especially if the company hiring has limited resources. Promoting employees to higher positions, moving temporary workers to permanent positions — these allow businesses to manage the cost of recruitment. Cost is the biggest way to differentiate internal and external recruitment.
It boosts employee morale
Another upside to internal recruitment is the effect it’ll have on the staff. When you promote internally or move part-time employees to full-time positions, it sends a positive message; that you’re investing in your employees and value their professional development. It’s a message that motivates them to do better.
Other businesses look to external sources to hire talent. External recruitment may be a better option in certain situations; for example, the company’s current staff may not have the foundational knowledge or skill to meet the demands of a job. In this instance, a company will need to hire outside of its organization.
External recruitment offers a more diverse set of methods to help you source talent. These include:
- Employment agencies
- Event recruitment
- Advertising
- Job fairs
- Online recruitment
- Internships
- Executive search firms
Why is External Recruitment Better?
Connect to a larger talent pool
Upskilling within your organization does contribute to morale, but your access to new talent and capabilities may be limited. External recruitment expands your reach to new people, allowing you to attract the right skillful candidates.
Improve diversity within organizations
It’s important to introduce new people to your business because it builds diversity. It establishes diversity in gender, age, and backgrounds (educational and professional), creating greater opportunities for innovation and productivity. “New blood” will always bring a kind of freshness and new perspectives to how you do things in the company.
Attract new skills and business ideas
When you’re looking to expand the business, you may not have the time to train current employees to learn new skills. Some of your new goals may call for technical expertise that can’t be developed in a year. Hiring people outside of your organization will attract new skills and competencies that’ll contribute to meeting your goals. You may even be able to hire an expert from a competing company, giving new insights that could prove useful.
When Do You Use Internal Recruitment and External Recruitment?
You’ve weighed both options carefully, but you’re still not sure. The best way to decide is to tick a list that describes the situation you’re in.
When it comes to internal recruitment, its application is ideal for the following:
- You have limited time to fill the open position. Your team needs someone immediately because a project is at stake or a new client just signed up.
- Your budget doesn’t match the cost of external hiring.
- Someone in your team is keen to fill the position and has the skills and knowledge to perform well.
- The position needs someone who has organizational legacy knowledge.
When it comes to external recruitment, the following situations are suitable for choosing it:
- Your business needs someone who has technical expertise that your current staff does not possess.
- You have plans for expansion.
- New blood is necessary to introduce diversity.
- You need to pivot to compete, and new perspectives are lacking.
Find the Right Talent
Recruitment plays a crucial role in the progress of your business. You can choose to promote or upskill your employees. You can also choose to hire new people to bring in fresh expertise. Whichever choice you end up with, make sure to follow a strategy. When you find the right talent, commercial success is just around the corner.
John Clements Consultants is an industry leader and game-changer in outsourced staffing, project management, and staff augmentation. Discover our outsourced staffing solutions today.
