Internal recruitment has long been a crucial element of filling key roles within organizations. Such internal staff adjustments have a number of benefits; however, despite the benefits, many companies struggle to identify those employees who can and should be moved to a different role, whether laterally to a new function or upward into a position of greater authority and responsibility.
One of the primary benefits of recruiting from within is obviously that the employee is familiar with the organization: the company culture, the needs and challenges the organization is facing, the key staff he or she will be interacting with, etc. One of the reasons companies may fail to consistently identify internal talent is they may be too narrowly focused. Typically, the finance function will look within the finance function for employees to move into new roles—similarly with marketing, operations, HR, etc.
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Instead, suggests a recent Harvard Business Review article titled “Why the Best Internal Candidate Might Be from an Unlikely Part of the Company,” they should be open to recruiting candidates from any and all areas of the organization. Rebecca Zucker writes, “[g]iven that 81% of new hires fail, according to Leadership IQ’s Global Talent Management Survey, and that the true cost of bad hires can be significant, it’s no wonder companies are willing to take an already high-performing executive from one area—who has strong institutional knowledge and is already a proven culture fit—and move him or her to a new function.”
Zucker argues that many employees may be looking in all the wrong places when considering internal recruitment and, as a result, could be overlooking great potential candidates for critical staffing needs.
The recruiting function within businesses should put a deliberate emphasis on identifying potential candidates for internal recruitment. Many companies do this by implementing programs to identify skills and potential. The difference between the two is that “skills” are the proficiencies an employee currently possesses, whereas “potential” refers to an employee’s ability for future growth and development.
Recruiting from within is a great way to create a relatively smooth transition into key positions. Many organizations have a wealth of talent already working at the company and just need to find a way to identify the right staff member for the job. In addition to being able to fill key roles, Zucker’s article suggests there are big benefits for employee development, retention, and morale, as well.