To Hire Internally or Externally...That is the Question

When faced with a vacant position in your organization, your first instinct may be to find someone internally to fill the role instead of going through the extensive process of hiring someone new.

The decision to hire internally or externally can vary based on what type of role is being filled (is it a leadership role, does it require specific skills or certifications, etc.), and the capacity and skill set of the internal employees.

Even if you think your needs fall under the "look within" category, don't rule out external hiring completely. There are many advantages of hiring externally instead of using your internal team.

What is External Hiring?

External hiring is when a business sources potential candidates to hire from outside of their organization. Typically, the company will either conduct a search for the candidate using their internal resources, such as a business office or human resources department, or they may hire an outside recruiter to help them find the right person for the job.

Advantages of Hiring Externally

Recruiting externally can bring a host of benefits to your organization.

Hiring externally by looking outside your organization will result in a larger pool of candidates with a variety of talents and experience. Those fresh faces bring new ideas and talent to your current roster. Over time, the culture and ideas in your organization can become stale and your employees may become complacent. External recruiting brings in people with different ways of doing things that can shine new light on old views and open up opportunities to develop a diverse team of employees.

Other benefits of hiring externally:

1. New employees give you a chance to evaluate your hiring process and fine tune onboarding programs. Improving your processes will help that new employee feel connected to your organization and ready to hit the ground running.
2. Besides potentially bringing new skills and certifications, an outside employee can provide unbiased opinions that might help evolve company culture.
3. If your company is growing quickly, has a small human resources team, or is stretched too thin with other responsibilities, using an external recruiter may be your best choice to get the most qualified candidates for the position you are trying to fill. Using a recruiter ensures you find an employee that is up to date on trends and requirements for your landscape.

Advantages of Hiring Internally

If you are looking to hire internally, there are some advantages.

1. Hiring an internal candidate can boost morale, not only of the newly promoted employee but also the team as they realize there are opportunities for growth.

2. An internal hire can save your company money. Most likely, the internal hire has a strong sense of the company culture, benefits plan, and various processes. This is helpful as it cuts down on the onboarding process. An internal candidate also eliminates the possibility of having to pay any relocation expenses of a new hire.

When considering the advantages of hiring externally or internally, it really comes down to the needs of your company, the team you currently have in place, and the requirements associated with the vacant role. What you might think is an easy question might not be that easy to answer until you've weighed your options. If decide to hiring externally is the best option for your next position and want to enlist the help of a recruiter, LeaderStat is here to help.