Internal or External Recruitment

HR has to set the clear recruitment strategy, which sets the preference of different recruitment sources. The strategy has to define the position of the company in the job market. It has to set the ideal candidate profile, and it has to select the preferred sources of new hires. Generally, the stable organizations with the modest growth prefer the internal recruitment. The fast growing companies prefer the external recruitment as they need to staff vacancies quickly and they have no pool of internal job candidates. The internal or external recruitment should be decided to use the defined talent pipelines in the organization.

Employees’ View on Recruitment

Employees prefer the internal recruitment. They see it as the fair approach towards them. They want to have the opportunity to apply for the job vacancy sooner than the external job candidates.

Employees do not like the competition of the internal and external job candidates. They believe the internal job candidates are always better. They can be trusted. They can perform immediately. Employees prefer higher probability of the internal promotion. They do not want to compete with the external candidates. The external candidates can be smarter, and they push employees to learn new skills and competencies.

Employees would publish all vacancies internally, and they would prefer the long internal search of the job candidate. They would limit the external recruitment to the entry job positions in the organization. They would push the organization to grow from the internal sources.

Managers’ View on Recruitment

Managers prefer an instant delivery of requested skills and competencies. They have no preference of the internal or external recruitment. The manager defines the job profile of the ideal employee and asks Human Resources to find him or her. The manager has no preference.

Managers observe other departments in the organization. They try to pick the top performers and high potentials. They want to create new jobs for them. They want to build a stronger team. Many times, they create new jobs to attract internal talents. They prefer the internal recruitment then.

When starting a new initiative, managers prefer the external recruitment. They clearly recognize the available potential in the organization. They can map the requirements and availability. It is frustrating for employees as they cannot apply for the vacancies.

HR’s View on Recruitment

HR has to follow the HR Strategy. It is aligned with the business strategy, and it should bring the best talents to the organization. HR should set clear rules for the internal and external recruitment to be followed. HR makes the plan of filling gaps in skills and competencies. HR has to care about the enrichment of the internal environment. The organization has to be diverse enough to be strong. The internal recruitment usually does not support the diversity.

HR has to respect the stage of the organizational development. The fast growing company has to support the external recruitment. The mature organization can fully utilize the internal recruitment as it has a strong foundation for hiring the internal job candidates. HR cannot push the internal recruitment in the organization, which needs to hire dozens of new employees each month.

HR should always support the healthy competition among internal and external job candidates. HR should not allow to hire some job positions just internally. The external candidates can bring new ideas and new approaches.