Why Should You Hire Internally?

There are numerous benefits to hiring internally, including:

• Reduced training and onboarding time: Internal hires are already familiar with the company’s culture, policies, and procedures, which significantly reduces the time and resources needed for training and onboarding. They can acclimate to their new roles more quickly than external candidates.
• Cost-effective: Hiring internally is often less expensive than recruiting externally. It eliminates costs associated with advertising job openings, conducting extensive interviews, and possibly paying relocation expenses for external candidates.
• Boosts employee morale and engagement: Promoting from within can have a positive impact on employee morale. It demonstrates to employees that their efforts and loyalty are recognized and rewarded, which can lead to increased engagement and motivation across the organization.
• Lower risk of bad hires: Internal candidates have a proven track record within the organization, reducing the risk of hiring someone who may not be a good fit. The company already has insight into their skills, work ethic, and compatibility with the company culture.
• Encourages professional development: An internal hiring policy encourages employees to seek personal and professional growth opportunities, knowing there is a potential for career advancement within the organization.
• Faster hiring process: The process of hiring internally is generally faster than external recruitment. Internal candidates can often be identified and moved into new roles more quickly, which helps maintain productivity and reduces the period a position is vacant.

Are There Any Downsides to Hiring Internally?

It’s also important to mention the downsides of hiring internally:

• Limited pool of candidates: Relying solely on internal hiring limits the organization to its current workforce, potentially missing out on a wider range of skills, experiences, and fresh perspectives that external candidates could bring.
• Potential for internal conflict: Promoting or transferring an internal employee might lead to jealousy or resentment among other employees who feel overlooked or undervalued. This can create tension or conflict within the team.
• Stagnation of ideas and innovation: Continuously hiring from within can lead to a homogenization of ideas and perspectives. Without new insights from external hires, there’s a risk of stagnation in creativity and innovation.
• Skill gaps: Internal candidates may lack certain skills or experiences that external candidates possess, leading to a skills gap. The organization might miss the opportunity to bring in new expertise that could drive growth and improvement.

Tips for Writing Internal Job Postings

Prepare a well-written internal job ad

To do this, you can follow the same format for external job postings. Include all the necessary information, such as:

• Summary of the job and responsibilities
• Position requirements
• Salary and benefits.
• Rather than providing information about the company, details about the department may be more useful to internal candidates.
• Explain what the department does and how the role contributes to it.

While the job ad is intended for existing employees, it’s important to keep it professional. Also, ensure it’s clear, detailed yet concise, and honest about the role and provide contact details for any questions about the position. Also, check that your ad complies with any relevant employment legislation—such as anti-discrimination law.

Create an internal job board

Once you have written your job ad, you need to share it company-wide to make sure your employees see it. A good starting point for this is creating an internal job board. Employees can then subscribe to it and receive notifications when a new job is advertised.

You can also send the job posting to managers in departments that are potentially relevant to the job opening, who can then share it with their own teams.

Advertise across multiple channels

In addition to posting on an internal job board, you can also send a company-wide email, include it in an employee newsletter, or leave notices in employee recreation or break areas.  Also, let people know about the opportunity via word of mouth. Bring it to the attention of department managers so they can speak to their employees about it. Encourage employees to refer colleagues to the role. Even if they’re not interested in it themselves, they may know someone who would be a good fit.

Conclusion

An internal job posting is used to recruit existing employees—rather than external candidates—for a role. Internal recruitment is a good way to recruit a candidate who already knows your company’s culture, policies, and practices. This can potentially save you time and money during the recruitment process.  When preparing an internal job posting, include all the necessary information and promote it across the organization to attract as many qualified candidates as possible—including on the intranet, via email, and through word of mouth.