Skill shortages and the risks of bringing in an unknown individual can mean external hires are challenging to get right. So why aren’t more companies promoting from within?
This might sound counter-productive – a recruitment agency recommending that you keep recruiting inside the four walls of your office – but it’s a process which will benefit everybody in the long-run. How so? Well, here’s a handful of reasons why rewarding your staff for their dedication is valuable:
Promoting Morale & Boosting Productivity
Incentives are a core way to motivate your staff; whether it’s trips abroad, extra holiday allowance, or straight-up cash injections.
But the possibility of promotion is an unparalleled motivator. It’s a goal to reach and a long-term benefit that will provide much more than a one-off trip away. It’s also a simple process to put in place. Assign targets, provide deadlines, and sit back as productivity steadily rises.
If your junior- and mid-level employees see that they could escalate within the company, they’ll be encouraged to go the extra mile. Just make sure to not pull the rug out from underneath them, because there’s fewer ways to radically decrease motivation.
Embodying Company DNA
Company culture is more important than it’s given credit for. A role could be a candidate’s ideal scenario on paper, but if they clash with colleagues or disagree with management styles, then they’re unlikely to stay for very long.
Hiring from within lowers the risk of high turnover. Your employees will already be acclimated to your company’s culture, so they’ll know the internal structures and processes. By elevating one of your existing workers, you’re guaranteeing somebody who knows what they’re doing.
Retain Your Very Best
Retention is crucial to a company’s ongoing development – so much so, that we just wrote about its importance to the working world.
This is where a recruiter like us still comes in handy: hiring the right graduate or trainee, externally, and then bringing them into an environment of promotion and recognising success will make them want to stay, much more than just a competitive (but stagnant) salary.
Hiring younger candidates and training them up also helps with the constant skill shortages plaguing the market. They’ll be able to learn as they develop, and then pass these skills onto new trainees as they rise up the food chain.
It’s Not All Positive, However…
Let’s play Devil’s advocate for just a moment: hiring from within isn’t always the best choice. If you only fill more senior roles with existing staff, then you run the risk of company tunnel-vision; no fresh faces can mean no fresh ideas.
Also, it’s important to consider ‘The Peter Principle’ (named after business expert Lawrence J. Peter), which says that staff will be promoted for their proficiency rather than suitability for their new role. This can result in senior positions being filled by incompetent workers – not an ideal scenario.
However, when done correctly, internal promotion will make any company thrive. It sends a good message to your employees that hard work pays off – they’re in control of their future.
If you want to know more about promotion, or want to discuss your recruitment needs, get in touch at 020 3176 4790, or send us an email at info@buildrec.com.
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