Internal Recruitment: What Is It and How Do You Enable It in Your Organization?

For many years, HR has relied on sourcing external candidates to fill job openings within their organization. However, we are in a different reality today than we were even 2 months ago. While hiring plans are placed on hold in the current pandemic, organizational skills gaps still exist. In this uncertain environment, many organizations are looking towards internal recruitment to address their needs.

What is internal recruiting?

Internal recruitment is when an organization looks to fill jobs with their current employees, sourcing talent from other teams, departments, and job functions within a company. This process is also referred to as and enables teams to proactively fill skills gaps. As talent shortages are expected to continue, HR functions are renewing their focus on this key area.

What are the benefits of internal recruitment?

LinkedIn’s 2020 Global Talent Trends found that over 70% of businesses are now focused on “internal recruiting”. Among the benefits of this approach are a faster hiring process and a faster time-to-productivity compared to external recruitments. According to the same survey, there are significant benefits to internal recruitment.

• 94% of respondents stated that internal recruitment improves the retention of their most valuable talent. Employers with active internal career management programs enjoy 41% higher staff retention rates.
• Internal recruitment also enables organizations to promote growth and is considered by Deloitte as a ‘critical talent initiative’ More than twice as many high performance organizations prioritize internal recruitment compared to low performing businesses.

Developing an internal recruitment strategy

In order to support internal recruitment, there must be a point of reference to base the recruitment decisions on. Because how can you know someone’s potential if you don’t first understand their skills and experiences? To understand your bench strength of skills, many organizations develop a competency framework and then assess their workforce based on this framework. You can then compare the skills and competencies required for each role with the skills and competencies of any individual employee.

Succession planning: Succession planning enables your organization to develop talent pools of internal candidates to fill prospective job openings. oesn’t have to be limited to the C Suite but can be applied throughout your organization. To succeed, your succession plan should ensure regular reviews of all job descriptions and skills required for those roles, together with ongoing reviews of the internal candidates shortlisted against each position.

Career pathing: Career pathing provides a specific path for employees to identify skills and qualifications that may enable them to transition into new roles. It enables managers and HR leaders to understand the ambitions and aspirations of their talent while aligning their objectives with the goals and requirements of the company.

5 keys to implementing a successful internal recruitment strategy

When developing an internal recruitment strategy for your organization, it is important to consider the following to enhance the chances of long-term success:

• Deloitte recommends identifying a member of your organization to promote internal recruitment, ensuring that that whole organization understands the benefits of value of this approach (employee growth, more engaged workers):
• Encourage a culture where employees can confidently discuss their career aspirations and skillsets with their line manager. Career pathing makes that process transparent and achievable.
• When considering internal candidates in a broader application process, ensure they are treated the same as any prospective external candidates.
• LinkedIn’s survey found that the #1 barrier to successful internal recruitment was managers who were reluctant to release talented team members to another department. This process is called talent hoarding. You are more likely to risk losing qualified employees whose career ambitions are limited in this way to another organization.
• Use technology to evaluate your internal talent pool. Dedicated succession planning or career pathing software can help to streamline and expedite both processes. Career pathing provides employees with a process to explore and outline their skills and talents that are not apparent in their current roles. That data can assist HR in their search for potential internal candidates during succession planning.

In this unprecedented period, business continuity is cited by 7 out of 10 HR leaders as their top challenge. The development of an internal recruitment process can strengthen the position of your organization to address skills gaps during a hiring freeze, talent shortage, and uncertain times.