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RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION | PROS AND CONS OF INTERNAL RECRUITMENT

 

Pros and Cons of Internal Recruitment

Countless methods could be used for the purpose of recruitment (De Varo, 2020). It is quite vital to ensure that the recruitment sources are chosen in a way which achieves the organizational goals and objectives (Shafique, 2012). An organization should bear in mind the company’s budget, skills, knowledge and abilities required to fulfill the recruitment process (Compton, 2009).  This could be achieved by planning the recruitment needs vigilantly (Richardson, 2009).

One method used by companies to select the ideal candidate is internal recruitment. After the review of studies conducted by Muscalu (2015), Richardson (2009), Muscalu (2015) and Klementová, Hvolková and Klement (2016) the following pros and cons related to internal recruitment could be identified.

Pros/Benefits of Internal Recruitment

·         Low Cost

It will reduce the costs such as costs involved in advertising and induction training as the candidate recruited is within the organization.

·         Low risk involved

Internal hiring has low downside risk because the uncertainty about productivity is little, so Internal recruitment provides workers strong incentives because the pool of competitors is small which means that effort are more likely to be rewarded with promotion.

·         Continuous Encouragement/ Motivation

Internal recruitment motivates workers, who are planning to have a long term career in the organization to develop superior knowledge and skills. 

·         Better knowledge about the candidate

Organization has a better knowledge about the candidate, his/her strengths and weaknesses and how responsive they are to the challenges given.

·         Workforce reallocation

A firm can reallocate its workforce productively across job levels through internal recruitment.


Cons/Disadvantages of Internal Recruitment

·         Inability to choose the “right candidate”

Sometimes it might be difficult to find the “right” candidate within the organization and the company might settle for an employee who does not possess the ideal mix of competencies.

·         Boredom

Working in the same company with the same people might make the employees bored as people prefer to have some sort of a variety even people wise.

·         Inability to cater the vacancies due to an expansion

If the vacancies are arisen by continuous expansion of the organisation the supply of qualified individuals above the entry level may be insufficient which may result in people being promoted before they are actually ready to take up the position, or not being allowed to stay in a position long enough to learn how to do the job well.

·         Internal politics

Due to favouritism and nepotism, some employees might not get the position even if they are the most ideal candidate for the job.

·         Interpersonal conflicts

Fights within the colleagues, inbreeding, and varied perspectives shortages and interests may reduce the growth and the flexibility of the organization, and resistance to change by some employees who have an interest in maintaining the ‘status quo’ will lead to potential problems.

·         No room for innovations and new ideas

As the same employees are being recruited, no new knowledge or ideas will flow into the organization.


When considering the reputed International School I work for, the school focuses more on internal recruitment. Using this method has positively affected the school because the teachers recruited internally knows the culture, tradition and the behaviour of the students. There were some instances where the externally recruited teachers could not cope up with the culture of an international school. Moreover, the school also recognized the highly capable teachers who can do their tasks well and provided promotions.

Even though this method has been successful in the school, there are some downsides to it. Favouritism and Nepotism could be highly witnessed. Teachers may sometimes be given tasks which they actually cannot complete due to the high workload they already have. This has led some teachers to give in their resignation due to high job dissatisfaction.

 

List of References 

Carroll, M., Marchington, M., Earnshaw, J. and Taylor, S., 1999. Recruitment in small firms: Processes, methods and problems. Employee relations.

Compton, R.L., 2009. Effective recruitment and selection practices. CCH Australia Limited.

DeVaro, J., 2020. Internal hiring or external recruitment?. IZA World of Labor.

Klementová, V.L.A.D.I.M.Í.R.A., Hvolková, L.E.N.K.K.A. and Klement, L.A.D.I.S.L.A.V., 2016. Recruitment and employment of human resources in the Slovak enterprises. Economic and legal issues and challenges of the labour market and individual well-being, pp.1-13.

Muscalu, E., 2015. Sources of human resources recruitment organization. Land Forces Academy Review, 20(3), p.351.

Pendola, A. and Fuller, E., 2021. Strength from Within? Internal Recruitment and Principal Turnover. Journal of Education Human Resources, 39(1), pp.18-53.

Richardson, M.A., 2009. Recruitment strategies. Managing/Effecting the Recruitment Process. RTT.

Shafique, O., 2012. Recruitment in the 21st Century. Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business, 4(2), pp.887-901.

Comments

  1. chathurangapereraSeptember 2, 2022 at 11:24 PM

    Hi Nimshi ,Selecting the right applicant can be a difficult task, but at the end of the day, the organization’s reputation is held by the people it employs (Henry & Temtime, 2009

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nimshi RanawanaSeptember 9, 2022 at 12:41 AM

      I agree. Finding the ideal applicant for a position depends on a variety of internal and external to the organization considerations ( Zinyemba, 2014)

      Delete
  2. Suneth WIjesingheSeptember 3, 2022 at 2:09 AM

    Hi Nimashi, choosing the ideal candidate is not a easy task, however hiring someone internally is safer than hiring someone externally as the organization is full aware about the candidate and that's is the reason why most of the employer's likes to hire internally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nimshi RanawanaSeptember 9, 2022 at 12:43 AM

      Not acceptable. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of both ways, a company can decide whether external method trumps the internal methods. Sometimes, external method would be the ideal solution.

      Delete
  3. Suneth WijesingheSeptember 13, 2022 at 12:03 AM

    Insiders are recommended because they know the company and its workplace structure, as well as having gained many skills that are unique to the organisation. Because the uniquely productive employment relationship benefits both parties, those skills tend to induce long-term employment interactions between employees and employers.(DeVaro, 2016)

    ReplyDelete

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