IB Docs (2) Team
Internal & external recruitment (HL)
The recruitment process is a major and vital aspect of human resource management and workforce planning. Hiring the right employees, with the right aptitudes and attitudes, is essential for the organization to be competitive and to meet its goals.
By contrast, hiring the wrong workers mean they are likely to underperform or dislike the workplace, so leave the business organization soon after being recruited. This would simply incur additional and unnecessary costs for the organization, especially as the recruitment process is ongoing and time consuming.
HR managers can use internal recruitment and/or external recruitment to hire the staff the business needs.
Internal recruitment involves hiring people who already work at the firm to fill a vacant post. This could involve relocating employees between different branches or locations, or it could mean promoting those who work at the organization to a particular post.
External recruitment means hiring people from outside the organization to fill vacant posts. The use of recruitment agencies, headhunters and advertising jobs on the firm's corporate website are examples of ways to attract external recruits.
Internal recruitment is the process of hiring people who already work at the business. This could be due to the changing needs of the organization, such as redeploying staff between different departments or locations, or due to promoting employees to certain positions in the business. For example, McDonald's in the UK claims that 90% of its business managers started their careers as McDonald's crew members, and that a third of its executives started their careers in a McDonald's restaurant.
Internal recruitment uses internal job adverts (or job postings) so that interested and suitably qualified employees can apply for these vacancies. This could be done via internal email, staff notice board, or the firm's intranet (an internal computer network system used for sharing information).
Advantages of internal recruitment
Less uncertainty (lower risks) - The business will know the strengths and reputation of each of the candidates, so selecting and appointing a suitable candidate is easier. This also limits the risks associated with hiring a suitable person for a particular promotion or redeployment.
Saves money - Internal recruitment is far cheaper than external recruitment. For example, there is no need to pay for expensive external advertising (job advertisements in national newspapers).
Saves time - The timeframe needed to appoint an internal candidate is shorter than using external methods of recruitment. The candidate will have institutional knowledge of the business and its organizational culture. This means the recruitment process, such as interviews, is shortened.
Improves motivation - Internal recruitment can be good for staff morale as it provides existing workers with opportunities for promotion and career development.
Smoother transition - The candidate will also be familiar with the organization’s practices, procedures, and policies. This can improve efficiency and productivity in the business as the costs associated with induction training are minimized.
Disadvantages of internal recruitment
Limited pool of suitable workers - Internal recruits might not have the necessary skills or experience to do the job. The higher the skills level required, the more challenging it becomes to use internal recruitment due to the smaller pool of employees with the required skills and experience for the post.
No new ideas - Hiring existing recruits does not enable new ideas or experience to drive the organization forward. Internal candidates might not be able to see things in different ways or come up with new solutions to existing problems faced by the organization.
An internal vacancy is created - Promoting an employee through internal recruitment will result in the successful post holder's job becoming vacant. For example, if a Vice Principal at a high school is internally promoted to the position of Principal at the school, there is now an opening for someone else to be the Vice Principal.
Potential conflict - It can be challenging for colleagues who have applied for a particular post to continue working with each other given that only one person can be successful for an internal promotion. This can create some rivalry and jealousy, possibly creating conflicts within the workplace. Existing workers might also feel some resentment for not being offered the internal job.
External recruitment is the process of hiring people from outside the organization, i.e. people who do not currently work for the organization. This includes the use of recruitment agencies, headhunters, online recruitment platforms, and government agencies to attract external recruits.
Recruitment agencies (also known as employment agencies) are external organizations that provide specialist recruitment services for employers. They find suitable applicants for vacant posts and charge their clients (the employers) a fee for their services. Employers might not have the skills, resources, or contacts so outsource this function to special recruitment agencies.
Headhunters are highly specialist individual agents or organizations that provides recruiting services on behalf of employers. They are used for high-profile (top-talent) and senior roles, such as the search for an executive principal of a high-performing international school or the chief executive of a large company. They headhunt precisely the right type of people with specialist skills who are currently working for another business. Headhunters charge very high fees for their services.
Government agencies operate a number of recruitment and training services to help people find employment. For example, some government agencies fund job-training schemes to enhance people’s employability and earning potential. Job centres also provide employment services, including advice of seeking employment, as well as advertising job vacancies on behalf of businesses that are in search of recruiting workers.
Online recruitment platforms allow businesses to use their dedicated websites to recruit potential employees, locally, domestically, and internationally. Online recruitment platforms, such as Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and GetWork, have made it possible for businesses to reach much larger audiences and to recruit at a relatively low cost. These specialist online recruitment service providers have a very wide reach of recruits, and charge a fee for their services including the advertising of job vacancies.
Online recruitment websites have provided businesses with additional options for external recruitment
Advantages of external recruitment
A larger pool of workers to choose from - The business may be able to benefit from a wider choice of candidates, with a broader talent pool. This is why businesses are more likely to use external recruitment for senior positions (such as executive roles) as this enable them to choose from a broader field of suitably qualified candidates.
New ideas - Hiring workers externally also brings in people with new ideas, skills, qualifications, and experiences. This can help to bring competitive advantages for the business.
Motivational impacts - The influx of fresh ideas and new solutions from hiring external recruits can be motivational for the existing workforce.
Disadvantages of external recruitment
Greater risks - The business will not know much about external candidates, despite what is stated on their curriculum vitae or application forms. This increases the risks associated with hiring someone from outside of the organization who might not turn out to be suitable for the job.
More expensive - External recruitment is generally far more expensive than internal recruitment. The costs could include paying for advertising vacancies on media such as newspapers and online sources.
More time consuming - The time needed to hire external candidates is longer than hiring people who already work for the organization. This includes the time needed to read all applications, invite external candidates to interviews, and conduct the interviews. There may also be a delay before the external recruit can join the hiring firm. The induction training period is also likely to be longer for external recruits. By contrast, there is usually a much smaller pool for internal vacancies.
Demotivating to the existing workforce - External recruitment can be detrimental to the morale of existing staff who have applied but been unsuccessful for a position. Existing workers might feel there are few, if any, opportunities for their promotion and career development.
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