In a July LinkedIn post, “The Secret Sauce of Great Recruiters,” CEO/Founder of BrightRoll, Tod Sacerdoti stated “The best recruiters are able to handle three widely varying communication requirements -- sourcing new candidates, rejecting existing candidates and internal process alignment -- with the same level of empathy, positivity and discipline.”
As recruiters we are often familiar and skilled at sourcing new candidates and even rejecting existing candidates, however the third requirement he mentions, “Internal process alignment” is becoming increasingly important in today’s job market, where internal hires are on the rise and workforces are becoming more lean. Therefore, many organizations rely on the external recruitment process or Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) as a means to target their own internal candidates for open positions.
Most organizations do little more than post job opportunities on their internal career site to identify internal employees to fill vacant positions. There is little control over whether the best employees are aware of the opportunities available or that they feel confident to pursue those opportunities. Furthermore, many hiring managers are unaware of the internal employee’s performance in their current job role or their agility to learn and transfer their current skills and knowledge into the newly posted role. This presents one of the best opportunities for the Recruiter or RPO to drive change and truly become a strategic business partner to the client.
When considering the hire of internal candidates over external candidates there are four main advantages for the client:
1) Internal candidates are cheaper. The average cost of finding and hiring someone from outside the company is 1.7 times more than an internal hire ($8,676 vs. $15,008), reports the Saratoga Institute.
2) Hiring an internal employee is quicker because it is easier to access information on internals such as tenure with company and performance and they are already in the hiring system so reference checks and other time consuming HR processes are eliminated.
3) Hiring internally improves morale and sends a message to the organization that there are opportunities within the organization for promotion and growth.
4) Hiring internally increases employee retention because the employee is familiar with the organization, has found a growth opportunity and is less likely to look outside for an opportunity.
Presenting internal candidates and coaching hiring managers on the internal hiring process can serve as a valuable win for the client’s bottom line, and allows the RPO to prove again that they are an invaluable asset to the client in all hiring, internal and external candidates alike.
This post was written by Sondra Davis. Sondra is a Scientific Recruiter at Yoh with over 10 years’ experience working in full-cycle recruitment for global R&D organizations. She worked at Yoh in 2008-2009 and rejoined in November 2012 supporting a global agri-business that focuses on innovation and biotechnology. In this role, Sondra is able to combine her passion for health and science with her ability to build relationships. She holds a Master’s Degree in Health Education and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. She spends her time outside of work with her three children and husband in Raleigh, NC.