When it comes to filling a vacancy, there’s a wealth of paths that you can take to find your next sterling candidate. Whether you want to touch base with your current team or make an outside hire, it can be tough to suss out what to do for the best. Finding and retaining employees is now also becoming more difficult than ever in today’s job market, so how do you approach your hiring process in the best way suited to your business?
Before you make a decision, it’s essential that you and your team build up a definitive criteria of what you need from your prospective candidates. Are you looking to implement new changes within your business? Are you launching any exciting new campaigns that require some fresh thinking? Evaluate your resources and determine what’s feasible. If you’re still struggling to proceed, here are a few issues to weigh up.
Pros to the Outside Hire
A fresh perspective
For companies that are looking for creative thinkers to take things in a new direction, an outside hire is a worthy investment. Fresh hires are able to approach their work with an open mind, and can judge situations more honestly than those already involved in the business. Outside hires are also free from any company alliances or politics, and can therefore provide accurate business insights and perspectives without influence.
New talent
If companies are making continuous internal hires, there’s a high chance that they could be missing out on top tier talent. This doesn’t mean to say that current employees aren’t up to standard, but with businesses becoming ever more competitive and agile, companies need to ensure that the business is up to speed with the movers and shakers of the industry. The more continuous inside hires you make, the more you could be missing out on new skill sets.
Knowledge of industry-specific best practices
For candidates who have an abundance of experience and knowledge to offer, they can effectively pass on learning and behaviours to current members of staff. If there are specific areas of the team that require improvement, or there are targets that need to be achieved, could an outside hire help reach those goals? Consider how a new hire can enhance your current knowledge base and develop your team. This can also help increase motivation and raise business standards.
Cons to the Outside Hire
Longer training time
Are you willing to invest in longer training times for a new hire? For businesses that are looking for a speedy hiring process, an internal hire makes far more sense. Employees will already be aware of company systems, and be able to perform encouraged workplace behaviours and practices easily. Thus, the transition can be much smoother, and send a message to other employees that there are real opportunities for development within the company.
Adopting company culture
You already know that current employees can adopt company culture effectively, but can you say the same for an outside hire? There’s inevitable risk that comes with a new candidate, no matter how intense the application process may be. Potential employees can be brimming with new ideas and strategies, but if they don’t actually fit in with the style of the business or their personality is mismatched, it could cost organisations both time and money in resolving the situation.
Work Politics
An outside hire has potential to damage morale. If certain employees are looking to progress in their career, or have their heart set upon a certain role within the company, it can cause potential rifts within the team. Current employees can often feel disappointed and demotivated in these situations, so be sure to have an internal plan to ensure your team are continually engaged and supported with their learning and development.
When weighing up the pros and cons of internal and external hires, it really does come down to what you as a business need from your employees. Is it that fresh perspective that becomes the driving force of your new hire, or is it a smooth transition and consistency? Identify what kind of criteria you’d like your ideal candidate to have- you can then think more carefully about how you’d like to approach your hiring process.
It’s rarely an easy decision to make given the complexity of the variables at work here, so it’s better to make your choice on a case-by-case basis.
Looking to recruit your outside hire? Feel free to drop us a line on 0161 832 0303 or email us at info@connectionsrec.co.uk to see how we can give you a hand.