Top 3 advantages of promoting from within

Ioana Marinescu

When you need to fill a position within your organization, you usually have two options: recruit externally to find job candidates with the necessary qualifications or promote someone who already works for you. While countless factors affect your choice, and each role requires different qualities, internal promotions have multiple upsides. Read on to learn about three significant advantages of promoting from within.

It can save your organization time and resources

The main advantage of promoting from within is that it's usually more efficient and less expensive. Hiring externally typically requires you to use a recruiter to identify potentially viable candidates. After browsing multiple resumes, the recruiter will select several to take through the interview process. Once you've chosen the most appropriate candidate for the open role, you and your staff must train them, explain their exact responsibilities, help them understand your performance standards, and integrate them into the company culture.

After a few weeks of observing them, you may conclude they're not suitable for the job, which takes you back to square one. This entire process can take months, and every day that goes by with the open position unfilled is another day your organization isn't running at its full potential. So besides losing time and money with the recruitment and training processes, you're also likely to experience a loss in productivity.

Hiring from within eliminates most of these steps. You already know the person you're promoting, and they know you and your company, so they won't need additional time to adapt to their surroundings. Ideally, they'll thrive in their new role and hit the ground running. But even in the worst-case scenario where they don't fit into their new position, they can return to their previous responsibilities. It's still quicker and less expensive than hiring and firing a new employee.

It can motivate existing employees and improve retention

Seeing their high-performing co-workers get promotions will motivate everyone within the organization. It proves the management team doesn't let industriousness go unnoticed and rewards superior results. One of the most significant factors affecting poor employee performance is the realization that, no matter how hard they work, they'll remain in the same place if they stay with the company. And you can't blame them — why bother to do your best if it won't improve your earnings?

It's easier than ever to change careers nowadays, and professionals from different fields are constantly browsing job websites for better opportunities despite already having employment. Again, that's understandable, as everyone wants the best for themselves and their families. So besides motivating them to do a fantastic job, promoting from within can also convince your employees to stay with your organization.

"While countless factors affect your choice, and each role requires different qualities, internal promotions have multiple upsides."

Knowing they can grow within the ranks of your organization can make it less attractive for them to seek employment elsewhere. After all, why go through stressful recruitment processes and adapt to new workplace surroundings if you can grow your career by staying with your current employer?

It can make you a more attractive employer

You may not always be able to hire from within. Perhaps you want to open a new branch and need several new employees or want to expand your business by hiring a specialist to complement your existing staff. There are numerous scenarios where you need an outside hire, but making a habit of hiring from within can improve this aspect of your operations.

Building a reputation as a company that hires from within can help you develop a strong employer brand, which will attract quality professionals to your open positions. Like your existing employees, external job candidates will appreciate an organization that rewards diligence and provides a career roadmap. It may even improve your bond with existing and potential customers, as they may be more inclined to take their business to a company that values its staff.

How to effectively promote from within

Consider these tips when deciding to promote an existing employee to a new position:

Follow the same employment standards you would set for an external hire. Although existing employees are much more likely to fit in from a cultural standpoint, they still must perform well in their new roles. When analyzing the possibility of hiring from within, ensure your employee meets the same standards you would expect from an external hire.
Develop an objective system for evaluating employees. If you plan to regularly promote from within, having a system for evaluating employee performance to see who has greater growth potential and is in line for a promotion can improve your success rate. It can also help you assess their skill set and determine which open positions they may qualify for.
Incentivize managers and supervisors to recommend promotions. If a manager or supervisor has a high-performing employee in a certain role, they may not want to lose them because of the employee's benefits to the department. Offering bonuses based on the employee's performance in their new position can help eliminate this bias.

While there's no one-size-fits-all approach to hiring, prioritizing internal promotions can benefit your organization in the short and long term. Promoting from within is a cost-effective way to find qualified personnel for key positions. It's also a constructive way to motivate employees and advertise your organization as an exceptional workplace.