The Relative Merits of External Versus Internal Recruiting, Essay Example

That recruitment is one of the most challenging HRM activities cannot be denied. Organizations consider the process of recruiting employees as an investment they make in their future performance. As a result, whether organizations apply to internal to external recruitment opportunities will predetermine their chances to meet their business goals. Internal and external recruitment strategies offer significant benefits to organizations. Internal recruiting is cost-effective. In case of internal recruiting, HR professionals are choosing from the pool of candidates they are familiar with, and evaluating their past performance is not a difficult task. Internal recruiting is an excellent way to reward current employees for their exemplary performance and promote those, who deserve to make a brilliant career (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2008). These succession and promotion decisions raise employee morale and contribute to improved performance in organizations.

Yet, it is not always possible to choose from the current list of employees – they may lack education, training, and skills needed to cope with their new roles. In this case, external recruiting becomes the primary HR solution. External recruitment strategies attract new, prospective talents and help organizations to develop vital competencies (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2008). More often than not, external candidates do not require additional training and, consequentially, reduce organizations’ training costs (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2008). Ultimately, external recruitment fits in the current equal employment opportunities philosophy – external recruitment reduces unfair competition and political instability in organizational environments (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2008). What strategy to choose depends on what goal each organization seeks to meet. It is better to begin with internal recruitment, to reduce recruitment expenses. External recruitment will work, when organizations lack employees and candidates that meet their professional expectations. A combination of internal and external recruitment solutions will add value to HR decisions and enhance the efficiency of any organization’s workforce.

References

Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S. & Werner, S. (2008). Managing human resources. Boston: Cengage Learning.