Adjusting to a new environment can be difficult for anyone – especially if you are walking into a new job. You may hire someone and find that he or she is having trouble adjusting to the corporate culture. Additionally, if you hired an external applicant for a position an internal applicant was vying for, it could cause tension within a department. Coworkers could also make it difficult for the new employee to perform well in his or her new role. This may ultimately cause the person to leave.
In an organization, most HR and department managers know who their best workers are. Since you already have a good grasp on how a person performs in his or her current role, you can take an accurate guess how he or she can handle additional responsibilities. External applicants leave a sense of mystery. You can have an applicant that excelled during the interview phase, but is a nightmare employee.
Strictly recruiting internally or externally is not the best method. When you broaden your talent pool to include both internal and external candidates, competition for the position will increase. HR managers will be able to see who has the skills they are looking for. The more competition for an opening, the likelier applicants are to bring their “A” game.
For more information on how to find the best candidates, check out our ebook: The Online Recruiting Guide: 11 Steps to Attract More Applicants.