New Employment vs Inside Promotion
Options for Filling a Job Vacancy within an Organisation
There are two options for filling an employment void in a firm - managers can either hire an existing staff or recruit a new employee. Here are the pros and cons.
When an employee leaves his or her job for better prospects, managers may choose to fill in the vacant position. There are two ways of doing that, both with their own pros and cons. One option would be to hire or promote from within the company; the alternate option would be to recruit an employee from the job market. Managers will usually collaborate with their human resource team to determine the best course of action for the department at hand, while considering several salient factors.
Employment from within the Organisation
There are several advantages of employing from within the company. The pertinent benefit would be there that would be low costs involved - especially with respects to training. An employee from within an organisation would be familiar with the organisational structure, key operating procedures as well as corporate culture. This eliminates the inhibitions that normally affect new employees when first embarking on a new job. A internal staff would also have had exposure to important networks - such as subordinates, superiors, clients, vendors and other affiliated companies.
An internal staff who would have already been vying for the job vacancy would have also familiarised him or herself with the work ethics of that particular team - he or she would understand the working culture and make a fair assessment of adequacy before applying for the internal transfer / promotion.
There are disadvantages to this, however. Old blood mixed with old blood encourages a lack of initiative to change in the organisation. An existing member of the organisation may gel into his or her new position without the enthusiasm to bring in new ideas. Team motivation may remain stagnant without a catalyst for change. Similarly, cultural dischord may arise if a promotion or a transfer from within undercuts employees who are more suitable or feel they are more suitable for the job.
Employing a New Staff to the Organisation
The other option of filling in a job vacancy would be to recruit from the job market. Here are some of the advantages. A new employee may bring a breath of fresh air to the environment, presenting new ideas and work-flows from previous work experience. Fresh graduates on the other hand, may be extremely enthusiastic on the job. A new employee also brings in his or her existing network of clients, vendors and his or her acquaintances with other players in the market. A new employee may represent a window of new opportunities should he or she have been employed by competitors in the market.
There are also disadvantages to employing a new staff. One grave disadvantage could be resistance to change demonstrated by exisiting staff. Exisiting employees may feel their expertise is being second-guessed when a new employee brings up new suggestions. This can also cause alot of resentment and is detrimental to teamwork. It is also more costly to employ a new employee - this is in terms of training - especially, when he or she is not familiar with the company's workflow or he or she has never been in the given industry. It will take time for the new employee to build a strong rapport within and outside the company. Employing a new staff can also be costly as the company would have to "buy" this new employee from the market - it may cost even more if he or she is attached to a competitor.
