When it comes to business growth, having the ability to create new assignments and expand on current roles within your company is vital to its overall success. When this happens, a business is forced to start recruiting new talent or promoting within. This can be a tough choice, particularly when you have highly skilled and dedicated employees competing for rank in your organization. And yet, there’s still undiscovered talent that is out there in need of a chance on the job market.
Succession planning is the practice of educating, mentoring, and promoting current employees so that they can increase productivity and growth for a business. In many cases, this method can be far more efficient than hiring new staff.
We’re here to help you decide if you should focus your team building efforts from the inside out, or if you should start a proactive recruitment campaign. Keep reading to find out the main benefits of promoting instead of hiring.
It’s less expensive to promote employees
In general, it is far less costly to promote employees from within vs. hiring outside candidates. Some experts estimate that it costs as much as a half-year’s salary to recruit just one employee. Before you hire anyone, you have to account for the cost of advertising, training, interview, and new hire orientation. Plus, it can be months before any productivity is enjoyed from an outside recruit. With an internal promotion there is little if any additional cost to the company.
Proven loyalty to the organization
Your current employees have already demonstrated that they are loyal to your company’s cause and mission. Therefore, it only makes sense that you choose promoting within, instead of taking a chance on a new hire who may decide not to stick around. Loyalty is a valuable commodity today, with so many professionals jumping ship for other opportunities on a frequent basis. Show how loyal you are to your hard working staff by offering internal promotions and employee development.
, rather than take a chance on a new hire who may decide not to stick around. Loyalty is a valuable commodity today, with so many professionals jumping ship for other opportunities on a frequent basis. Show how loyal you are to your hard working staff by offering internal promotions and employee development.
Seamless transition to new duties when promoting within
It’s often difficult and time consuming to bring a new hire into the flock. You’ll have to set aside time for training, mentoring, etc. This is a huge loss of productivity and time spent on trying to transition someone into new tasks. However, promoting within means s/he is already familiar with your company’s goals and tasks associated with success.
Synergistic fit for team culture
A group of employees may take months, even years, to get comfortable working with each other in a team setting. To more effectively staff for higher positions in the company, you must honor the company culture and how well each employee fits into the greater scheme of things. Only through planned team building and proper job matching, will your company be able to grow and flourish. Choosing hires from the outside can upset the corporate culture, leading to breakdowns in team cohesion and efficiency. Therefore, internal promotions are a better way to develop your teams within the corporate culture.
As you build your company and add new roles to handle additional tasks and projects, keep in mind all the advantages of succession planning by promoting from within. Take a careful inventory of the employees you have now, their skill sets and gifts, so that you can design a plan that helps honor the people who work hard for your success every day.
About the Author: Steven Burrell has been writing about technology and business solutions for nearly a decade. Visit this page for more information about cognitive ability testing for employees and students.