4 Benefits of Promoting Within Instead of Hiring New Employees

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. 

Deborah Sweeney

Deborah Sweeney is an advocate for protecting personal and business assets for business owners and entrepreneurs. With extensive experience in the field of corporate and intellectual property law, Deborah provides insightful commentary on the benefits of incorporation and trademark registration. Education: Deborah received her Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Pepperdine University, and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of West Los Angeles and San Fernando School of Law in corporate and intellectual property law. Experience: After becoming a partner at LA-based law firm, Michel & Robinson, she became an in-house attorney for MyCorporation, formerly a division in Intuit. She took the company private in 2009 and after 10 years of entrepreneurship sold the company to Deluxe Corporation. Deborah is also well-recognized for her written work online as a contributing writer with some of the top business and entrepreneurial blogging sites including Forbes, Business Insider, SCORE, and Fox Business, among others. Fun facts/Other pursuits: Originally from Southern California, Deborah enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, Benjamin and Christopher, and practicing Pilates. Deborah believes in the importance of family and credits the entrepreneurial business model for giving her the flexibility to enjoy both a career and motherhood. Deborah, and MyCorporation, have previously been honored by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s List of the Valley’s Largest Women-Owned Businesses in 2012. MyCorporation received the Stevie Award for Best Women-Owned Business in 2011.

View Comments

  • I completely agree that promoting from within is the way to go! I think that if an employee knows the current culture and operations, it makes things go all the more smoother.

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