How do you go about recruiting? Do you first look in-house to see if you don’t have THE right person for the job? Or are you more inclined to look externally to find the candidate with the right experience? And yet, internal candidates have a lot to offer when it comes to recruitment!
Find out which ones!
While not all positions can be filled internally, there are a number of advantages to bear in mind when applying for a mobile position.
Advantage N°1: Easier assessment of the internal candidate’s softskills.
Assessing softskills is a major strategic recruitment challenge. These include: soft skills, acquired or predictive personality and behavioral elements, etc. All these elements will ensure that an employee is well-suited to his or her position, company and environment…
Even if you have yet to assess your internal candidate’s know-how, you already know about his or her interpersonal skills! Or at least easier to verify.
And therein lies the 1st advantage for candidates coming from internal mobility.
First of all, you’ve already recruited this candidate-collaborator. You’ve already validated certain aspects of his or her interpersonal skills during your first assessment. This has been confirmed, because the employee is still with your company and even wants to move on. Secondly, even if some softskills may not have been covered, you have quick ways of finding out about them.
You can use the various internal assessments(interviews, potential, personnel reviews, etc.) and, above all, feedback from managers. The latter are a gold mine for finding out more about an employee’s potential for the position to be filled.
In short, because of the common history you share with the employee, you have a certain amount of security in terms of his or her personality traits, interpersonal skills, values, potential, etc.
Advantage No. 2: Hiring through internal mobility is less risky
One of the main reasons for this is the internal candidate’s greater compatibility with your company.
In France, the success rate for recruitment through internal mobility is close to 70% [1]!
It should be remembered that successful recruitment refers to employees remaining in the position for more than a year. When 36% of permanent contracts are terminated before the 1st anniversary date [2], the success rate for internal recruitment is very advantageous.
But why such success?
Quite simply, because the main causes of contract termination have been greatly reduced. Indeed, 9 times out of 10, the reasons given are :
- a mismatch between the candidate’s values and the corporate culture
- as well as behavioral alignment or affinity problems with team members or the manager[3].
With internal mobility, there’s a mutual, verified fit between the employee and the company. You already know the employee and how he or she works, and vice versa! This greatly reduces the risk of incompatible values or positioning.
You also have a history of the employee’s experience within your company: professional interviews, managerial appraisals, annual reviews, etc… Reassurance for your recruitment.
Advantage N°3: More committed and motivated candidates
The appreciation and recognition that come with internal career development explain this stronger commitment on the part of the employee. As well as meeting their need to improve their skills, you show them your confidence and your investment in their future. You reassure them of their prospects within your company.
Offering internal mobility to your employees increases their commitment by 30%! [4]
If your employee wants to move on, it’s because he likes your company and wants to continue his experience. They’re already firmly attached. Allowing them to develop and add to their skills in a familiar and appreciated environment will strengthen their commitment and motivation.
This motivation will also have an impact on their ability to train, integrate and master their new position. A more committed employee is also a more natural ambassador for your company. Both externally and internally! More involved in your company, the employee will be more inclined to share his or her experience with others (candidates or colleagues). His or her career path can serve as an example or a catalyst for other employees who may have questions.
*Internal mobility is therefore a powerful lever in the fight against employee disengagement, representing around 20% of employees and 9% of managers!
Benefit No. 4: An employee who is more quickly operational and more efficient
When integrating a new employee, there is always a discovery phase which precedes that of understanding and mastering the new function. Generally speaking, it takes 6 months or even 1 year for an employee to be 100% operational.
In addition to their knowledge of the company, employees often already know: several of their new colleagues, the premises, the tools used, the operating methods, etc. This greatly facilitates onboarding and greatly reduces the discovery phase (without cancelling it out). This makes onboarding much easier, and greatly reduces the discovery phase (without negating it).An employee who has come through the Internal Mobility program will pass through the integration phase more quickly. It’s therefore logical that they should become operational more quickly.
This concerns both vertical mobility (internal promotion) and transversal mobility (change of job), where the employee evolves in a different ecosystem.
In fact, your employee’s macro knowledge of the company offsets the training or adaptation time required to upgrade his or her skills. In fact, for similar positions, internally-trained staff perform better than externally-trained staff[5].
This can be explained by :
- This faster productivity.
- Stronger commitment (and therefore stronger motivation).
- More stable professional development.
- This improved knowledge of the internal network facilitates inter-departmental collaboration.
Advantage N°5: Close proximity for easier recruitment.
The pool of internal candidates is smaller and more easily “actionable”. As part of a Talent Management policy, high-potential employees are generally already identified. This facilitates internal sourcing. This saves a great deal of time in the recruitment process.
Already present in the company, your internal candidates are easier to contact, or even take the 1st step.
70% of internal mobility is initiated by the employee![6].
The other phases of the recruitment process are also shortened, thanks to a less complex process, greater flexibility in taking on a new role, better transition, etc.
Another advantage of relying on internal resources before external ones is that it reduces the cost of external interventions. Or at least to optimize these costs! In fact, it allows you to focus these solutions (recruitment agencies or job boards) on positions for which you don’t have the skills in-house.
Thus, having the reflex to take into consideration your internal candidates and to think about Internal Mobility in addition to your external recruitments allows you to :
- Shorten recruitment times and costs by rapidly activating its internal recruitment pool.
- Reduce the risks associated with external recruitment (incompatibility, competitive outbidding, hasty departure, etc.).
- Have committed, operational and productive employees more quickly (also reducing recruitment overheads).
Want to find out more? Discover our Internal Mobility Guide: a comprehensive white paper to help you take full advantage of the wealth and potential of your in-house talent!
Sources:
[1] Les Echos 2014
[2] DARES 2011
[3] “Hiring for Attitude”-Mark Murphy
[4] Source Career enablement Anna Fulton & Maya Crawley – Fuel50 global Benchmarking Research
[5] According to an HCI and Oracle study 2015
[6] The secrets of Internal Mobility, by those who have achieved it – Christine Regnier – Capital magazine 2019
