Promoting Internally (How To Do It, Benefits, Drawbacks)

Post A Job For Free, Promote It For A Fee

Summary. Finding the right person to do a job in your company is a difficult task. It takes time, the ability to read someone, and diligence, and it can be expensive. Once they’re hired, you’re not done with the work yet. Training employees is also a commitment of time and money. Sometimes, promoting internally can save a lot of headaches and can boost morale.

Filling gaps in your company roster is a challenge. It’s hard to find just the right person for the job. You need someone who has the right skills, an ability to learn, and who will fit in with your company culture. Hiring from within or promoting internally can give you a head start with a pool of people who already fit your culture and who have insider knowledge of your business. Read on to learn more.

Key Takeaways:

Hiring from within or promoting internally fills open roles in your company with current employees.
There are many benefits to promoting internally, including reducing your expenses.
There are downsides to recruiting from inside the company, including a feeling of jealousy for some employees.
Deciding if an internal promotion is right depends on your individual business, the position, and the available applicant pool.
There are different types of internal promotions that can happen within a company.
Preparing for an internal promotion can smooth the transition for management, the employee, and the rest of the staff.

What Is Promoting Internally?

Promoting internally involves filling an open position in your company with an existing employee. It’s also often referred to as hiring from within. There can be some big benefits to hiring from within, but there can also be some drawbacks.

The most important part of hiring or filling any position within your company is getting the right individual for the job. In some situations, this can be done with people who already work at your company. In other situations, you’ll be better served by hiring an outsider with the specific knowledge, skills, and training that you need. Hiring should always be approached on a case-by-case basis.

How to Promote from Within

The key to managing a successful internal promotion is to plan for it. Use the following tips to improve the likelihood of reaping the benefits of an internal promotion.

Consider all types of internal promotions. Each job may require a different type of internal promotion, and they all have value.
Don’t unnecessarily raise hopes. If you have a particular candidate in mind or you know you’d like someone with outside skills, then don’t have an internal open job posting. This just breeds bad feelings.
Don’t hire based on personal bias or favoritism. It’s important to not only avoid doing this but to also avoid any impression that there is a bias within your company.
Put time and thought into the job description. Having a written job description that lists all of the responsibilities and duties of the hire is critical to keeping the lines of communication open.
Have a transition plan in place. It’s important that the employee who is being promoted be given appropriate training and time to learn their new job. Expecting them to transition immediately is unfair and leads to failure. Likewise, having a plan for how they will leave their current position can be a big benefit.
Communicate. Talk with your employees about the potential to advance in their careers and gauge who is interested and who isn’t.
Create a path toward success. If employees want to advance within the company, help them create a game plan that will move them in the right direction. It’s to your benefit to encourage them to get the outside skills and training they might need to have a successful career.
Be transparent. When you hire from within, you need to expect some people who weren’t given a promotion to be upset. Be clear about why you hired the individual you selected and be willing to help others get to that point so they’re next in line for a similar promotion.
Be open to feedback. Getting feedback from each hiring occurrence can tell you a lot about what your team thinks and feels. It can also keep you apprised of the temperature in your work climate. Asking regularly for feedback from employees is a great way to be responsive to their needs.

Benefits of Promoting Internally

There are usually some big benefits to promoting internally rather than reaching outside of the company. Each company is different, but the following are common benefits of hiring from within.

Less expense. Hiring someone from within saves a lot of the costs involved in finding someone new. It also saves when it comes to training because your current employee already has a base understanding of the business.
Less downtime. An inside employee takes less time to hire and less time to onboard, meaning you’re back to productivity levels faster. You might even see a jump in your ROI.
Improved engagement. When employees see that they can move up in the company, they become more invested in their jobs with the idea that they will be rewarded with professional advancement opportunities.
Boosts morale. Seeing the hard work and dedication of employees being rewarded with promotions, which presumably come with additional benefits, lifts the spirits of employees and makes them feel valued.
Improves retention. When your staff is engaged and there is high morale, then they’re more likely to stick around longer. High employee retention saves a lot of money and can have far-reaching benefits.
Strengthens brand. When your company is positively viewed from the inside, that spreads and creates a positive brand reputation that can mean more business and can attract top talent.
You have a known commodity. One big benefit of recruiting internally is that you have a history with these individuals, and you know their skills, talents, and work ethic. When hiring from outside the company, you never quite know these things until the individual has worked with you for a while.
Established team dynamic. There is definitely a shift when someone changes positions within your company, but they’ve already established a rapport and a team dynamic with others inside the company.

This often creates a smoother transition than it does with an outsider. Even if the team shifts, the promoted employee understands what works and how all of the pieces fit together.

Downsides to Hiring from Within

Of course, promoting internally isn’t all benefits; there are some downsides too. While you won’t have to spend as much time recruiting and interviewing, it’s important to still give a lot of thought to any internal promotion. Theoretically, it will leave you with an opening somewhere in the company, and each business needs to think carefully about what’s best for its future.

Employee pool doesn’t have skills. Promoting internally only works when the employees have the skills or the ability to learn the new job. For instance, you might not have staff who has the accounting and money management skills necessary to be the Chief Financial Officer. Hiring from within isn’t always possible when you’re considering what’s best for the company.
Might develop a bubble. If you only hire internally, you can create a bubble where you’re blind to changes in the industry, and you might miss out on new talent and advanced skills.
Too taxing on employees. Some employees aren’t interested in promotions or changing their responsibilities. Management should never assume that employees want to be promoted. Adding to their stress and obligations might just send a great employee out the door.
Can cause internal jealousy. Sometimes promoting one employee doesn’t prompt others to want to work harder; it inspires jealousy. This can be softened a bit by management, but it can’t be prevented. There are people who will always be upset to see others succeed when they haven’t.
Lack of diversity. It’s not just cultural diversity that you want to encourage in your company; cognitive diversity is just as important. Bringing in new people with outside skills and talents can refresh your status quo and improve your current practices.

Deciding to Promote Internally or Hire Externally

Not every job opening can be filled by someone who is already on staff, and sometimes you will simply want a new set of skills in your company. Having a policy that encourages promoting internally can be a good thing, but every opening needs to be considered individually, and the benefits and downsides must be evaluated. It’s a difficult decision but a critical one.

Many companies like to have the option of promoting within or externally by opening jobs to current employees and outside people. This way, they can review all applicants and determine who would be the best fit for the position.

Types of Internal Promotions

There are different ways a company can promote from within. Determining what type of promotion you’re willing to accept for each position can smooth the process and relieve a lot of downfalls.

Open job posting. This announces a job vacancy and offers anyone who believes they are qualified to apply. Some people do this within the company to only attract existing employees; others open it to all interested parties.
Referral. Another way of recruiting internally is to ask management who they would refer for the job opening.
Changing the status of part-time or freelance hires. If you have part-time employees or have some freelancers you regularly use, you might benefit from increasing their presence within the company.
Succession planning. This type of recruiting is often popular in small and family-run businesses. It grooms individuals to move up within the company by creating a career trajectory and weaving training into their regular duties.

Internal Promotion FAQ

Do you always have to promote internally if you do it once?

No, promoting internally doesn’t have to happen every time there’s a job opening. Hiring for any position needs to happen on a case-by-case basis, so you’re getting the best hire possible. Some companies do have policies that favor internal recruiting, but those policies still leave the door open to outside talent if they’re a better fit.
Is promoting internally a good idea?

Yes, promoting internally can be a great idea for your company, depending on your applicant pool and the position. It should be noted that in some situations, recruiting from your current employee base might not be the best idea. Hiring and promoting is a very important business decision, and all avenues to success must be considered.
What if an employee doesn’t want a promotion?

Open communication is critical when recruiting internally, and if an employee isn’t interested in the promotion, then they should be removed from the applicant list. If someone doesn’t want a job, forcing them to take it is just going to end badly for everyone.

Assuming that someone would want a promotion is an equally bad idea. Make sure to communicate with the individual in question before giving them a promotion.
Is internally promoting employees legal?

Yes, internal promotions are totally legal. But it’s important that your company makes sure it’s not setting itself up for a discrimination lawsuit with its hiring policies. All hiring situations should follow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Uniform Guidelines on Selection Procedures. This will ensure that any hire you make is legal and fair.

References

SHRM – Recruiting Internally and Externally

Employee Engagement

Author

Kristin Kizer

Kristin Kizer is an award-winning writer, television and documentary producer, and content specialist who has worked on a wide variety of written, broadcast, and electronic publications. A former writer/producer for The Discovery Channel, she is now a freelance writer and delighted to be sharing her talents and time with the wonderful Zippia audience.