You can do this by incorporating and/or strengthening your own internal recruitment processes and mobility.
You may be thinking why would a staffing consultancy be advising us on recruitment methods that would potentially result in less business for them? The simple answer is that TPP Recruitment is a recruitment partner. Yes, our core paid for service is supplying staff; however, the strength of the relationship goes well beyond this offering.
We know that we play a vital role in the overall hiring strategy of many organisations, but we also understand and accept that there are many other facets to this. Our aim is to support you with all elements of your staffing strategy and advising on internal hiring is just one example of this.
Many organisations choose to work with TPP alongside their internal hiring process, where we mutually benefit from an open and honest process that results in appointing the most suitable candidate for the role. We have an extensive Giving Back programme offering many free services to all non-profit organisations. Many of our clients benefit from this type of relationship already, as demonstrated by this testimonial:
“The TPP Giving Back service has supported us to reach professionals that we otherwise would not have been able to attract to our voluntary positions. This is an invaluable service for a small charity like ours with a limited budget and resource. You have supported a vital area of our work and contributed to building our team of excellent volunteers, thank you TPP.”
Internal mobility is often overlooked as an option in favour of some more conventional routes, and internal hiring should be a strong complementary strategy to external recruitment. When budgets are tighter than ever, now could be the time to really consider internal recruitment or job redesign to plug skills gaps, address capacity issues, or fill that newly created role.
One of the easiest ways to improve internal mobility is to review your current internal recruitment processes and consider new ways of giving employees easier, fair, and equal access to opportunities within your organisation, which would also strongly support your diversity & inclusion aims and objectives. Below I share some top-level considerations that might get you thinking about how improvements could be made:
Review your talent pools and profiles regularly, consider how you nurture and engage internal talent. Understand and audit your existing internal skills and create and manage your hierarchy of desired skills within each department.
Your top performing employees may be better off being considered for lateral moves rather than the typical ‘move up’. We all know that it is more cost-effective to develop and retain an existing employee than it is to recruit a new one.
It is crucial that all staff feel empowered by their own skills, development, and potential to progress. They are then more likely to seek out new opportunities within the organisation and vocalise their interest, particularly if line managers openly discuss development or progression prospects with them. Technological advancements and remote working developments are transforming the in-demand skills and roles available, but with some careful planning and the right development support, existing employees can train to fill skill gaps and even move into entirely new roles.
Initiatives such as mentorship programs can be very effective in allowing employees to learn about other parts of the organisation and gain valuable perspectives from employees at different levels of seniority and responsibility. It also allows employees the opportunity to pursue their personal interests or mentor new hires.
Measure your success by reviewing your ratio of internal vs. external hires periodically. This could give you insight into how effective your succession and development programmes are and whether any changes need to be considered.
Lack of internal advertising capabilities can hamper efforts to recruit talent internally. Consider improvements to the visibility of internal vacancies and ensure that the application process is not likely to discourage internal applicants. It is essential that organisations promote and encourage internal applications, ensuring the process is transparent, yet confidential.
When you create a vacancy, customise your internal processes and requirements to complement and support your internal hiring processes. If you have the autonomy to decide how, when, and where a role gets advertised, use it. For example, you could decide that vacancies are to be advertised internally for two weeks before opening the process for external applications.
Your internal recruitment process is likely to involve advertising positions through your intranet, internal jobs board, or careers website. Ensure these are always updated, accessible, and regularly promoted. There are, however, many organisations that do not have intranets or career websites. If this is the case, consider what internal communication platforms are available and how these could be utilised for the purpose of promoting and advertising internal vacancies, e.g. staff meetings, newsletters, email updates.
Ensure that all employees have easy access to opportunities for internal movement, including any employees who may be absent for reasons such as maternity or adoption leave, for example. It is essential not to overlook potential talent, and when your processes take factors such as this into consideration, it strongly supports an inclusive working environment.
An internal recruitment strategy has so many other additional advantages:
For me, internal recruitment is the most obvious place to start, and I would urge you to consider working with a recruitment partner such as TPP to support you with this. And if you need more convincing, here are some other compelling reasons why:
If you would like to find out more information on how TPP can support your organisation with recruitment advice or any of our other Giving Back services, you can contact us by calling 020 7198 6000 or email info@tpp.co.uk.
