internal and external recruitment

Internal and External Recruitment – Q.2.

Online Recriutment:

In the fast changing and competitive business environment, where employees

are considered as the main source of competitive advantage it is very essential

for the company to recruit the best people in the business. And hence,

Recruitment and selection is now considered as very important process of

human resource management. Recruitment is the process of attracting a pool of

qualified job candidates from which the organisation can select the appropriate

candidate to fulfil job requirement (Maxwell.G, 2002). There are three main

issues that have increased the importance of the selection decision of the

organisation. They are: demographic trends and changes, desire for multi-skilled,

flexible workforce and increased emphasis on team-working and the emphasis

between corporate strategy and people management. It is very necessary to

consider various sources in the process of recruitment (Beardwell.J, 2007). There

are two main sources of online recruitment. 1. Internal and External.

Internal recruitment

Internal recruitment can be conducted in several ways:

Employee database: Every company has a database of their employees, which is

maintained by human resource department. The company can use this data to

fill the job requirement.

Job posting: In this system the employer provide notices to the existing

employees about the job openings within the organisation. And the employees

respond it according to their needs.

Promotions and Transfers: Promotion and transfer is another way of internal

recruitment. In this process the employee gets rewarded in the form of

promotion to the next level of the job. Employees feel motivated through

promotions. Transfers are normally given to the employees who want to shift

from one place to another and there are vacancies in that place.

Current employee referrals: Referral from an existing employee is another major

source of internal recruitment. In this system, friends, family members,

acquaintances of existing employees are considered as the reliable source of

recruitment.

External Recruitment


External recruitment is another way of recruiting people for the job. Let us study

in detail what are the different sources of external recruitment.

Labour unions: Labour unions are the good source of recruiting labours in the

factory. Unions have traditionally supplied workers to the employers. A labour

pool is generally available through Unions.

Recruitment agencies: These are the most common source of external

recruitment. There are certain HR agencies works for recruitment purpose. There

are both private and government recruitment agencies. The companies

outsource their personnel management needs to these companies and then

these agencies find out the right candidate for the respective jobs.

Media: Media is the most popular source of external recruitment. This includes

advertisement in newspaper, business magazines, radio, TV channels etc. This

source is comparatively costlier than other sources.

Job fairs & events: The Company organise job fairs events at different locations

to attract the pool of candidates for the respective jobs. This method is used

when the company needs immediate employees.

E-recruitment: This is considered as the modern way of recruitment. As

technology is improving, most of the companies have their own “Career“website

through which they recruit people. This is known as E-recruitment. Company

update their websites from time to time according to the personnel needs of the

company.

Internal Recruitment

1. Advantages

Better assessment of abilities

Lower cost for some jobs

Motivator for good performance

Lower costs

2. Disadvantages

Danger of inbreeding


Possible morale problems of those not promoted

‘Political’ infighting for promotions

Need strong management development programs.

External Recruitment

1. Advantages

‘New blood’, new perspectives and fresh ideas to problems

Fast way of changing tired or outdated culture

Cheaper than training a professional

May bring industry insights

More dynamic workforce

2. Disadvantages

May not select someone who will ‘fit’ in culturally

Longer ‘adjustment’ or orientation time

More education and development required

Can be expensive

(Robert L. Mathis, John H. Jackson) and (Robert Compton, William Morrissey,

Alan, Nankervis).

The choice of internal and external recruitment is usually based on:

Organisational strategies – such as cultural or structural change, customer

or product diversification.

Human resource policies – head count freeze or staff development.

Employee morale or financial reasons – cost reductions or redployment.

External recruitment would be appropriate in situations when an organisation

reviews all its internal candidates and no one is found suitable. Also, it is used in

situations when the organisation decides that fresh blood is required from

outside. Internal recruitment would be appropriate when cost is a major issue for


an organisation. Also if the attrition rate is higher, organisations can choose

internal recruitment to retain employees.

internal and external recruitment

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