The Right Staff: Tapping the Power Within

166468204As the recession limps to a close and the job market tightens, staffing firms are being challenged by their own game. Close to one in three staffing clients complain of turnover at their primary firm — placing staffing firms in the position of having to staff themselves. According to CareerBuilder’s Q2 2013 Staffing Pulse Survey, 56 percent of firms plan to hire more recruiters, 55 percent plan to step up internal sales and 14 percent plan to add managers.

If your firm is looking to secure talent for its own use, you may want to look within. This may sound like an abomination; after all, we’re in the business of sourcing and hiring. However, the “grow your own” strategy can be extremely effective. Reasons to hire from within include:

  • Costing Savings. Training current employees on new skills is typically far less expensive than the cost of recruiting, interviewing and onboarding new hires.
  • Higher Retention. When employees see they have opportunities for advancement, they tend to perform better and stay with the company longer.
  • Lower Turnover. Higher retention rates leads to lower turnover, which results in less stress and fewer disruptions for clients and staff. For example, newly promoted staff can help train their replacements, are available for questions and, if needed, can occasionally fill in at their old position. This sense of stability transfers over to higher employee- and client satisfaction.
  • Better Corporate Culture. When employees feel the company is invested in them, they become more engaged and invested in the company. External candidates also will be attracted to a firm where they can learn and grow.

PREMIUM CONTENT: 2013 Internal Employee Compensation Estimator

To help make hiring from within part of your talent strategy, you’ll need to build a process that identifies prospects based on their potential for promotion and provides performance feedback, mentoring and training to quickly bring newly promoted employees up to speed.

Promoting from within is an under-used, yet highly effective solution for candidate shortages. While it may not always be the answer, it can lead to significant competitive advantages.

MORE: Recruit and Retain and Top Talent with These Key Questions

Melanie Marinelli

Melanie Marinelli
Melanie Marinelli is a regional sales manager in CareerBuilder’s Staffing and Recruiting Group.

Melanie Marinelli

Share This Post

Tweet

Related Articles

Powered by staffingindustry.com ·