Research finds that businesses can do more to recruit talent from within.
A survey by management firm Futurestep polled over 1,000 employees between September and October of this year.
87% of the executive-level employees said that having a strong internal mobility programme would definitely help with talent attraction and retention. Despite this, two-thirds of the respondents reported that their company has no such scheme in place.
Further underlining the point, nearly a third of respondents (32%) felt that they would need to hide their intention to apply for a new internal role from their current manager.
Employees from organisations that do use internal mobility programmes were asked about how these schemes are managed. 40% said that their company communicated new opportunities via a dedicated portal whilst 9% said that they were sent an email or newsletter. 29% of organisations use both of these methods.
Jeanne MacDonald, President of Global Talent Acquisition Solutions at Futurestep said: “In addition to solid external recruiting efforts, we see internal mobility as one of the keys to success in any recruitment initiative.”
“In today’s ‘always-on’ highly technical workplace, it’s increasingly difficult to find qualified talent. Giving current employees the opportunity and the mechanisms to reach for new positions will help ensure an effective workforce now and into the future.”
Despite these findings 55% of respondents stated that they still find external recruitment to be more effective. It is far from a conclusive result, but it does show that on balance businesses prefer to find new talent than to rely on known quantities.
Whatever your opinion on the benefits of internal recruitment, it is certainly worth considering. Your employees will move elsewhere to advance their careers if they believe that there are no opportunities to progress in your organisation, and with a nationwide talent shortage that may not be what you want.
