Employees are the backbone of an organization. So, hiring a skilled candidate is essential to take the company to the height of success. Many times the company feels the need for fresh talents for specific positions.
Recruiting a newly qualified employee involves external and internal recruitment processes. But how beneficial is external recruitment?
Know the advantages and disadvantages of external recruitment so the company can hire new talents without a second thought.
What is external recruitment?
When a company hires candidates who are not already part of the organization is called external recruitment.
To fill a vacancy: an organization opts for external recruitment. External recruitment refers to hiring new talents who are best for the required position of an organization. It is generally done when someone suitable is not available inside the organization.
However, the employer ensures the candidates hired must work with the organization’s vision, mission, and values.
Shaping the best strategies to search for the candidates who best fit the organization is essential for hiring and external recruitment expertise.
Hiring methods of external recruitment include:
- Advertisement
- Employee referrals
- Job search sites
- Job fair
- Social media
- Networking events
- Company website
- Professional publication
- College and university career centers.
Advantages of External Recruitment
Here are the 7 benefits of external recruitment:
1. A large pool of candidates
External recruitment increases the chances of appointing the right candidate for the company. It provides the company with a pool of skilled candidates; suitable for the post. This availability helps the company to explore each potential and be selective while choosing them.
2. Fresh ideas and perspectives
Hiring a new employee brings a bunch of fresh ideas and perspectives. New employees attempt methods and approaches different from those of the existing employees. These new ideas and suggestions; bring a positive change in the department and the company.
The company identifies the areas of improvement and takes steps for the company’s overall growth.
3. Qualified and experienced candidates
Qualification, skill, and experience are the core of recruitment. It boosts performance and saves the costs spent on training the internal candidates for the post.
External recruitment presents the company with suitable candidates, qualified and experienced in the field. Eventually, the company selects and appoints the best.
4. Stay Competitive
A new employee means new ideas strategies, and insights. These ideas, strategies, and experiences of the new are a blessing in disguise. They provide the trends and insights of other companies that the company can utilize.
In simple words, the company keeps up with trends and stays competitive.
5. Diversity Enhancement
External recruitment aids in making the company more diverse. The more diverse the workforce, the more empowering the company becomes. After all, the wide range of perspectives leads to more effective and innovative practices.
6. Lessen in-house tension
External recruitment, especially for higher positions, lessens the tension among employees, who may compete for it. Hiring a new professional for the positions makes it easy to set up a leadership role that otherwise would have been a challenge for an existing employee.
7. Growth for all
By recruiting new and fresh talent, the company initiates not only the candidate’s growth but itself too. When a new employee joins to match his skills and ideas: the existing employees broaden their performance.
They become more competitive and productive. This overall growth adds to the company’s growth quotient.
Disadvantages of External Recruitment
Merits and demerits are the two sides of a coin. While external recruitment has so many advantages, it also has some disadvantages. This disadvantage gives a clear idea about the techniques of the external recruitment process.
1. Longer transition period
When a candidate joins a company as a newly hired, his transition to the new place takes time. He needs a vivid knowledge of the company’s vision, mission, and ethics and has to adapt to the office environment. The entire process requires an investment of time and cooperation.
2. Cost increases
External recruitment is costlier than internal recruitment. An organization has to pay recruiting firms, buy memberships on job search portals, and advertise the vacancy.
Additional payment is also made to the HR team for putting their efforts and time into the recruitment process, interviews, and documentation to bring the new employee into the house.
3. Additional training process
Newly hired, though skilled, require more training on company policies and procedures than internal employees. It needs more investment of money and time.
Training of external employees can also reduce productivity during the session as new employees need to get acquainted with the responsibilities.
4. Time-consuming
External recruitment consumes time—from advertising, selection, and interview to recruitment. Moreover, the more potential candidates come up; the more selective the hiring process becomes, thereby consuming more time.
5. Effects on employee morale
External recruitment may affect the morale of the existing employees, especially if they are expecting progress in the same position. They may feel their progress is hindered.
They may feel the external hiring to be a missed opportunity. However, with career goals initiative, the company can ensure they have the scope of progress.
6. Employees need time
Not only the externally recruited but the working employees also need time. The employees already working have to adjust to the new member and his leadership role if hired in a higher position.
And it takes time, thereby initially affecting productivity during the period.
Measure to tackle the disadvantages of external recruitment
The negative points of external recruitment can be turned positive by taking a few steps and working on them.
- During the transition of the new employee to encourage unity, the company can organize lunches, team activities, and collaborative projects. The company can also assign a “buddy” to the newly hired to help introduce him to the existing employees and initiate communication with them.
- Cost reduction of external recruitment is possible through automated recruitment procedures, like resume scanning technology and screening techniques. The company can also seek complete personality tests of candidates before interviewing to find a suitable match to the company culture. Peer interviews can be initiated to get detailed insights on candidates.
- To lessen the time and cost of training new employees: go for a streamlined process. It includes technological implementation, checking-ins, and initiating short training sessions for some weeks.
- An organization must discuss the reasons for recruiting new employees with the existing ones to ease employees’ concerns. The company can re-assess its career goals and ensure they are still on a path of progress.
Conclusion: Advantages and disadvantages of external recruitment
There is no single organization that never chooses external recruitment. There is not a single employee who was never externally recruited. External recruitment is very much needed. It has merits and demerits and also ways to tackle them. So, employers opt for external recruitment, and the employees welcome them into the family.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is external recruitment?
External recruitment means hiring someone from outside the company to fill a job. This is done when the company doesn’t have the right person already working there. It helps find new people who can bring fresh ideas and skills.
What are the benefits of external recruitment?
External recruitment has many benefits. It helps find a lot of qualified candidates, brings new ideas to the company, and can make the team more diverse. It also helps the company stay up-to-date with the latest trends and practices.
What are the potential drawbacks of external recruitment?
Some problems with external recruitment are that it can be expensive, take time for new employees to adjust, and require extra training. It might also make current employees feel unhappy if they think they missed out on a chance for promotion.
How can companies reduce the costs of external recruitment?
Companies can save money on external recruitment by using tools to help screen resumes, doing detailed candidate checks before interviews, and making training faster and more efficient.
They can also use employee referrals and attend networking events to find candidates.
How long does the external recruitment process typically take?
The time it takes for external recruitment can vary. Usually, it takes several weeks to a few months from when the job is posted to when the new employee starts.
This includes time for finding candidates, interviewing them, and getting them ready for the job.
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