Talent Climate Series: Internal Hiring Factbook
During the 2020 pandemic, some companies faceing rapid change leveraged internal hiring for their business needs. Despite the tumultuous market, these companies experienced added speed and savings by leveraging existing employees for the most pressing roles.
Research and real-world experience have shown that internal hiring strategies have massive impact by reducing everything from recruiting costs and ramp-up time to onboarding and hiring timelines. Retaining employee legacy knowledge through promotions and internal mobility is valuable and results in loyalty that translates into better performance and higher engagement.
Companies that have mastered internal hiring – putting existing employees in new positions – and internal mobility – creating new opportunities through projects and collaboration – have established a culture of mobility within the company. Managers are incentivized to view the movement of talent as an advantage to the company, leading to gains greater than otherwise achievable. Statistics show when employees are promoted, they are 70% more likely to stay long term. And 62% of employees who make lateral moves experience high retention rates with the company.
The Talent Climate Series: Internal Hiring Factbook, is the second in a series of reports and was launched in collaboration with talent solutions business AMS. Together, Josh Bersin Company experts analyzed five years of AMS hiring statistics, translating into half a million data points spanning across industry, roles, and regions worldwide. The results are notable:
- Internal hiring can reduce recruitment time by up to 20 days.
- Data revealed in our studies on employee experience, career pathways, and organization adaptability correlate directly with this data.
- It can cost 3-5x more to hire externally with all financial, time, and costs factored in.
While some alternative hiring practices are logical – customer service and sales roles particularly – most often they don’t most efficiently serve the company. When coupled with the shrinking workforce, this data makes the case for internal hiring as a truly strategic decision that leadership should champion. The factbook’s benchmark scorecards, powerful tools for organizations, enable you to compare your buy-and-build hiring outcomes with your industry peers, by region, and by key job family. You can also review your internal hiring metrics and determine where to improve.
The bottom line is clear. Looking to your internal talent pool to build your business, rather than trying to find a unicorn externally, is faster, smarter, and less costly.
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