The HR managers can rely on two methods of recruitment, either promoting the employees to a managerial position or external hiring. Goldstein et al. (2017) argue that contemporary organizations recognize the importance of talent, which is why choosing appropriate recruitment methods is important. Unifirst Insurance Group needs to hire three new employees for managerial positions urgently, which is a challenge for HR. This paper will review the internal and external recruiting methods and some of the characteristics that one must consider when deciding how to hire new managers for the three positions.
Among some of the internal recruitment methods, there is a referral from existing employees and previous applicants. The former method implies offering a bonus to an employee who can recommend a suitable candidate for a position. The benefit of this method is evident since the existing employees understand the culture and work environment of a business and know their referrals’ personal and professional qualities. The latter method is also suitable since it is common for HRs to have several candidates who qualify for a position. Naturally, only one is selected, and it is suitable for Unifirst Insurance Group’s HR to contact the previous applicants in this case since the positions must be filled quickly and previous candidates have the qualifications that the company needs.
The external factors that impact recruitment are varied, and the most important one is the labor market characteristics. The supply and demand affect the number of candidates and their requirements for a company, and if the labor market is tight, it may be difficult to find a suitable candidate since they would have many offers to consider. On the other hand, an internal factor impacting employee recruitment is the company’s policy and hiring strategy. For example, the business may have a policy that encourages internal recruitment since it boosts employee morale, which means that this strategy is a priority.
The image of the business plays an important role in the recruitment process and is one of the external factors impacting the process. However, it does not affect internal recruitment since this method implies hiring the current employees for a new position or promoting them. Hence, these individuals are already familiar with the company and its culture. However, for external recruiting, the company’s image is important because it will affect the talent’s decision to apply for a position since the image is a reflection of the business values and approaches to work.
Other examples of external factors that impact recruitment are supply and demand, unemployment rates, and labor market characteristics. All of these factors affect the amount of available talent and their expectations from an employer. With low unemployment rates or a labor market that has a small number of qualified managers, the Unifirst Insurance Group will have difficulty finding suitable managers for these positions.
Internal recruiting’s main disadvantage is the limited talent pool, since if this is the only strategy an HR uses, they have to choose from a list of present, former, or referred candidates (Chand, n.d.). This disadvantage, however, depends on the size of a company, and Unifirst Insurance Group is a large organization that should not experience difficulties with the number of candidates for internal recruitment. One aspect of internal recruiting that the company must consider is that it limits the competition since the employees understand that they do not compete against a pool of talent from external sources, which may affect their work and willingness to perform.
Legal and political factors are elements of external recruiting, and they may set restrictions on the company’s recruitment process. For example, anti-discrimination laws may set boundaries for the type of candidates that the company must consider, while immigration laws may restrict the businesses’ ability to hire migrants (Wroblewski, 2019). Alternatively, companies may be forced to cooperate with unions and consider internal recruitment as the primary hiring strategy. This is a disadvantage of external recruiting since it restricts HR’s options.
Since this company needs to find new managers quickly, the external method it must consider is contacting professional organizations. For example, by contacting the organization that unifies insurance industry employees or banking managers, HR may receive referrals more quickly. Notably, the type of company that may consider involving everyone in the recruitment process is a hierarchically structured organization with an outlined hiring strategy. However, involving everyone in recruitment is important to ensure that the company’s HR reviews all suitable candidates and selects the best ones.
Overall, this paper summarizes information on the internal and external factors of recruiting. Both methods are valid; however, in this case, the company needs to recruit managers quickly, which is why internal methods are more suitable. These, however, have a disadvantage of the limited number of candidates and diminished competition. However, there are many factors to consider with external recruiting as well, such as the legal and political restrictions.
References
Chand, S. (n.d.). Sources of recruitment: External and internal sources of recruitment. YourArticleLibrary. Web.
Goldstein, H. W., Pulakos, E. D., Semedo, C., & Passmore, J. (2017). The Wiley Blackwell handbook of the psychology of recruitment, selection and employee retention. Wiley Blackwell.
Wroblewski, M. T. (2019). Internal & external factors influencing recruitment. Small Business. Web.