What to Consider When Mulling Over an Internal Hire

Companies aren’t promoting internally as often as they would have in decades past. 

A report from HR trade organizations Josh Bersin Company and AMS says from 2020 to 2023, “internal recruitment in companies has dropped from 40% to 24%.” 

If you have an employee that you trust enough to provide more responsibility, you’re in a wonderful position as a leader. At the same time, you want to be acutely aware of what moving that star employee up might mean as the rest of the staff adjusts to some new operations. 

It’s pretty well understood that internal hires tend to outperform their external peers, both in the hospitality industry and outside of it. You will want to have your finger on the pulse of the workplace, and you’ll need a bit of help from other employees to do so.

If the job is up at all, that may be the answer

In many cases, if a team decides to hold a search for a position that they could simply promote internally, the writing is on the wall, so to speak. If there is a surefire candidate internally, companies will often go that route because doing so tends to be cheaper and quicker. Once a manager or the folks within human resources decide on a national search, they have somehow decided on the veracity of their internal candidates.

How much will the team be affected?

Some people on the team felt they should have been promoted. A disgruntled employee can wreak havoc on team morale, whether they mean to do so or not, and they can make up myriad reasons for why they did not get the promotion they wanted.

You want to avoid this, or at least watch for it so that you can stamp out these situations if and when they arrive.

As many folks as there might be who are happy about the move, others may seek to cause division among their fellow employees by praising the decision or the people involved in making that decision. 

Think about the ripple effect

If you decide to move someone up, you may need to fill that person’s spot with another employee. Consider what resources you may need to move around if and when a change occurs.

One internal hire could very well mean that others also get promoted. That isn’t an issue for a healthy company, but you’ll want to plan for various scenarios. One unfortunate hypothetical is that employees leave if and when they feel like they have been slighted, which could cause a headache for you and/or the hiring folks down the line.