READ TIME – 6 MINUTES
When it comes to recruitment, there are often debates as to what is better:
Sourcing candidates through an internal recruitment process
OR
Using an external agency to do the recruitment for you.
Our stance on recruitment shouldn’t be surprising to anybody – AvA-V encourages the use of recruitment agencies as we believe there are too many disadvantages of internal recruitment.
We’re not just saying this to toot our own horn: we genuinely champion the use of external recruiters for the benefit of all businesses.
We believe that recruitment is one of the most crucial cogs in the business machine. The disadvantages of internal recruitment can, unfortunately, hamper the progress that the machine makes, which we don’t want for anybody!
Here at AvA-V, we understand that internal recruitment disadvantages can difficult to spot. Varying recruitment methods yield different results for everybody.
To help you make the correct decision for your business, we have compiled a list of disadvantages of internal recruitment so that, if you’re struggling with your current recruitment process, you may begin to understand why.
Internal Recruitment Disadvantages
1. Smaller Talent Pool
If you choose to recruit internally, you may be limiting your potential pool of candidates before you open any applications and you may not even realise it…
Strong recruitment campaigns require not only lots of experience but lots of platforms, tools and technology too. A disadvantage of internal recruitment may be a lack of these resources.
There are several platforms that dedicated recruitment companies use to optimise their candidate screening process. These tools can cost anywhere from a couple of hundred to thousands of pounds each month – a cost that may not be justifiable when you have a business to run.
If you’re experiencing internal recruitment disadvantages of limited access to dedicated recruitment tools/platforms, you will not only find less talent, but the process will also take much longer.
Recruitment companies invest heavily in specialist software that is designed to help you find better candidates faster – a definite internal recruitment disadvantage!
Whilst your inside talent team may be very skilled and have a natural eye for talent, their skills may be restricted by the tools at their disposal. If you were to work with a recruitment agency such as ourselves, we could help your recruitment decision by boosting their candidate pool with the tools at our disposal.
Disadvantages Of Internal Recruitment
2. Limited Hours in the Day
Recruitment takes time… and time is precious to any business.
Depending on the size of your business and how many employees you already have, you may not have time to filter hundreds of applicants down to the best few.
These are definite disadvantages of internal recruitment – you do have a business to run after all. Can you afford to put all of that time aside to find candidates when you could be developing your business further?
Even if you can afford to put some time aside to filter through applicants, you may not find one that has the right experience, the relevant qualifications or a personality that would fit in with the rest of your team. All of that time you set aside would’ve been lost!
If you outsource your recruitment process to a recruitment agency, you can avoid internal recruitment disadvantages and spend more time focusing on growing your business. The experts will spend their time finding you your perfect candidate based on a brief provided by you.
Internal Recruitment Disadvantages
3. Company Bias
Whilst this shouldn’t be the case, it is impossible to deny that unconscious bias exists in the workplace. Subconscious bias is almost impossible to remove, but it shouldn’t be so prevalent in the workplace.
Businesses that recruit internally may not have the luxury of blindly reacting to applicants. Even the way CVs are formatted can subconsciously affect your judgment of a candidate.
According to research led by the Nuffield College’s Centre for Social Investigation (CSI), British citizens from ethnic backgrounds sent 60% more CVs on average to get positive feedback from employers. This exceeded the volume of applications sent by their white counterparts who had the same experience and skill set.
Bias can also occur if there is a mixture of internal and external candidates applying for a role. Whilst most managers will act professionally in this circumstance, there is always a chance that the internal candidate will be favoured even if they are less qualified than the external candidate.
Alternatively, the scales could tip in the other direction. Think of it like this:
Candidate A is an internal candidate with lots of experience. Candidate B is an outside candidate who works for a competitor.
Bad business people and bad recruiters may hire Candidate B solely because it weakens their competition, without thinking of the consequences for their own business.
Bias is one of the biggest disadvantages of internal recruitment.
To avoid all bias and eliminate internal recruitment disadvantages when finding the perfect candidate, you should let a recruitment company (such as ourselves) conduct the process for you. We streamline the process to remove bias so all qualified candidates have an equal chance at success.
Disadvantages Of Internal Recruitment
4. Outgrowing Your Recruitment Process
If you have big growth plans, there may be internal recruitment disadvantages. Your old recruitment strategy may need tweaking to accommodate the types of candidates you want to attract.
For example, you may previously have posted a generic job advert to bring any candidate with relevant experience on board. Now, your business may be at a point where you need candidates with specific qualities or experience. As such, you need to adapt the way you advertise.
The most important thing for us as a recruitment agency is thinking ahead and being prepared. Recruitment is a volatile and unpredictable landscape. Like most things in life, it follows trends and fluctuated depending on the time of year. For example, we see a mass volume of applicants in the new year.
Keeping up with these trends is essential to avoiding internal recruitment disadvantages. If you’re unsure what you need to keep your eye on, there are many great articles out there that provide useful tips and tricks, such as this one from Recruitee.
These volatile trends can create uncertainty regarding the best recruitment approach to take. Should you put job adverts out on social media? It may be worth it with over 3.6 BILLION monthly users! How quickly should you reply to candidates and what level of communication do they want? 84% of applicants expect an early response.
Outsourcing your recruitment process to a recruitment agency can help you stay in the loop, avoid any internal recruitment disadvantages and put your business at the front of the pack.
The disadvantages of internal recruitment can rear their head if your recruitment process isn’t up to date. Make sure you stay ahead of the curve.
So... What Should I Do?
So there can be many disadvantages of internal recruitment and finding the perfect candidate can be difficult if you do not have enough time or the correct resources.
What should you do instead?
We’ve hinted at it throughout this blog, but the best solution to finding your dream candidate is to… use a recruitment agency!
Who would’ve thought it?! 😲
Not only are recruitment agencies unbiased and efficient, but they also have the required expertise to find candidates in your sector.
Whilst a lot of hard work undoubtedly gets put into a lot of many internal recruitment campaigns, they can be a very difficult nut to crack.
To take some pressure off your shoulders, why don’t you consider partnering with a recruitment agency and share the responsibility of recruitment?
At AvA-V, we have a team of recruiters who are specialists in different industries. The talents of our team cover everything from healthcare to recruitment to sales.
Our services aren’t limited by location either. We have previously recruited candidates for businesses across the UK. We also work internationally with clients across the globe!
Ditch the disadvantages of internal recruitment and let the experts help you handle the process!