Actual Comments of Why Employees Leave
“The department that I was in did not acknowledge the skill sets of the employees there. They would go out and hire a senior analyst instead of promoting from within. There are employees who have advanced degrees and who have been in management that never get promoted. It would increase the morale of the employees if the company would start to promote from within.”

The Solution
When organizations have an open position, why do they hire outside the company rather than promote from within? Sometimes, organizations hire from the outside because they think it is easier or think they need a new perspective. That may be true at times. More often, internal systems don’t work and/or organizations have little knowledge of what skills exist internally. Because of this, it is often thought that whatever the position calls for can only be found by going outside the company.

Do you have a clearly defined internal job bidding policy? Communicating the internal job bidding process will help increase the internal candidate pool and encourage promotions from within the organization. It will also minimize the potential for misunderstandings. What will be considered in the selections process: qualifications, performance reviews, competencies, etc., How long will jobs be posted? Will the company recruit internally and externally simultaneously? How long do employees have to be in their current positions before being eligible to apply for another job? All of these questions should be answered as part of an internal career advancement program.

Equally important to the internal job bidding process is having an updated internal talent inventory. A compilation of the skills, education, and experiences of current employees will help guide workforce planning. Knowing what the position requirements are along with the internal capabilities that exist, will help increase the speed with which positions are filled, reduce the cost of recruiting, decrease employee onboarding and training time, and increase productivity along with company morale.

Long term, promoting from within provides many advantages for employers and employees:

• When employees see there are opportunities for career advancement, they are more likely to stay.
• Filling positions internally fosters a deep sense of loyalty and stability among employees.
• Internal opportunities incent employees to improve their existing skillset and acquire new skills.
• Newly promoted staff can assist with training their replacements.
• Being known as an employer who offers opportunities for career advancement is attractive to prospective external candidates.
• Existing employees already fit in with the company culture.

Recently different studies have shown that as few as 34% up to an amazing 84% of employees said they plan to search for a new job in 2012. It is becoming increasingly important to be known as an employer of choice? What are you doing to motivate your employees to stay?

(This blog post brought to you by HSD Metrics, an exit interview company that helps companies reduce employee turnover by providing automated reference checking, exit interviews, and by measuring employee retention. The comments from exiting employees that are featured in this blog are collected from actual exit interviews conducted using ExitRight, HSD’s exit interviewing service. Because we place the privacy of our clients at the top of our priority list; the names of all involved parties are kept completely confidential. Check our blog often for posts like this, to reduce employee turnover within your organization. If you are interested in learning more, contact us today.)