When hiring, is it better to think outside the box?

By Amanda Kramer

Q. When hiring for a new position, is it best for human resources managers to hire from outside candidates or from within?

A. Both strategies offer their own pros and cons, said Donna Beestman, owner and consultant of Career Success Strategies of Madison.

Promoting from within can be beneficial because the internal candidate is already familiar with the services, products and company. The candidate is also aware of the culture and may even get that much-needed self-esteem boost if bosses are noticing their hard work.

"If a company offers career development opportunities, then that's a great motivator for employees," Beestman said. "And ... if you promote from within you'll lose less transition time than you would with a person who's brand new…(the internal candidate) is also more likely to be loyal and stay."

Jacqui Sakowski, owner of Sakowski Consulting, in Middleton, works frequently with individuals in sales and authored a book on the field. She said often, when you're looking at internal applicants for a promotion - and particularly if the field is sales - you'll want to ask yourself a number of questions:

• Has the applicant demonstrated leadership ability in the past?

• How is the applicant viewed by the rest of the (sales) team? Is he too close to be objective? Is she too distant and self-interested to be trusted?

• How regulatory is the person?

• Will the candidate be able to gain compliance from the group he's working with?

On the other hand, Beestman said, hiring from the outside can bring in fresh perspectives and new ideas.

"(The new person) could offer a depth and breadth of experience that the internal employees may not have," Beestman said. "If in the hiring process you're looking for a particular talent, then that person may bring stature or expertise in their field."

"They also can bring in new and broader contacts," she continued. "Those broader people can be sources of information and sources of ideas … that could raise the stature of the company and could even bring new talent along."

Sakowski agreed that an external applicant might bring that fresh perspective "which is unencumbered by years of breathing the company's air."

"They will bring an independence of thought to the position, which is not hampered by loyalty to past internal relationships," Sakowski said. "They have no investment in past strategies, systems and results."

So, how do you decide? There's probably no right way, or wrong way…so go back to the basics.

"The truth is every applicant will bring some weaknesses," Sakowski said. "Before deciding which route to take, decide what weaknesses you can most easily address… and how… and recruit the applicants with the strengths you need the most."

kramer.news@gmail.com

When hiring, is it better to think outside the box?

By Amanda Kramer

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