Internal or External supply of staff

Question 1

How may organisations advertise things internally?

Answer 1

• Staff noticeboards
• Organisation’s intranet
• Internal email to all or selected staff
• Company newsletter

Question 2

How may organisations advertise things externally?

Answer 2

• Job centre
• Newspaper adverts
• Websites such as Monster or S1 Jobs
• Recruitment agencies - specialist organisations that are experts in recruiting and selecting the best staff for other organisations. This is an example for outsourcing.

Question 3

What are advantages of Internal Supply of Staff?

Answer 3

• The vacancy can be filled
• The employees know the organisation which saves induction training costs and time.
• The employee is known to the organisation and can be trusted to do a good job.
• The organisation saves money on external advertisement costs.
• Employee will be more motivated as they know there is a chance of promotion.

Question 4

What are disadvantages of Internal Supply of Staff?

Answer 4

• Applicants are drawn from a very limited pool so the organisation may not hire the best person for the job.
• Promoting one employee will consequentially create a vacancy in their old post.
• The organisation misses out on a chance to bring in fresh, new ideas and new skills to the organisation.
• Employees can resent a fellow colleague being promoted over them. This can cause conflict and relations to become strained.

Question 5

What are the advantages of external supply of staff?

Answer 5

• Fresh, new ideas and skills are brought into the organisation.
• There is a wider pool of candidates to choose from.
• It avoids creating further vacancy in the organisation.
• It avoids jealousy and resistance that is often created by one employee being promoted over others.

Question 6

What are disadvantages of external supply of staff?

Answer 6

• Candidates do not know the organisation so induction training will have to be carried out, taking up production time and costing money.
• Such a potentially vast pool of candidates can mean it takes longer to choose suitable applicants for interview.
• The organisation does not know the successful candidates, which carries a risk that they may not be suited for the job, or worst are untrustworthy.
• Existing staff may be demotivated as they perceive that there is no chance of internal promotion.