To be a truly exceptional employer, it isn’t enough to be great at finding new recruits. You must also establish a strategy for building talent within your company. But why should this be the case? Why isn’t it enough to have a plan just for hiring external candidates?

In this article, we explain why finding talent within your company is so important and how you can sharpen your hiring practices to ensure company loyalty and improve morale.

Take stock of company needs

Take a look at what you, as an employer, want and need in order to move your business forward. Then think about what your employees want for their career (if you’re unsure, don’t guess! Speak to your line managers and make sure they spend time with each candidate to find out what they want).

Once you have the results, compare the company’s ambitions with its employees. How well matched are these desires? Are they on the same page, or are there vast differences between them? If there are vast differences, how can you fill the gap to give your team more fulfilling work? If you are on the same page, how can you leverage that to even greater success for your company?

Understand that your internal candidates want to grow

It is a human desire to be appreciated, and the best way to do this with your internal team is to understand their needs. No person with professional ambitions want to feel like they’re just treading water.

In our experience, we have found that a strong, happy workplace offers its teams incentives to innovate and to make changes, opening up the conversation across the company. It’s a mistake to think that everyone wants to stay in their own lane—the creatives to create and the analysts to analyse. In reality, no one is (or wants to be) a one-trick pony.

Speak to your employees

Ask them what they’re good at and what they can see themselves doing five or even ten years from now. If you don’t have a strong relationship with them, we recommend tasking a line manager, as speaking to a CEO or founder can be daunting and make people clam up.

You will surely find some surprising, perhaps untapped, talents within your organisation, and they will be glad you have sought them out. 

Don’t discount passion

If you identify an internal candidate who really wants to transition into a new role or has great ideas but doesn’t yet have the knowledge to put them into practice, consider finding ways to help them achieve their aims.

Ensure you don’t lose these people—the market is very good at present, and employees are shopping around for better options! Passion is one of the biggest factors that make employees stay, so ensure you help them foster and deepen their professional interests.

Seek advice from pro recruiters 

Recruitment companies aren’t just for securing external candidates! If you need an unbiased partner to leverage internal talent and take advantage of their unique strengths, consider bringing in a professional group.

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Don’t neglect the power of finding and fostering talent within your teams. Considering your internal options will encourage a much stronger, lasting bond with your staff.

Aldrich & Co works with clients to tap their in-house talent—with great results. If you’re looking to foster talent within your team but are unsure how to go about it, call us. We can help you to develop a clear internal recruitment strategy that will take your company from strength to strength.