What do you need to know about job posting (promoting or transferring from within)?
Job posting internally narrows the field to those who are really interested in changing positions and can provide a good group of applicants without having to go through the bother of recruiting on the outside. In addition, job posting is a good practice for equal employment opportunity considerations, since the absence of a job posting system may well result in adverse impact on a protected class, for example, age.
Job posting is used in both union and nonunionized businesses and can be used regardless of whether promotions are based on seniority, merit or a combination of both.
Checklist for using a job posting system
If you use the job posting system, you need to do the following:
Announce which positions will be posted. Frequently, upper management positions are not posted.
Indicate how long a position will be posted, i.e., a week or 10 days.
Indicate how long an applicant has to apply for a posted job. (Can an applicant apply after the posting has been removed?)
Inform where applications can be obtained.
Note if the current supervisor must be informed of an employee's intention to apply for an opening.
Indicate if there are any length-of-service requirements before an employee is considered qualified to apply for a job vacancy.
Note whether an application will be considered for more than one job vacancy.
Inform that the Human Resources Department will review the application to determine if minimum qualifications are met.
Indicate if there are any automatic disqualifications, i.e., that an employee on probation or one who had received two reprimands or warnings within a specified period of time would not be considered.
State that all candidates who meet the job requirements will be interviewed.
List the names of the person(s) who will conduct the interviews.
State that interviews will be scheduled at the convenience of management but that if there is a discriminatory effect (conflict with religious beliefs is one) the interview may be rescheduled upon employee request.
State the selection criteria.
Consideration will be given to employees on the basis of performance, skill, ability to meet the requirements of the new position, and length of service with the Company.
Note if full-time employees are to be given preference over existing part-time employees.
Emphasize that seniority is not controlling, if that is the case.
Inform that external candidates may also be interviewed but that first preference will be given to existing employees.
Explain that the supervisor of the vacant position will indicate in writing why the applicant was selected.
Note that the supervisor will indicate in writing why the other applicants were rejected.
Indicate that the Human Resources Department will notify those employees who were not selected.
Note that the Human Resources Department will notify the candidate selected and negotiate the time of transfer with the supervisors of the old and new positions.
State that all positions must be approved by the Human Resources Director or a designee.
State that exceptions to the above procedures would be considered only if it is in the best interests of the Company.
Recruiting via promotion and transfer
Promotions. If a company is committed to an internal promotion policy, then recruiting for all but entry-level jobs begins with a search among current employees. To effectively utilize the current work force, develop a systematic approach to promotions, an inventory of promotable employees, and in-house training programs to assure the advancement of qualified workers.
Transfers. Unlike promotion, transfers usually do not involve much change in an employee's degree of responsibility or rate of pay. Instead, a transfer involves shifting duties or being assigned to a different but similar job. Transfers can solve personnel problems, including over- and under-staffing departments, providing a new challenge to an employee, and separating individuals when minor or personality conflicts have arisen. Transfers as a recruitment source present many of the same advantages and disadvantages raised by promotion policies.
CHECKLIST: “Promotions from within” self-audit
Is promotion from within
always a good policy? Here is a self-audit that employers can follow to evaluate whether or not such a policy would be effective to meet their goals and objectives.
What is the effect on employee morale? Most employers believe that assuring employees of their advancement opportunities encourages and rewards workers loyalty. On the other hand, routine promotion from within, particularly where seniority plays a significant role, can actually encourage mediocrity if employees know they'll get ahead anyway.
What is the nature of the job? Among highly specialized employees, promotion from within saves time and money required to train a newcomer. However, if new jobs are created and new equipment introduced, hiring an experienced outsider may be more economical.
What is the need for new ideas? Companies involved in fast-paced, rapidly changing industries may need to hire from the outside more regularly in order to keep up with change. Companies that encourage and help employees to update their education alleviate this problem to some degree and reduce the need for outsiders, but bringing in too few newcomers can lead to stagnation.
What is the company's planned growth rate? Unless an employer plans on going out of business, it will eventually have to hire from the outside, for normal attrition (retirement, resignation, etc.) would otherwise leave it without employees. The higher the growth rate a company is planning on, the less commitment it can have to a strict promotion-from-within policy.
What is the effect on the union contract? If the company is unionized, the bargaining agreement will most likely establish seniority rights that must be taken into account in promoting employees. In general, union contracts favor promotion from within.
What are the company's fair employment commitments? Employers with non-diverse work forces will have to do outside recruiting to fulfill equal employment obligations and responsibilities.
What are the costs? Recruiting, interviewing, testing, hiring and training new workers is expensive. Promoting current employees is much less costly in most cases. It has the added advantage that the company already knows the employee's strengths and shortcomings.
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What do you need to know about job posting (promoting or transferring from within)?
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