You have a vacancy. One of your employees already knows the business, understands the culture, and may be ready for the next step. But a stronger candidate could be waiting outside your organisation.
So, should you promote from within or recruit externally?
The answer isn’t always obvious. Internal hiring can be faster and help improve employee retention, but external recruitment can bring in new skills, perspectives, and experience your team lacks. The right choice depends on what your business needs from the role, and what it can afford to compromise on.
Key Differences at a Glance
| Factor | Internal Hiring | External Recruitment |
| Talent pool | Existing employees | Wider external market |
| Hiring speed | Usually faster | Takes longer |
| Recruitment cost | Generally lower | Generally higher |
| Company knowledge | Already established | Must be developed |
| Skills available | Limited to existing capabilities | Access to a wide range of skills |
| Backfill requirements | May create another vacancy | Fills the existing vacancy directly |
Neither approach is automatically better. The best option depends on what the business needs from the hire.
What Is Internal Hiring?
Internal hiring involves filling a vacant position with someone who already works for the organisation. It can happen through:
- A promotion that moves an employee into a higher-level position
- A transfer or lateral move, where they take on a different role at a similar level.
- An internal application that gives employees a chance to apply for an advertised vacancy within the organisation.
For example, imagine Safaricom needs a new Head of Customer Experience. Instead of advertising the position externally, they pick their senior customer experience manager because they already understand its customer operations.
Pros and Cons of Internal Hiring
| Pros | Cons |
| Faster hiring and transition Lower recruitment costs Less time spent learning the business Lower uncertainty about candidate performance Supports career progression | Smaller talent pool May create another vacancy May leave skill gaps Can create internal competition May limit access to new expertise |
What Is External Recruitment?
External recruitment means hiring someone who does not currently work for the business. You can find them through:
- Job boards and career portals like LinkedIn, BrighterMonday, and Fuzu.
- Recruitment services like Bridge Talent Management that can identify and screen candidates for you.
- Headhunting, where you approach experienced professionals directly and offer them the opportunity.
- Employee referrals to save time and money on job boards, ads, and outside recruiters.
For example, suppose Equity Bank needs a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to lead its cybersecurity function.
If its existing employees lack the senior cybersecurity leadership experience and banking-sector expertise required for the role, the bank could advertise the position on LinkedIn, social media, and newspapers. It could also use headhunting, but the approach depends on the role, the type of candidate it needs, and how quickly it needs to fill the position, as covered in our headhunting vs traditional recruitment guide.
Pros and Cons of External Recruitment
| Pros | Cons |
| Larger talent pool Access to specialist skills Brings new perspectives and experience Supports business growth Can add experience from other industries | Usually higher recruitment costs Longer hiring processes Longer onboarding and adjustment period Uncertainty about candidate fit and performance May disappoint internal candidates |
Which Approach Is Right for Your Business? How to Choose
The right approach depends on the role, the skills available within your business, and what you need the new hire to achieve. To decide which option is best for your vacancy, ask yourself the following questions:
Do You Have the Required Skills Internally?
Start by looking at the capabilities already available within the business.
If an employee has most of the skills required and only needs a little training to get started, internal hiring may make sense. It’ll let you build on existing capabilities instead of starting from scratch, boosting employee engagement and retention.
However, development needs to be realistic. For roles that require specialist expertise your current team doesn’t have and would take years to develop, external recruitment would be more practical.
How Quickly Do You Need to Fill the Role?
Internal candidates move through the hiring process faster because they’re familiar with the organisation and the employer already knows their work history. They also need less time to adjust to the new role.
External recruitment can take longer because the business needs to source and assess unfamiliar candidates. Couple that with notice periods and the time needed to arrange interviews, complete checks, and onboard the successful candidate, and the process can take considerably longer.
That said, internal candidates may be a better option when a role needs to be filled quickly. But speed should not override capability. Filling a role quickly with someone who lacks the necessary skills can lead to poor performance, costly mistakes, and another hiring process later.
How Important Is Company-Specific Knowledge?
Roles that involve managing customer relationships or working across several departments often benefit from someone who already knows the organisation. For example, an internal candidate may have an advantage when taking over as a regional operations manager because they already understand the company’s systems, teams, suppliers, and procedures.
On the other hand, a role such as a software engineer, tax specialist, or cybersecurity expert, mostly relies on technical expertise, not prior knowledge of the organisation. In that case, an external candidate with the right skills and experience may be a better choice. Doesn’t matter even if they need time to learn how the business operates.
Would an Outside Perspective Add Value?
Hiring from within preserves knowledge of how the business operates. However, it can also mean continuing with the same ideas and processes the organisation has always used.
An external hire brings experience from another company or industry. For example, a retailer trying to improve its online sales could hire an e-commerce manager from a successful online retailer. That person brings experience with digital sales strategies that the existing team may not have.
External recruitment is therefore particularly useful when a business is entering a new market, introducing new ways of working, or trying to solve a problem that its current approach can’t.
What Happens to the Internal Candidate’s Current Role?
When you promote an employee, their previous position becomes vacant. If a sales manager is promoted to regional manager, for example, the business still needs someone to manage the sales team.
Before choosing an internal candidate, consider whether you can distribute their current responsibilities or whether you’ll need to hire someone else to replace them. If the role is difficult or expensive to fill, the promotion could cost more than recruiting an external candidate for the original vacancy.
This is particularly important when the employee’s current role is specialised or essential to daily operations. Moving them into a new position may solve one staffing need while creating another that is harder to fill.
What Is the Business Trying to Achieve?
The right choice also depends on what the business needs to accomplish. If you want to develop your existing employees and prepare people for future leadership roles, promoting from within can support that goal. But if you’re entering a new market or launching a new product, external recruitment can bring in skills and experience that the current team lacks.
For instance, a company expanding into Tanzania might promote its Head of Sales to Country Sales Director because they already understand the company’s products and sales processes. But if the business needs someone with experience in the Tanzanian market, recruiting externally could be the better option.
Can You Use Both Internal and External Recruitment?
Yes. You don’t have to choose one approach for every vacancy. There are several ways to combine internal and external recruitment:
- Advertise internally and externally at the same time: This allows existing employees to apply while also opening the role to a wider pool of candidates.
- Start internally, then recruit externally: Give existing employees the first opportunity to apply. If no suitable candidate emerges, take the search to the external market.
- Compare internal and external candidates together: For important roles, assess all candidates against the same skills, experience, and performance requirements rather than favouring one group automatically.
Using both approaches can also support longer-term workforce planning. Internal hiring helps develop existing employees, while external recruitment brings in skills and experience that your organisation does not yet have.
Making the Right Hiring Decision
There is no universal answer to whether internal hiring or external recruitment is better. The best choice depends on the role, the skills available within your business, how quickly you need someone, and what you want the new hire to achieve.
If the right person is already on your team, promoting or transferring them can save time while supporting career progression. If you need specialist expertise or experience that your current employees don’t have, looking outside the organisation may give you a stronger pool of candidates.
The key is to assess each vacancy on its own requirements rather than automatically favouring one approach.
Need help finding the right talent for a critical role? Bridge Water Talent Group helps businesses across Kenya and East Africa identify, attract, and develop the people they need to grow. Talk to our team about your hiring needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between internal and external recruitment?
Internal recruitment fills a vacancy using an existing employee, while external recruitment looks for candidates outside the organisation.
Is internal hiring cheaper than external recruitment?
Generally, yes. Internal hiring can reduce advertising, agency, sourcing, and other recruitment costs, although training or development may still be required.
Is internal hiring faster than external recruitment?
Usually. Internal candidates already know the business and have an established performance record, which can shorten the hiring and transition process.
What are the disadvantages of hiring internally?
The main drawbacks of internal hires are a smaller talent pool, potential skills gaps, internal competition, and the need to fill the vacancy created when an employee moves into a new role.
Should businesses use both internal and external recruitment?
Yes. Using both approaches gives employees opportunities to progress while allowing the business to access external skills and experience when internal talent is not sufficient.
