How To Hire the Right Person Without Upsetting Your Employees

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked, “should I promote from within or hire externally?” And while I wish there was a quick way to answer this question, there simply isn’t.
 
When this conflicting decision arises, there are several factors I look at, and recommend my clients consider, to help decide and prepare accordingly. 
 
For the most part, hiring from within is seen as a very positive practice. However, if you promote the wrong person, missing the right skills and attitude, you will have upheaval as a result.
 
Likewise, introducing an external hire into the team can bring forth new ideas, fresh thinking and objective perspective. But if the rationale for going external is not understood by the team, and people feel overlooked the person can be rejected pretty quickly–particularly in a tight knit group with an aversion to change.
 
Either way, hiring the wrong fit for the role or the team may lead to:

• negative workplace chatter
• in-fighting or rising anger
• an increase in sick days
• poor productivity, or even worse,
• resignations

 
Taking time to consider the right type of people you need, who fit your environment, share the same values as the team and have the right skill set, is the key to determining whether to promote from within or hire externally.
 
To prevent bad feelings, it is very important to consider internal staff first in your selection process before going outside of the business.
 
To help you learn from other’s experience, I’ve highlighted some scenarios that underscore the pitfalls of in-house promotion vs. external hire.
 
Scenario #1 – Internal Hire
Meet Tony Saildude. Tony was a National Sales Director in an ever-changing, fast-paced company that was trying to acquire market share in a highly competitive industry. After his Sales Manager, Joyce Leadcraft left the company to stay at home with her 4 young children, Tony suddenly had an opening in their small business sales division.
 
Over several years, Joyce built the team from the ground up and was always there to ensure deals made it through in a timely manner. She continuously answered policy and process questions and effectively stickhandled internal conflict with both Marketing and Operations. 
 
Acting quickly, Tony decided to select his best salesperson, Ron Sharp, for the role. Ron was well liked by the team and senior leadership, always upbeat, a great relationship builder and had been in his role for 4 years, frequently attaining the pinnacle of CEO Sales Club annually. 
 
Ron was delighted with the promotion. He received a handsome increase, a parking spot and the coveted ‘inside office’. But shortly after he was promoted, the complaints began rolling up to Tony from the team.
 
Ron wasn’t available like Joyce had been and he didn’t take the time to solve internal issues. He usually took long lunches or breaks and frequently was seen socializing with people in Marketing. Ron was also bossy to the team, barking out deadlines and often raised his voice before closing himself in his office. And when they had internal issues with other groups, he would say things like “suck it up buttercup” leaving them frustrated and resentful.
 
Ron’s greatest strength had always been building rapport with customers, but in his new role, he was stuck in the office all day, forced to stick-handle a myriad of questions and expected to answer to Tony–it was not a good fit for Ron.
 
What Tony really needed was someone who could run interference internally, communicate clear direction, hold others accountable and also be readily available to resolve issues. These were skills and strengths Ron just did not have.
 
The Learning: Questions When Promoting Internally 

1. Assess the current state of the team. What leadership will be required going forward based on the needs of the team?
2. If there was someone in the role previously, review what his or her strengths and weaknesses were. What do you need and want in the next person?
3. Understand the core skills and success profile of the ‘role’ and measure your internal candidates against those skills. Are there any good matches?
4. When promoting an individual contributor to management, ensure you develop the core skills before you promote them. For instance, give them some initiatives to lead so you can help them develop and understand the nuances of leadership. What skills are needed to develop? When will they be ready?
5. Make sure you understand the style of any potential internal candidate to validate how they will fit at the next level. Anticipate how the team will work with them. What style clashes may occur, with whom? How can you avoid this?
6. Head off possible conflicts by setting the stage with the team about your hiring decision and garner their feedback. What issues do your team point out and how might you help fix?

 
Scenario #2 – External Hire
Meet Mary Newhere. Mary was the new Senior Vice President, Human Resources for a financial services company. The department was built on a foundation of promotions from within the company, so much so that many of the existing HR department did not have HR experience, which was why they hired Mary.
 
Seeing that the business was about to go through quite a bit of change, Mary wanted to hire a successor who could navigate the impending transformation, so she decided to hire externally. She hired Laura Right.
 
Laura had a 25+year HR career from different industries and was highly recommended through Mary’s network. Soon after she joined, Laura realized how tight the current team was and while they really liked her, she found that they rejected any new ideas or suggestions, even though Mary was always supportive.
 
Two months after Laura was hired, Mary was moved to another position and Laura’s new boss became Lester Oldschool–a financial services ‘lifer’ who navigated several departments over his 30 years and was a sceptic about new ideas that may impact the culture.
 
Laura’s peers adored Lester, complaining to him that Laura was hired too quickly and that none of them were even considered for the role. They weren’t happy that she wanted to make change to ‘tried and true’ practices.
 
It wasn’t long before Laura became discouraged and frustrated. She had no other sponsor or support once Mary left. Although her business clients thought she was refreshing, she was unable to affect change in HR and constantly faced a battle.
 
Laura left before her 2-year anniversary after being snapped up by another company.
 
The Learning: Questions When Hiring Externally 

1. Assess the current state of the team. What ‘fit’ will be needed moving forward? Who may be sceptical of newcomers and how might you help shift their perspective?
2. Understand the baseline or core skills and success profile of the role and measure your internal candidates to those skills before looking externally. What are the right skills, for this role, at this time?
3. Assess the history and culture of the group before making external hiring decisions to anticipate potential pitfalls or issues. List what challenges you may encounter? How will you ease them?
4. Have one or two team members, or peers to be a part of the interview process. Who from the team will be objective to interview candidates and provide useful insights about their fit to the team and company?
5. Build a platform for change before bringing someone new in. Encourage current team members to brainstorm new ideas to old problems, explain your hiring process to the team as well as what you’re looking for and why. How will you create ‘buy-in’ from your team?
6. Build senior level support internally for newcomers so its not just you. Find ‘sponsors’ who will help them navigate issues and understand the long-standing team culture. Who will be a strong ‘go to’ sponsor who the team will respect and demonstrate to others how to embrace change?
7. Give detailed candid feedback to any internal candidates who are considered but not selected. Provide them with specific examples about the gaps they have to the role and guidance for how to develop for future consideration. What were their gaps? What development will be required for them to be considered in the future?
8. Create a sharing culture. Select internal peers to ‘buddy up’ and learn from the newcomers’ external experience. This will develop a bond with the newcomer as well as develop as coworkers. Who should be a peer buddy highly respected by others, who will be interested in learning new perspectives?

 
Trying to decide between promoting internally versus hiring externally can be a challenge. To avoid creating an unhappy environment, remember to consider your internal staff first, measuring them appropriately against the requirements of the role, before going outside of the business.
 
Hiring the right person and ensuring that they’re successful in their role requires careful consideration and planning. If you need assistance or guidance in this area, contact us to help you assess your environment and needs.
 
Dots Leadership Solutions also offer pre-screening or second interview support, custom recruitment frameworks and custom tool kits to assist leaders in making the right hiring decision.