The importance of internal development
05:44 Hanna Tantoco 0 Comments Category : blogger sg , HR promotion , HR retention , Internal development , internal promotion , SG blogger
Hello guys, it’s been awhile. I know I only talk about
fashion, beauty and travel in this space. But I'm feeling rather motivated to share some thoughts on the corporate world since I have a full-time job. To soften the topic, let me include some photos from Northern Territory, Australia.
Not shying about my age, I’ve been working for almost a
decade. I've worked in the financial services space both here and abroad, and specifically within marketing. Not a career I would have chosen if you ask me, but that's for a different blog post. In all the companies I've worked for, one thing is common in every and any strategy meeting - the need to become more customer-centric. And in the quest to customer centricity, I've seen people development, specifically internal development become management's bottom priority. But, let me outline why it shouldn't be.
Less change, more time to innovate
As they say, change is an important facet of life. The
better you are at adapting to change, the more robust you’ll be. I would agree
to some extent that is good, that’s why people take holiday breaks and travel
overseas. For the much needed breather and reset. But it’s different
when you hire external candidates, you stop the process of producing and you
pause to train a new person. The external hire would need to spend a lot of time adjusting to a new learning curve,
and with that time – nothing is produced. If you hire internally, you don’t need to start from the
beginning (i.e. introducing the company handbook or pointing where the
toilets are) but rather you can deep dive directly on what’s important – new
ideas!
Internal candidates know what the root cause of the problem is
Internal candidates know what the root cause of the problem is
Apart from saving time on understanding administrative
stuff. Internal candidates have been in the rough and know what
the problem. Easily, they can offer up at least three solutions to fix the problem The reason why managers tend to look elsewhere for talent is they
feel existing employees don’t think outside the box - "it’s not creative " or "it’s too
conventional". Truth be told, internal candidates often take the “easiest path”
as they have their BAU (grunt) work that needs to be done. Give the internal
candidate the chance to work on real projects that requires strategising and thinking at least once a week, and I'm telling you they'll shine.
More cost-effective in the long run
In search of your hard-to-find unicorns, you either need to exhaust the energy of an internal recruiter or hire a head-hunter to find you that person. At that point, the company has already bled money. And again, during that time period, nothing is being produced. Why not spend it on external training and workshops for your internal candidate? A little can actually go a long away.
More cost-effective in the long run
In search of your hard-to-find unicorns, you either need to exhaust the energy of an internal recruiter or hire a head-hunter to find you that person. At that point, the company has already bled money. And again, during that time period, nothing is being produced. Why not spend it on external training and workshops for your internal candidate? A little can actually go a long away.
Most employees believe me or not don’t want to be job
hoppers. They’ve built their network in the office, they are personal fans of
the brand and they are actually happy. Loyal employees are the best kind of brand ambassadors (and trust me, I work in Marketing :) The
term “home grown” talent is rare especially in the financial services world in
Singapore where the job market is very fluid. I look up to home grown talents
because I know they’ve swept the floors and probably slept on it too and have
rose to levels of management. They worked hard, and they’ve been through the
ugly so they end up being good people managers too. They know the ins and outs of
the company, they personally use the brand and I bet you, when you start
producing under garment in that brand they’ll probably wear that too. I
personally had managers who were home-grown, and I loved working with
them. Why? Because they understand real hard work, they can relate and
empathise, they can be very good mentors. But what I’m really more proud of
are the companies who recognize them. They hire fresh graduates with no
experience, but with booming potential. They take risks and they invest in
them. They hire young jobbers who has a vision and are very driven, they provide
them with the resources and tools to succeed. Some companies reason out that
employees carve their own path. My take is that it should be 50/50 – employees shares what they want to achieve and the company puts their skin on the game and carve a path for them too.
Love,
Hanna
E-mail me: hannatantoco@gmail.com
