Internal hiring process policy

The Internal Hiring Process Policy outlines the company’s approach to hiring from within its existing workforce. It emphasizes career growth, internal mobility, and transparent procedures. The policy details the process for posting jobs, evaluating applications, interviewing, and ensuring confidentiality throughout the hiring process.

This internal hiring process policy template is ready to be tailored to your company’s needs. Add or delete parts according to your own internal hiring strategies and modify the tone and language to match your company’s voice.

This internal hiring process policy should include:

Guidelines for Posting and Communication: How and where job vacancies are communicated to existing employees
Evaluation and Interview Procedures: Steps for assessing internal applications and conducting interviews
Confidentiality and Internal Mobility: Ensuring application confidentiality and encouraging employees to explore roles across teams and departments

Internal hiring process policy

Policy brief & purpose

Our internal hiring process policy describes our process for hiring within our company to fill open roles. We are committed to investing in our employees and help them grow their skills and gain experience while working with us.

Scope

In this policy, we outline our procedure for internal recruitment and clarify our rules for internal mobility.

Policy elements

Our company encourages promotions and job moves that will help employees hone their skills and advance their careers. To ensure our internal hiring is fair and efficient, we suggest a procedure for managers and team members to follow:

Internal hiring process

Hiring teams should determine whether there are internal candidates who can fill a position. Hiring managers should think whether they have qualified employees already in mind and recruiters should consult our company’s succession plan. If they find qualified candidates, they should contact them directly.
Hiring teams should post a job ad if needed. If hiring teams don’t have specific internal candidates in mind, they can post a job internally to give employees the chance to apply. Decide if you want to post the job internally before advertising externally or post both ads simultaneously.
Recruiters should prepare a job ad and communicate it to employees. Ask for hiring managers’ input to describe job duties and requirements. Include important information like benefits or possible need for relocation. Then, communicate the job ad via [email, intranet, company newsletter or other available means.]
Hiring teams should evaluate internal applications. Hiring managers are obliged to evaluate all applications from internal candidates and recruiters should inform them about the outcome.
Hiring teams should interview short-listed internal candidates. Internal candidates don’t need to pass through phone screens and multiple interview rounds. Depending on the position, hiring managers could interview candidates once and use assessments to evaluate their skills if needed.
Recruiters should update all internal candidates. Hiring teams should inform employees about the status of their application. Giving internal candidates feedback on why they were rejected might also help them understand what training or practice would benefit their career plans.
Hiring teams should keep all applications confidential. It’s at our internal candidate’s discretion whether they want to tell their manager that they applied to an internal job. Hiring teams must ensure that applications remain confidential until a candidate is hired. When an employee is hired to another role, there will be a [two-week] notice period before they change jobs to give their manager time to begin the hiring process for filling their position.

Internal mobility

We encourage employees to move across teams, departments and locations within our company if this move fits with their career plans and they’re qualified to perform the job. Our only requirement is that our employees have to complete their [three-month] onboarding period before they can change roles.

You don’t need the consent of your manager to apply for an internal job opening, but we encourage you to be open about your career goals. Discuss your aspirations and preferred career path during 1:1s with your manager or during performance review meetings. If your manager has an idea of your plans, they’ll be able to help you advance within our company and advise you on the best internal opportunities, or even refer you when the right job comes up.

Manager’s responsibilities

As a manager, you’re responsible for helping your employees learn and grow. Our hiring practices aim to ensure that each team will always have talented people to perform each job. Therefore, helping your team members move inside our organization and promoting them to more challenging positions is good for our business.

Our company will provide you with training on how to create career paths for your team members and help them become better at their jobs. We ask you to:

Always think what’s best for your team members in terms of their personal and professional growth.
Actively participate in our succession planning efforts.
Recommend qualified team members for open roles in our company.
Regularly discuss advancement plans and learning opportunities with your team members.

Our company will recognize employees for their skills and hard work. But above all, we want to make sure that our employees learn and succeed within our company. To achieve this, all managers and team members should talk freely and frequently about what career moves make sense for their abilities and motivations.

Disclaimer: This policy template is meant to provide general guidelines and should be used as a reference. It may not take into account all relevant local, state or federal laws and is not a legal document. Neither the author nor Workable will assume any legal liability that may arise from the use of this policy.

Frequently asked questions

What is an example of an internal hiring process policy? An internal hiring process policy provides a framework for promoting or transferring existing employees to new roles within the company. It details the steps for job posting, application evaluation, and ensures a transparent and fair hiring process. Why is an internal hiring process policy important? Such a policy promotes employee growth, retention, and motivation by offering career advancement opportunities within the organization. It ensures a structured and transparent process, fostering trust and encouraging internal mobility. What should an internal hiring process policy include? The policy should outline guidelines for job postings, evaluation procedures, interview processes, and ensure confidentiality. It should also promote internal mobility and provide clarity on manager's responsibilities in the process. How are internal job vacancies communicated to employees? Job vacancies are communicated via various means such as email, intranet, or company newsletters. This ensures that all eligible employees are aware of the opportunities available to them. Do employees need their manager's consent to apply internally? Employees don't require their manager's consent to apply for an internal position. However, open communication about career goals with managers is encouraged for better career guidance and support.