Should We Promote From Within?

For the past three months we've been trying to fill a new key position by looking outside the company. We came across a number of potential candidates, but none were acceptable. We now think we might have come up with some suitable choices, and from right under our noses -- within the company. Why did it take so long to think of a hiring strategy that now seems so obvious?

It's common knowledge that promoting from within creates a better working environment and a more successful company. That's because people have a chance to grow, learn new skills, accept more responsibility, and earn more money. That results in lower turnover and a more earnest work ethic. How many times must we hear Jim Collins' Good to Great message [pdf download] that it's not enough to get the right people on the bus, but also to get them in the right seats before we'll believe him?

We were thinking small. When you're growing, and you only have a handful of employees, you almost always have to hire outside either for new positions or to fill the position vacated when the existing employee moves up. When an employee is doing an exceptional job in a position, it's hard to give up that performance to move that same person into a position in which they're unproven. We've trained ourselves to look outside when filling a new position. But that does not serve us -- or our existing employees -- well.

The new position will handle supply chain management. It's key because the bulk of our expenses and our customers' experiences are based upon our suppliers' performance ( i.e. we drop-ship everything). No one in our company has been trained to do that job, so we've gone the historically proven route and sought outside candidates. We are now faced with the decision to either pay a lot for a highly experienced person, or allow someone within the company to attempt the job. It will require heavy supervision, a lot of training, and coming to terms with the fact that a rookie might make some mistakes.

We've opted to take the chance. Anyone at Blinds.com who has shown an aptitude to do this job, has a great work ethic, wants to improve themselves and our customers' experience, and most importantly, who already possesses our core values, just might do a better job than the experienced candidate. It was the great basketball coach, John Wooden, who said, "As much as I value experience, and I value it greatly, I'd rather have a lot of skill (speed & quickness) and little experience than a lot of experience and little skill." I believe that applies to business, too.

The big benefit comes to the other 109 employees. One day they'll have their chance.

What have you done in similar situations? I'd love to hear your stories.