When new positions arise within an organisation and the decision of whether to hire externally or train internally comes around, it can be a tricky decision to know which route to go down.
Training Internal Staff
Whilst external contractors bring benefits such as temporary solutions to staff shortages, a fresh perspective, ERP specialist skillsets etc, training current employees can be advantageous too. The first thing to note is that there is a cost associated with hiring new employees into a business, the hiring process, and the ultimate decision to hire will cost much more for the company than to train current employees. There will be differences in the scale of this cost from business to business, but it can be a significant one (particularly for smaller companies). Ultimately though, training internally can be more cost-effective for the organisation, but it depends on the employee's will and skill.
Training internally also means the education provided by the business can be more customisable and specific to the company's needs, making it more relevant perhaps than the knowledge of an outside hire. Similarly, employees who are chosen to be trained internally benefit from gaining skills and qualifications without having to leave the company. This then opens up the possibility of higher-level projects that can be planned for with the added skill set of the employee (or employees). This not only benefits the individual but the company as well as.
After their training, employees can become in-house experts with great experience relevant to a number of different departments within the business. When training an employee, they can still be used for current company projects with already a great understanding of how the company operates. By strengthening your internal assets, up-skilled employees can be great sources of knowledge; with their learned expertise, they can pass on their wisdom to others in the company.
Hiring External Contractors
Hiring external contractors certainly has its benefits though. For one, they bring in expertise that the business may not have gained otherwise. The project may also be completed a lot quicker than having to wait until an internal employee was being trained for the same project. Furthermore, they may also be less likely to disturb normal business operating processes than setting up an internal training programme with the right materials and facilities would.
If a company is able to train internal staff effectively, not only can productivity be improved but so too are the skills within your workforce - without having the large costs of a new hire.
