Hiring internally vs. externally for your Office of the CEO

1 vital question we ask CEOs who are looking to hire their next Chief of Staff, Executive Assistant or Comms Director: Do you want to hire internally or externally for the next member of your Office of the CEO? Here are the arguments for each.

BENEFITS OF HIRING OFFICE OF THE CEO TALENT INTERNALLY

1. You reduce the risk of a bad hire

An Office of the CEO bad hire = really big CEO headache. If your CEO already likes working with superstar performers in your company, then you dramatically reduce the risk of a bad hire by recruiting internal high performers for the job.

2. You save time

Chances are you need the person to start yesterday, so do you really have time to lose? If you’ve already identified exceptional internal talent, you can immediately start the internal recruiting process and avoid a months-long external candidate search.

3. You reduce hiring costs

Save money to spend on other Office of the CEO improvements! Instead of using a premium executive search firm, you can leverage your internal recruiters to achieve a cost-effective placement for your Office of the CEO.

4. You onboard faster

Onboarding is quick and easy. Your new internally-promoted Chief of Staff or Executive Assistant is already onboarded to your company’s systems and familiar with your ways of working. They likely have pre-existing relationships with your C-suite team. Finally, they already have extensive institutional knowledge of your company and domain knowledge of your sector.

5. You boost company loyalty and engagement

Promoting from within sends a strong signal to the company that you are investing in your existing workforce. What better way to build culture by hiring internal talent directly into your Office of the CEO?

BENEFITS OF HIRING OFFICE OF THE CEO TALENT EXTERNALLY

1. You reduce resentment among employees and managers

Your Office of the CEO search can be highly political if you aren’t careful. If you don’t manage the recruiting process right, then you might upset internal star performers who don’t get the job. Managers also don’t want to lose their top talent since it’s a headache to find a replacement. Avoid this by hiring externally.

2. You avoid a gap in your workforce

If you steal someone from within the organization, you leave a gaping hole. BAU won’t be BAU unless you have a strong pool of talent that you can backfill. External search for a new Chief of Staff or Executive Assistant avoids creating a talent gap in your company.

3. You dramatically expand the pool of applicants

With all of the recent layoffs happening, you can take advantage of a flood of exceptional external talent by executing an external search. Many folks would kill to work in the Office of the CEO. It may be time to scoop up a once-in-a-career exceptional hire.

4. You can shake up your culture

Culture can get ossified if you only hire from within. Shake up your ways of thinking and working in the Office of the CEO by hiring a dynamic external candidate. They can dramatically change the direction of your Office of the CEO, for good.

To explore the best strategy for hiring your next Chief of Staff or Executive Assistant, download our Office of the CEO playbook here.