For employers looking to fill a new opening within your company, often it pays to look no further than your current staff. Not only will promoting from within mean less of a learning curve and orientation time, but it will also guarantee you an employee who already has company loyalty, and is more likely to stay put. However, it can be difficult to identify candidates who may be right for the position, and there are many factors to consider before your make any offers.

The When

Knowing when to hire internally versus when to branch out to new employees altogether can be a tough call. Ultimately, the decision to hire internally can boil down to several things:

• A current employee possesses the necessary skills, whether technical or personality-wise, to do the job well.

• They possess some skills, and you are willing to request that they receive extra training before they start in the new position.

• The position is necessary, but your company is not in a place to accommodate new hires. In this case, you can also delegate tasks assigned to this unfilled position to multiple staff members to fill the gap.

The How

Once you’ve decided to hire internally, you’ll need to follow a careful protocol to make sure everything goes smoothly. This includes:

• Identifying proactive employees: Those who stand out for their initiative and dedication should be at the top of your promotion checklist. These are the people who are also most likely to be solution-oriented and work well in any capacity, whether it be solo or as part of a team. Ultimately, proactiveness is a great indicator of leadership qualities.

• Finding employees with well-rounded skillsets: Employees who have multiple specialties often make superior leaders. They are able to approach problems with different perspectives and relate to their staff better. Consider employees who have worked in different departments, or who have prior background in different areas.

• Listening to your employees: Those seeking upward mobility in their roles are often vocal about it, or have made it known in their initial interview process. They’ve been preparing for promotions since the beginning, so pay attention.

• Knowing that likability matters: If the promotion you intend to give is a leadership position, it’s incredibly important that the person be liked and respected by other staff. Otherwise, you run the risk of having ineffective teams on your hands. While this factor is less important in non-leadership roles, it should still be considered if subsequent promotions could turn into leadership roles.

• Keeping managers in the loop: This is especially important for two reasons. The first is that you don’t want your managers to feel like they’ve been overlooked in favor of a lower-level employee, if that’s what it seems like. The second is that if one of their team is promoted, they may be left short-handed, so your hiring process will also need to fill in the new gap.

• Giving employees time to think about your offer: After making a promotion offer, give the employee some time to consider it fully before getting back to you with an answer. Make it clear that if they decline it, that’s okay and they won’t be penalized.

• Having a backup plan: Should your employee reject a promotion, have a backup person or plan in place. This may mean hiring externally, too.

As with any hiring process, you may want to consult the advice of your human resources department. They may have unique insight into employees who they think may be great candidates, and will most likely have a collection of initial interview materials such as resumes and professional goals to help guide your decision.