Meaning Of Lateral Recruitment & Its Importance

Author: Rishikesh Kumar | Duration: 5-6 minutes | February 16, 2024

What is Lateral Recruitment

Lateral recruitment or hiring is when a company brings in an expert from outside to fill a job. It means getting a specialist. This helps bring in new skills. Sometimes, it''s referred to as specialized hiring. This has become a common practice of bringing aboard talented and successful professionals from various companies to take on a similar role at a certain company.

How does the process of lateral recruitment differ?

Lateral recruitment refers to the hiring of individuals already occupying similar roles elsewhere. It''s commonly used for senior executive positions or roles that require specific expertise.

This simply means professionals will move to the same job but in a different company, keeping their skills going.

These new recruits did the job before; hence, they know what they are doing.

It is unlike regular hiring, which is secretive. A few people within the organization reach out to the potential hires without even informing the rest.

Most people in the company don''t know until it''s all done because it''s kept a secret.

It helps keep both the new job and the company quite discreetly getting the real skills they need.

Lateral hiring is when companies resort to expert hiring for big changes or important jobs but don''t want any publicity about it—nothing but smart hiring.

Understanding with Examples

It means recruiting experienced professionals from outside an organization to fill certain specific roles. Here are a few examples of it:

Considering an example where a technology company was willing to increase its security on cyberspace, they resorted to lateral hiring. It simply means that they hired an experienced cybersecurity professional from another reputable tech firm. He has the record of safeguarding digital assets from one prominent house.

By making this lateral hire—someone with proven skills in safeguarding online information—the company is better equipped to defend itself against a cyber attack. This ensures that the company will be able to learn from the expertise of the specialized professional.

Benefits and Demerits

Benefits

• Fill skill gaps: Get people with skills that we might be missing.
• Diversity: Hiring from different places brings new ideas and makes a team more varied.
• Fresh perspectives: New people mean new ways of looking at things which can provoke creativity.
• Immediate expertise: No longer relying on freshers, those hired already know stuff, so they can start their job right away.
• Industry Expertise: Hiring people from other locations brings in industry know-how to the firm.

Demerits

• Team Integration: It becomes difficult for the recruited person to gel with the team as a whole.
• Resistance of existing team: Staff may not welcome the change or may be concerned about the new members to join in the team.
• Cultural Mismatch: Sometimes, the new person might not work the same way everyone else does.
• Cost consideration: Getting experienced people could cost more money initially.
• Limited loyalty: New hires might not feel as attached to the company as those who''ve been here longer.

Lateral Vs Vertical Recruitment

Lateral Hiring (Horizontal)

It is similar to drawing a friend from another playing field. Lateral hiring takes place when a firm or an organization recruits a person for the same level or position. This means adding a friend with other expertise to your group. It ensures that the team gets a new vision and covers some missing competencies without promoting an internal candidate.

Example: The need in one of its specialty units requires a seasoned nurse. Instead of promoting one from, say, the maternity department, they bring one experienced nurse from another hospital.

This lateral hire ensures that the unit gets immediate expertise and specific skills without disturbing existing nursing teams.

Vertical Hiring (Promotion)

About moving up the ladder with the same team—like when one gets a promotion or any higher position in their current team. It is a way how companies recognize and reward their own team members for hard work.

Example: A restaurant server becomes a shift manager. This server started at the entry level and climbed to the leadership level within the same restaurant.

This vertical hiring, wherein an individual moves up vertically within their current place of employment to greater responsibility and managerial tasks.

Conclusion

Overall, lateral recruitment is like inviting talented friends to your team. It fills up gaps very fast and brings people who are bursting with new ideas. Challenges do remain, from cultural fitting to team adjustments in this otherwise great way of bringing in experts. Balancing between lateral and internal recruitments makes for a diverse and integral team that enriches the workspace with interest and effectiveness.