When companies employ new talent, internal recruitment versus external hiring is often a heavily weighted deliberation by HR and hiring managers. The question is whether to save costs by opting for internal personnel, or to make the investment with the possibility of injecting an organisation with new perspectives, ideas, and energy.
One of the most important invisible risks and highest cost to consider when hiring, is that of cultural fit, with research from the British firm Robert Walters identifying that almost three quarters (73 per cent) of professionals have left a job because they disliked the company culture. It is only after an employee has spent some time navigating the inner workings of an organisation, that they can then discover their place or start to feel a misfit.
Arringo, a company whose core business is providing outsourced expertise, notably in software design and development, marketing, and back-office solutions, decidedly has adopted an internal first hiring approach. Committed to nurturing internal talent pools, growing individual skills, and transferring experience across teams, the company feels best positioned to meet diverse client needs. This philosophy also aides in organically growing company culture and loyalty.
The culture of recognising employee value was initiated by the Fintech entrepreneur Adrian Kreter, the founder of the Arringo Group whose vision was clear - a motivated and skilled team, is more likely to lead to exceptional levels of service and client satisfaction. This ethos has been fundamental to the company’s rapid growth since its inception in 2018. The CEO of Arringo, Simon Camilleri, through decades of leading multinationals, shares the principles of continual learning, and actively encourages his team to spearhead internal initiatives with this goal. An important example of such an initiative is the Arringo Learning Hub, (ALH).
The Arringo Learning Hub is an online technology platform, and a key tool in developing internal hires, on their journey throughout the company. Custom designed for the requirements of Arringo, through interactive modules, Arringo equips its employees with the skills they need to excel in their role and strengthen career opportunities.
Angela Falzon, the Head of HR at Arringo expands: “The introduction of the online Arringo Learning Hub (ALH) was a strategic initiative to align with our core company values, notably the focus on continuous learning. We recognised the need to streamline various areas, including training, onboarding and performance management, whilst ensuring a consistent level of quality across the organisation, especially critical for compliance training.
As Arringo continues to grow, scalability is essential, as the ALH is a technology-based platform, this enables us to efficiently expand our training efforts without significant resource allocation. Of equal importance, the learning hub serves more value than a training platform, it is also a social learning community, fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing, and engagement amongst our employees.”
Arringo provides a 24/7 operation for its international base of customers. The range of services offered across varies industries means that front-line staff require both technical and customer service knowledge. This is where, ALH provides essential support. Jith Chandrasekera, the Head of Client Operations, who leads one of the largest teams in Arringo, emphasises the integral role of the ALH.
“Once an employee starts their journey at Arringo, it gives us the ability to assess skill gaps and learning needs and cater to all levels of requirements to very advanced levels. The ALH can even create specific learning paths, track progress, and promote peer learning. As my team specifically tends to attract a young workforce, they really enjoy using technology to learn interactively, to be in control of their progress and have opportunities to advance their careers.”
Another dynamic team within Arringo is the marketing and affiliation function. Dilara Kirkac, Arringo’s Senior Marketing Manager, through her lens the value of the ALH for her team expands to future possibilities. “Marketing is often very hands-on, and execution focused, particularly for the types of clients that we have. We effectively fulfil the role of an internal marketing agency, responsible end-to-end from strategy, development to implementation. My team find the sharing of knowledge essential to ‘learn by doing’. Our future vision for the ALH, is to create fully customised marketing learning models, based on the actual daily tasks and activities of the team. This would be amazing to reinforce real-time learning and results.”
As to the future of the ALH, the direction is likely the adoption of more personalised and adaptive learning technologies. By leveraging data analytics and algorithms, the platform can provide tailored learning experiences based on individual preferences, learning history, career path and skill gaps.
This personalised approach ensures that each learner receives content and skill development programmes that are relevant and beneficial to their professional development. To accommodate varied learning styles and preferences, the ALH may integrate different methods such as e-learning modules and hands-on workshops. This blended learning approach ensures flexibility and effectiveness in catering to the diverse needs of learners.
We expect to see an emphasis on increased interactivity and engagement within the ALH with features like gamification, quizzes, simulations, and interactive multimedia integrated to enhance learner engagement and motivation. Further, these features facilitate peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing within the platform. This interactive approach not only makes learning more enjoyable but also reinforces employee retention.
The debate of internal versus external hiring will continue, a homogenised solution applicable to all companies is unrealistic. Depending on company goals, internal teams, skills and structures, the optimal approach is most probably to bring in new talent or outsource for new insights. This bolsters external expertise, without burdening fixed costs. However, companies should certainly not overlook internal talent, and instead take conscientious actions to grow and develop its people; an approach that as Arringo will continue to foster to remain competitive and keep pace with growth.