Recruiting the right person for the right job is always a challenge, and it's not getting any easier. The deluge of electronic resumes and Internet job board postings has created a tidal wave of candidates, many of them not qualified for the position to which they are applying. While most recruiting still primarily focuses on external candidates, Global 2000 companies are increasingly recognizing that 're-recruiting' is the next HR frontier.

Re-recruiting is more than just hiring from within the company. It is about creating an environment where employees feel they can readily develop and advance their careers without leaving the organization. However, most businesses lack the two key elements of creating this atmosphere: they tend to have a poor grasp on their current employees' skills and experience; and they have no sustained process for sharing, fairly and consistently, all new job opportunities with their employees.

This means that too often, companies hire an outside candidate to fill a position that could have been filled by a qualified and motivated employee. Continually passing over qualified internal candidates causes several problems. According to data compiled by the Saratoga Institute in 2000, the external cost of hiring can average over 50% more than recruiting internally. Beyond the additional costs and extended time-to-hire associated with external recruiting, passing over qualified internal candidates can create morale problems, leading to unwanted staff turnover and the loss of institutional knowledge and skills when disenchanted employees leave an organization.

Ironically, the lingering chilly economic climate is making the situation worse in many ways. After a company suffers through successive rounds of lay-offs, the remaining employees - often the cream of the crop-- are handling additional responsibilities under much more stressful conditions. These employees can become de-motivated, unproductive and eventually 'flight risks.' Companies can't afford to sustain the loss of these core employees on top of the negative effects of downsizing.

How can companies 'show workers the love' and make it clear that their commitment to the company is reflected in the company's commitment to them? With large businesses having thousands of employees often located in dozens of countries, it's not surprising that re-recruiting is proving problematic. The technical challenges alone are daunting. Beyond the administrative burden of dealing, in multiple languages, with different laws and regulations from dozens of countries, organizations need to be able to catalogue their internal resources on a global scale and communicate opportunities effectively.

Fortunately, new human resources technologies are developing to help large, complex organizations meet this challenge. These new technologies enable strategic workforce management (SWM), transforming human resources and staffing functions from a tactical process to a strategic consideration. These systems can work with existing corporate communication networks - the Web and enterprise-wide systems - to help companies build, change and manage workforce deployment and acquisition. New technologies help specify needs in job descriptions, find the right candidate for the position and accelerate the hiring process. They help monitor core competencies and thereby align corporate and individual goals. In short, harnessing the power of SWM makes HR an essential tool in achieving corporate vision and enables organizations to better capture the talent in their internal, as well as external, resources.

'Self-Service' is a critical component of these new SWM solutions. It allows current employees to take a more proactive role in managing their careers. Rather than responding to an occasional internal job posting, employees can use self-service functionality to continually interact with managers and the recruiting and staffing departments. Employees can create a live career profile including their skills, experiences and career goals, updating the profile over time to include recent training accomplishments, work experiences and education. This invaluable skills inventory enables HR professionals to leverage the power of their internal resources. It can be used for workforce planning (what skills will be needed in the future versus what skills currently reside in the organization), as well as for identifying the best internal match for a job requisition.

This motivated involvement in personal professional development and advancement leads to more fulfilled and satisfied employees. In addition, companies can identify the successful career path of star performers and set up career tracks for other employees to replicate this successful process, all the while saving the organization money as they are able to fill the more senior or specialized roles with internal candidates, relegating the costs of external hiring to less specialized employees.

Re-recruiting can become a core competency for companies if approached with the right philosophy and the right technology. By maximizing the potential of its current employees, a company can effectively reduce the time-to-hire, increase both employee retention and its reputation as an 'Employer of Choice,' and ultimately boost productivity and the bottom line. Smart companies are now taking the steps needed to make re-recruiting a key part of their strategic workforce plan before the labor markets tighten up again.

Nicole Stata is the president and CEO of Westwood, Mass.-based Deploy Solutions which delivers today's premier recruiting, hiring and retention products that enable Global 2000 organizations to attract and retain the top talent necessary to compete in their core markets. For more information, visit www.deploy.com