Free, Fair and Efficient? Open internal job advertising

Many major UK employers moved during the 1990s to more open internal job markets. These give the job of filling internal vacancies to the line manager (who 'owns' the vacancy) and employees who will see the job advertised and apply for it.

This report looks at how this change has been working in practice in both private and public sectors.

Managers have concerns about how time-consuming the process can be, and whether they get a good pool of candidates and a good appointment. Employees often suspect that some line managers just 'go through the motions' but have already decided who they want to appoint. HR managers are concerned about issues of fairness and about how to run an open market alongside succession planning and planned development moves.

This report examines the dilemmas and offers a model of how to balance key tensions.