Photo by Will AbsonSusan Adams at Forbes disusses a new study by Matthew Bidwell, an assistant professor at Wharton, about promoting from within versus hiring from outside. Bidwell notes that external hires tended to have more experience, but counters that plus with current staffers’ knowledge of their organization:

The external hires made 18% more than the internal promotes in the same jobs. In addition to scoring worse on performance reviews, external hires were 61% more likely to be fired from their new jobs than were those who had been promoted from within the firm.

Bidwell also contends that the performance of the whole unit declines while everyone brings the new employee up to speed. Read Adams’ thoughts on the study at “Why Promoting From Within Usually Beats Hiring From Outside” at Forbes.

Feel free to share your experiences about being promoting from within, or entering a new organization in the comments below.