Many employers encourage internal recruiting, on the reasonable assumption that doing so improves employee engagement. Thus, as IBM shifted from supplying mostly hardware to consulting, it assessed its skills gaps and instituted workforce plans to train current employees for new jobs; this assumedly fostered employee engagement. Other employers, faced with strategic shifts, simply dismiss employees who don’t “fit.”

FedEx has had strong internal recruiting and promotion-from-within policies almost from its inception. FedEx’s commitment to promotion-from-within grew out of founder Frederick Smith’s belief that “when people are placed first they will provide the highest possible service, and profits will follow.” 43 FedEx weaves together promotion-from-within with other policies—including annual employee attitude surveys, employee recognition and reward programs, a leadership evaluation process, extensive employee communication, and an employee appeals process—to foster employee commitment and engagement.

As at FedEx, effective promotion-from-within requires a method for accessing career records and posting job openings, one that guarantees eligible employees are informed of and considered for openings. FedEx calls its job posting system JCATS (Job Change Applicant Tracking System). Announcements of new job openings via this online system usually take place each Friday. All employees applying for the position get numerical scores based on job performance and length of service. They are then advised whether they were chosen as candidates.

The manager interested in fostering employee engagement can draw several lessons from FedEx’s successful promotion-from-within system: show a genuine interest in your employees’ career aspirations; provide career-oriented appraisals; see that your employees have access to the training they need to develop themselves; and balance your desire to keep good employees, with the benefits of helping them learn of and apply for other positions in your company.