What Employers Should Understand About Internal Mobility: Decrease Attrition and Future-Proof Your Workforce
Wollborg Michelson Recruiting
A Finance Recruitment Agency Connecting Businesses With Top Talent, and Job Seekers with Cutting-Edge Companies.
Internal mobility or talent mobility is when an employee moves departments or roles within their company. An employee can move vertically or laterally within an organization. Let's have a look at the different types of internal mobility:
In 2023, more HR leaders are projecting that internal mobility will be the key to decreasing attrition and future-proofing your workforce. A?2021 study?done by Recruitment Manager Eric Ehlers in collaboration with Actus found
"two-thirds of HR respondents admitting that employees often leave their businesses to take on roles that could have been offered to them internally, had they known about them or been considered."
This is not a fresh revelation but a return to hiring practices post-WW2 through the 1980s, when internal mobility was the norm. It was rare that someone would need to leave their company for career advancement.?
Why should employers value internal mobility??
Cutting down Costs:
Cutting down hiring costs remains top of mind for employers. Lateral movements benefit the employee and the employer. Filling an internal role with a current employee means they are already a cultural fit, so only their skills need assessment.?
Decrease Attrition
Most often, employees leave their organization because they feel they cannot make any lateral movements. Many times?the workers that take a new job?were not even searching for one. They were sought out. Before your high-performing employees get swept up by a competing company, show them how they can grow, advance, and be challenged at your organization. Internal mobility is the way to do that.
领英推荐
Build-in Succession Plan
Sometimes, your talent leaves despite new opportunities. To prepare for this, having employees waiting "in the wings" ready to take their place is a strategy to future-proof your department. Your sales shouldn't drop because your best salesperson left. In the same breath, the quality and consistency of your client/customer nurturing practices should not tank because of a vacancy. With a succession plan in mind, your departments can transition smoothly when your top talent leaves. Encouraging internal mobility with consistent skill-building is an excellent way to keep your teams strong.
How to encourage internal mobility:
So, internal mobility is valuable. But how exactly can an organization encourage internal mobility?
Build Skills In-house
First, think about if you are offering your employees opportunities to change jobs or upskill. With new AI tools emerging, core skills will naturally evolve. In the 2010s, the new skill everyone needed to have is increasing media literacy and?producing content with non-text communication, such as video or audio.?While that is still relevant, more specifically, in 2023, future-proofing your career means learning new technology in your specific niche which might include AI tools like Chat GPT.
Are you noticing a skills gap in your team? Before hiring, train your employees to fill the gap. Some gaps need to be filled with a new hire, but not all. If a skill can be learned in less than six months, save your organization the risk, stress, and money and invest in your employee.
Give Your Employees Stretch Projects
Stretch projects are assignments that allow employees to work on something outside their norm. It's most helpful to ask your employees, "what skills are you looking to build this quarter?" and to follow up with, "leadership has a project coming up. Would this be of interest to you?" Allowing employees to build skills with fresh assignments might be the challenge your employees need to feel they're advancing in their roles.
Internal mobility in the workplace is the future of work. It's also the best practice for decreasing attrition, future-proofing your internal team, and providing a stage for your employees to shine.