Has the practice of internal mobility – using the internal strengths of talent where they are needed most in conjunction with the goals of individuals in your workforce – changed in light of COVID-19?   

Talent industry experts point out that, in fact, many companies both large and small are increasing talent mobility, becoming highly integrated globally, and gathering real-time data to quickly adapt to the changing business landscape.  

Recently, Travis McCormick from Jobvite partnered with Ben Eubanks, author, podcaster, and principal analyst at Lighthouse Research to present a webinar on the timely topic of talent mobility. While some organizations may be forced to rethink talent strategies, redeploy staff, and reduce their workforce dramatically others are actually growing or looking for hard–to–find talent. Strategic talent mobility helps address both scenarios to achieve business outcomes. 

Check out some highlights from our webinar! 

The value of hiring from within. 

From Wharton to Bersin, the research shows that If you hire someone externally, especially for hard–to–fill positions, you spend more money and often have a lower return for a certain period of time. According to Forbes, these new hires also have a potential turnover 2-3x higher than an internal recruit. The business benefit to building skills from within – cost and culture wise – often outweigh looking outside your company. The value that talent mobility brings to your organization includes:  

• Improved business performance 
• Improved workforce hiring/retention practices 
• A development tool for expanding employee skills 
• Higher employee engagement 

Which bucket does your company fall into? 

Lighthouse Research found that when it comes to talent mobility programs companies fall into three buckets:  

1. Passive – Their internal mobility program is limited or ad hoc with very little impact on the people or the company. Employees hear about a job by word–of–mouth, if at all. 

1. Active – These companies have a bit more structure (e.g., developing succession plans, thinking about bench strength) but use a top-down approach. They don’t necessarily consider employees’ voices and aspirations and focus on increasing engagement toward higher productivity, profitability, and shareholder value.  

1. Strategic  – These companies are driven towards business outcomes. They set themselves apart in two ways. First, they are employee–driven. Employees have a voice in their career direction, and the company factors that into workforce placement decisions. Secondly, they provide employees with transparency and ongoing communication throughout the internal hiring process.    

The biggest differentiator between the strategic approach and the others is that it uses technology to further talent mobility efforts. There’s only so much you can accomplish manually with internal mobility – from capturing each employee’s skills, capabilities, and strengths to where to position them in the business. Relying on your managers is also limiting as they often don’t have full insight into all the strengths of their teams.   

Transparency is a necessity.  

Many employees feel they have to leave their organization to move up. But, statistically, it’s shown that they would be happier just to make even a lateral move within the organization if the choice was offered to them.   

Lighthouse research says  7 in 10 employees have left a job because they saw no career advancement opportunities. The key point is not that they left the job, but that it’s all based on “perception.” There may have been opportunities available, other jobs they could have applied for, other ways for them to grow within the business. However, they didn’t know of these possibilities because their companies lacked transparency that an internal mobile program brings.  

Today, your employees want the same visibility they get from the consumer-centered world outside of your company, within your company. It’s that simple. And technology–driven internal mobility gives you that edge. 

Internal mobility matters now and tomorrow.

One of the biggest takeaways from the webinar is to look at your own talent first. What skills are already on hand? If you don’t know what those skills are the first step is to take stock of your talent. If your employees’ skills don’t match your company’s needs, consider whether stretch assignments or training – rather than external hiring – could meet the needs of the business while also supporting your employees’ need for growth and development.  

Most importantly, ensure your HR team has the tools, technologies, and resources they need to inventory skills, survey interests, and match talent to opportunities. 

For more in-depth insight into internal mobility, make sure to check out the webinar! Need help with the next steps? We’re here to help you engage and grow your current employees. 

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