Internal Mobility: Unlocking Career Potential

The rise of internal mobility as a powerful strategy for employee advancement

The current state of the talent landscape is undergoing unprecedented changes, prompting a crucial need for HR leaders and workplaces to reassess their priorities. As we contemplate the future dominated by automation and technology, the reality is that the time has come to address challenges in attracting and retaining top talent.
 

So, how can we navigate this situation effectively? It’s essential to move beyond conventional job titles and slogans, constructing a people-centric talent strategy that enables employees to fulfill their career aspirations and envisioned paths. A powerful approach to achieving this is through internal mobility — a strategy aligned with contemporary business demands, focusing on retaining and attracting premier talent.

In this article, we’ll delve into the evolution of internal mobility as a pivotal HR strategy. It has transitioned from being primarily confined to employee learning and upskilling to becoming an effective method that assists organizations in aligning their business goals with the career objectives and motivation of their employees.

What Is Internal Mobility?

Internal mobility refers to the process of providing employees with opportunities to explore different career paths within their current organization, resulting in either lateral or vertical movement. Internal mobility works on the simple concept of – it is better to lose people in rather than out. The clear advantage of hiring people who are already working within the organization is that you know their dedication and commitment to the company.

According to a Nielsen finding, making a lateral move increases an employee’s chance of staying within the company for the next 12 months by 48%¹. However, any organization should provide opportunities for employees to transition within the company, allowing both upward and lateral mobility.

When employees are empowered by moving to suitable roles within the organization, they gain a sense of ownership and loyalty. Internal mobility can help companies stay competitive by addressing skill gaps, retaining top talent, and aligning employees with emerging trends in the industry.

LinkedIn’s 2023 Future of Recruiting Report shows that 75%² of recruiting professionals believe that in the next five years, internal recruiting will be a defining factor for talent acquisition. But employees are yet to see internal mobility in that light. Besides, cultural, and structural obstacles often impede desired possibilities within organizations.

According to Lever’s 2022³ Great Resignation report, companies that offered upskilling and reskilling initiatives observed a 61% engagement rate among their workforce, with employees actively participating in these programs to enhance their performance in their current positions.

How L&D and Internal Mobility Are Intertwined?

For internal mobility to be successful L&D needs to be actively engaged and collaborated with talent acquisition. The chemistry should be such that both are interdependent, and intertwined, and together make the career moves of employees smooth. Talent teams must examine the skills required in their workforce and create an internal hiring culture and procedure. In turn, L&D can provide the necessary training and personnel development to create a robust internal talent pipeline.

The primary driver for employees seeking on-the-job learning opportunities is their aspiration to advance their career goals. Providing a tangible avenue for employees to secure promotions or explore new positions within the organization will inspire them to fully utilize the learning resources at their disposal.

Here, it is noteworthy that a growth mentality in an organization is critical for developing internal talent. By incorporating skill development into the employee experience, a company’s commitment to a worker’s ongoing development and support to achieve career goals becomes evident to the whole workforce. In addition, encouraging involvement in social and community-based learning opportunities help to build cross-departmental connections and break down silos.

Every individual has a different path to follow. So, along with employees sketching out their career paths and internal prospects, allows them to set skill-building goals for an enterprise that can eventually encourage individual career plans. Internal mobility will become a clear, measurable, and attainable goal if skill-based career development plans are constructed for the entire staff. That allows L&D an excellent chance to demonstrate its value.

Designing L&D Programs for Internal Mobility

L&D initiatives can empower employees to enhance their interpersonal abilities, acquire profession-specific skills, and cultivate the competence to contribute to organizational achievements. To effectively promote internal mobility, it is necessary to rethink the learning strategies and align them with the goals of promoting career growth. Here’s what a robust L&D program would need:

• L&D professionals should strive to understand the individual career goals and aspirations of employees and align them with organizational objectives to create an internal mobility program that benefits everyone.


• Developing a transparent internal job marketplace is crucial for fostering adequate and proper internal mobility within organizations, particularly in the context of L&D. By establishing a clear and accessible platform, employees gain visibility into available career opportunities, enabling them to explore different roles and expand their skill sets.


• Internal mobility programs are crucial for leveraging L&D within companies. Opportunities to grow within the organization, build a culture of continuous learning, and enhance employee engagement, job satisfaction, and retention while reducing recruitment costs. They also promote knowledge sharing, collaboration, and innovation across different departments, leading to increased productivity and organizational success.


• While providing L&D content is important, employees also need opportunities to apply these lessons through hands-on experiences like webinars, seminars, on-campus training, gigs, and mentorships. Talent marketplaces enable employees to seamlessly transition into new short-term projects based on their skills and ambitions, encouraging a growth mindset, and addressing skill gaps as business needs evolve.


• L&D professionals should emphasize the significance of skill-building for internal mobility to managers. This involves providing employees with the training and skills required for new roles and encouraging managers to consider existing employees as potential candidates for open positions.


• Monitoring and evaluating the advancement of internal mobility initiatives is critical. Companies should establish measurable metrics that specifically assess the impact of internal mobility such as tracking the number of individuals who have utilized internal mobility opportunities and evaluating the success rate of those who have transitioned.

Value of Internal Mobility for Business

As per Gartner, in organizations that emphasize internal mobility, employees demonstrate a 27% ⁴ higher likelihood of excelling in their work. Successful employees have established workplace relationships and are familiar with the corporate culture. Furthermore, internal recruitment enhances employee morale by signaling prospects for advancement inside the organization, preventing motivation loss and staff attrition.

Talent acquisition encompasses various aspects, with a primary focus on formulating strategies to attract and enlist top-tier talent. Equally important is the emphasis on retaining talent effectively. Employers can leverage internal mobility as a tool to boost employee motivation, foster trust, and offer a pathway for achieving career objectives. Implementing a growth mindset and incorporating job rotations facilitates career exploration and builds trust among employees. This approach not only benefits individuals but also contributes to increased revenue and enhances employer branding, making it more appealing for new talent to join the organization’s pool of resources.

Notes
¹ https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-engagement/how-nielsen-used-people-analytics-to-increase-retention

² https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/learning-and-development/what-is-internal-mobility-and-how-to-get-it-right

³ https://www.lever.co/blog/upskilling-and-reskilling/

⁴ https://www.aihr.com/blog/internal-mobility/

Author Bio

Reetu Raina is VP and Global Head of Talent Management at Amdocs. Reetu is a seasoned HR executive with deep expertise in organizational design, HR digitalization, employee engagement, HR analytics, mergers and acquisitions, leadership development and succession, and diversity and inclusion. With over two decades of experience in HR leadership across industries such as IT, banking and financial services, and telecom, Reetu is one of the most accomplished leaders in her field and the recipient of several prestigious awards with the most recent one being the felicitation by Maneka Gandhi for ‘Observe Now Heroes HR Awards in HR leadership’.