In a competitive talent market, a robust internal mobility strategy plays an essential role in a successful hiring strategy. Rather than looking externally when it’s time to recruit, it’s more cost effective and better for retention to move an existing team member into an open role.
The benefits of internal mobility
Internal candidates are already pre-vetted and aligned to your company values, and they have a deep knowledge of your internal processes and stakeholders. This allows them to hit the ground running from day one. Research shows that it can take an outside hire 3 years to perform as well as an internal hire in the same role —so building an internal hiring process should be a priority for every organization.
Hiring internally also avoids expensive external recruiting costs: SHRM reports the average cost per hire in 2022 is US$4,700. But experts suspect that number may be even higher: up to 3 – 4X the position’s yearly salary. From a cost per hire perspective, the ROI of internal mobility is clear.
Encouraging a culture of internal mobility improves employee engagement, staff retention and makes team members feel valued for their unique skill sets. While at a basic level, fostering this culture can be as simple as promoting open roles internally, leading hiring teams are taking a more strategic approach.
But not many organization’s do internal mobility well. According to Deloitte research, 50% of employees believe it is actually easier to find a job outside an organization than inside it. Internal mobility initiatives often fail based on a lack of transparency, proper incentives, manager buy-in and focused planning.
The good news? There’s proven strategies to help. If you’re looking to mobilize your internal talent to maximize your workforce potential, we’ve got these five tips to get you started.
1. Use the right technology
Utilizing the right technology can remove silos and help you build better internal talent pipelines. In large organizations, having a central engagement point for talent teams and employees is crucial. While talent attraction software or recruitment marketing platforms are generally used to attract external talent, you can use these technologies to build a customized, dedicated internal talent marketplace.
Leading organizations are building dedicated internal career sites to post open roles, share testimonials from internal employees, and capture interest with targeted calls to action. On this internal site, you can include valuable content such as: specialized landing pages, employee resource groups, mentoring programs, and more.
From an employee perspective, technology can remove the barriers to internal opportunities and encourage visibility. Employees can build out employee profiles, which creates a comprehensive view of their aspirations and skills sets. This gives hiring teams essential insights which allows them to put the right people into the right roles.
We know that what candidates really want right now is better access to development opportunities —and what companies want is to build great teams. Using technology to break down internal silos allows talent teams to unlock the potential of their workforce. What’s more, teams can gain visibility past “talent hoarding” managers, and ensure they don’t lose top performers to external opportunities.
2. Provide growth opportunities for employees
A great internal mobility program offers each employee the opportunity to develop their skills and achieve personal and professional goals. Especially for knowledge workers, internal mobility in a job is important. Many employees work hard to find a company they connect with when it comes to both values and culture; internal mobility is a value-add that allows employees to grow in a place they like working.
One of the main reasons workers left their jobs in droves during The Great Resignation, According to Pew Research Center and Wharton, was due to a lack of professional development and growth opportunities from their employers. The onus is on employers to deliver amazing experiences for employees to maintain a culture of growth and positivity. If your organization doesn’t, there are others out there looking to recruit your top performers.
3. Set internal hiring targets
While establishing a culture of internal mobility, it helps to set a benchmark or target for internal hires. According to Clinch and Talent Board research on how to develop a high-quality pipeline in 2022, only 36% of respondents are leveraging internal databases to fill roles. Don’t let that be you!
Why do organizations struggle with internal mobility? HR teams will often seek to move employees vertically or laterally, but hit bottlenecks when faced with “talent hoarding” managers, clunky software, or a lack of visibility over available opportunities. By using a recruitment and retention software with career pathing opportunities, HR teams gain the ability to seek out and elevate internal talent before turning to an external pool of candidates.
Using recruitment marketing and ATS software to boost your internal mobility strategy not only keeps a full pipeline for future roles —it helps retain valuable talent.
4. Share internal mobility success stories
Employees thrive when they’re empowered to chart their own career paths and share their stories. From interns who become directors to those who change from one functional area to another (e.g. customer success to sales) within the same company, employees who share their positive internal mobility experiences add to an inclusive culture of growth.
The best organizations leverage these employee stories to encourage other internal staff to apply for open roles. Consider establishing a landing page on your career site targeted directly to internal employees. On this page you can feature testimonials from other employees, open internal roles, FAQs and more.
Using Clinch Employee Connections, you can even set up live Q&A events to promote story sharing and address any questions your employees may have.
5. Invest in training and mentoring
Think of your internal talent as an investment —the more you invest in their development, the better the return for your business. Leading organizations agree: according to Clinch and TalentBoard research, 86% of talent leaders say internal channels are the most effective talent attraction and sourcing activity in 2022. Yet only 13% of those survey respondents are actively pursuing internal mobility strategies.
One of the easiest ways for businesses to show dedication to upskilling their employees is by offering employer-sponsored education, training, and mentoring opportunities. This could look like:
- coaching
- job shadowing
- supported education
- resume and interview tips.
We know that companies who have clear internal mobility pathways have better employee engagement, lower time-to-hire and higher employee retention rates. Great talent is hard to find —so don’t overlook the pool of pre-vetted, culturally aligned talent that’s right in front of you.
Looking for software to help you launch your internal mobility program? Clinch helps companies attract internal applicants using targeted landing pages, automated nurture communication, a customizable CRM, and more. Learn how Clinch can bring your internal mobility strategy to life with a 3-minute virtual tour.
