Recruiters hoping to fill positions often look externally for qualified candidates. However, without the right tools in place, they may miss out on untapped talent within the organization.
Focusing on internal mobility offers many benefits: you get to engage and retain top employees, and fill critical skills gaps. Read on to discover what internal mobility is, why it’s important, and how to leverage it in your organization.
What is internal mobility?
Internal mobility refers to the vertical or lateral movement of employees within a company. Rather than hiring externally, organizations focusing on internal mobility will look to their existing talent to fill skill gaps, providing opportunities to upskill or build transferable skills.
Why is internal mobility important?
Internal mobility benefits hiring teams, employees, and the organization as a whole:
- Employers can fill critical skills gaps. Amid hiring freezes or a lack of qualified external talent, internal mobility provides a source of pre-vetted, culturally aligned talent. It allows you to upskill current talent to fill organizational needs, especially if hiring teams can anticipate future skills shortages.
- Employees stay engaged in their work. Employees are more likely to stay with an employer that offers clearly-defined growth potential. Top talent will seek out development opportunities, and the companies that offer this will keep them engaged and reduce turnover.
- Internal mobility offers a strong return on investment (ROI). Internal mobility initiatives offer a critical business opportunity. Sourcing internally not only reduces recruitment costs, but it also cuts the cost and likelihood of new starter turnover, since internal hires will already be aligned with company culture. Internal mobility also boosts your employer brand, making you attractive to jobseekers.
How to build an internal mobility program
Internal mobility benefits employers and employees alike. However, hiring teams may not always know how to develop a clear path for upskilling and advancement. To help, here are the five main stages of building a successful internal mobility program.
Read more: Maximize the potential of your workforce with internal mobility
1. Plan your approach
Develop a purpose, strategy, and objectives to ensure your program meets the criteria for success. Consider the skillsets that are already in your company as well as those requiring upskilling. A cross-functional program team —which may include members from talent acquisition, learning and development, hiring managers, and other stakeholders —can ensure the program runs smoothly across the organization.
It’s important to get buy-in from managers at this stage, as they are often the biggest barrier to a successful internal mobility program. The practice of ‘talent hoarding’ —managers unwilling to relinquish star performers in their team —can slow down even the most committed talent team. Use recruitment technology and analytics to identify and address potential talent bottlenecks. Implementing recruitment marketing technology at this stage can also automate “busy” work, freeing the program team up for other tasks.
2. Establish your program
Based on the parameters set in step 1, roll out the internal mobility program. Create dedicated internal landing pages with open roles and learning programs, as well as strong calls to action (CTAs) to encourage employees to register and set up their profiles. In addition to sharing these pages via internal emails, you can also share your internal mobility careers site page on social media to amplify your employer brand.
3. Engage your employees
Once your employees are registered for your internal mobility program, engage them with targeted content regarding career, learning, and upskilling opportunities. Use the information provided in employee profiles to target specific talent, as well as analytics and content heat-mapping to understand what is resonating.
4. Embed your program into ‘business as usual’
Set key performance indicators (KPIs) for managers to fill open positions with internal talent, as well as for employees to complete their profiles with up-to-date skills, interests and other relevant information. Review the process regularly with your cross-functional team and stakeholders to ensure the internal mobility program is meeting previously-defined success criteria.
5. Measure and track ROI
Analyzing the data will help you understand what is working and what isn’t, then take action accordingly. Review the number of internal hires and internal talent pipelines, and map skill sets against future skills gaps.
With company-wide buy-in and a set strategy, you can take your internal mobility program to the next level. Clinch helps employers engage top talent by automating workflows, job alerts, and communications —giving hiring teams the time and energy to focus on the critical tasks. Learn how Clinch can kickstart your internal mobility strategy today.
