It pays to maximise the talent you already have.
No matter your business driver, internal mobility offers something for everyone. Those looking to attract talent or reduce employee turnover will be pleased to know that offering career progression (of which mobility plays a key role) is a top priority for job seekers and a top reason employees stay.
Want to increase productivity? The chances are you have skilled and underutilized talent who crave the chance to work on key company projects or try something new.
And if you’re focused on making savings, the average cost of replacing a regrettable leaver in Australia is $64,000.
Whilst we can’t predict exactly what the next 24 months will look like, what we can say with certainty is that internal mobility remains the most cost and resource effective way to attract, retain and engage talent.
What would it unlock for your organization if you had full visibility of the skills and aspirations of your entire workforce?
Very few CEOs or CHROs would dispute the fact that their people are their most valuable asset. But when it comes to the management and mobilization of this precious (human) resource, most organizations suffer from a significant blind spot: they have little to no visibility of the talent they already have.
How many times have you been surprised to discover that a colleague you work closely with has a past job or set of skills that you had no idea about? Now aggregate that across an entire organization - the chances are you’re sitting on a gold mine of internal talent, you just don’t realize it.
Better data and increased visibility of the skills, capabilities and aspirations of your workforce has the potential to significantly improve outcomes beyond just internal mobility and build towards a future where you have the right person in the right role at the right time.
If you’re looking at ways to unlock valuable skills data from disparate systems and spreadsheets, there’s some great new HR tech on the market that can assist you.
The impact of employee mobility on employee engagement.
Globally, Gallup research has found that nearly 85% of employees worldwide are still not engaged or are actively disengaged at work (and these disengaged employees cost their company the equivalent of 18% of their annual salary). The great news is that according to data by LinkedIn, employees who move into new jobs internally are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged.
And thanks to platforms like Uber, Spotify and social media platforms like TikTok, employees expect consumer grade experiences in all aspects of their lives, including work. Recent advances in AI and technology have made it increasingly possible to serve employees with highly personalized and relevant opportunities ranging from learning, mentorship, projects and jobs that will help them achieve their career goals with you, instead of turning to the external job market.
Internal mobility is increasingly one of the most powerful ways you can reduce the risk of your business being impacted by skills and talent shortages, keep talent engaged and save money. If it’s been on your to-do list lately, we urge you revisit this as a key strategic priority.
After all, if you’re not tapping up your own talent for new opportunities, rest assured someone else will be.
We recommend reading the following articles and resources if you’re keen to dig into this topic further.
Internal Mobility - An HR Professional’s Guide
Helena Turpin spent 20 years in talent and HR innovation where she solved people-related problems using data and technology. She left corporate life to create GoFIGR where she helps mid-sized organizations to develop and retain their people by connecting employee skills and aspirations to internal opportunities like projects, mentorship and learning.
