How to optimize your business for internal talent mobility

The only constant in life is change, and your employees' careers are no exception. They don't want to stay stuck in one place for their entire journey and you may recognize more value from them somewhere else in your business. A company that's optimized for internal talent mobility is bound to be successful. Let's go over how you can align yours with this aim now.

What is internal talent mobility and why does it matter?
 

"[Internal talent mobility] is a talent management strategy that enables employees to pursue new roles and skills-building opportunities within their organization." –Workday

Internal talent mobility is about giving your team the option to flex into a different role or earn fresh skills. This strategy can improve employee morale and retention while lowering the cost you would typically incur to hire someone outside your walls.¹

There are different types of internal mobility:

Role-to-role: Though the roles employees move into may differ, they're comparable in level. It doesn't change existing responsibilities much, but it can provide insight into other options.

Upward: As "upward" implies, this mobility style is about being promoted or given more responsibilities.

Transfers: Changing a team member's location, office, department or business unit in reaction to evolving needs of a business, for potential career development or at their request is known as transferring.

Project-based mobility: When short-term projects or initiatives arise, team members can gain atypical experience and work with new teams.

Ideally, a strong internal talent mobility strategy should encompass all kinds of movement, utilizing the most valuable choice for each situation.

How should you optimize for internal talent mobility?

1. Learn about your in-house team members

Ask questions about your team members such as:

• What skills do they already have?
• What goals do they aspire to?
• What would they like to learn and why?

When you have answers, inventory and analyze your findings so you can use them for gap analysis⁵ and workforce planning.

2. Actively engage your employees
 

Gallup found that engaged employees achieve 22% higher organizational citizenship (participation), 23% higher profitability, 78% less absenteeism and 21% less turnover for high-turnover organizations.³

Employee engagement is the lifeblood of internal talent mobility. No one will be motivated to grow or move around if they aren't fully invested in your business.

According to Indeed², engaged employees:

• Means less turnover
• Are more productive
• Generate increases in customer satisfaction
• Are innovators
• Are attractive to other high performers looking for roles
• Are great at collaborating
• Are both happy and healthy

Per Gallup³, employers can increase their team member engagement in all the following ways:

• Align engagement efforts with the organization’s broader employee experience strategy.
• Communicate the importance of employee engagement.
• Build trust in the benefits of engagement.
• Model engaging behaviors.
• Redefine managers' roles and expectations.
• Provide employee engagement tools, resources and development that managers need to coach team members and meet those expectations.
• Create evaluation practices that help managers accurately measure performance and hold employees accountable.

Essentially, you need to actively keep engagement in your sights when creating processes, working with team members and leading.

3. Define career paths

Your most engaged employees have their hearts set on a destination and you can help them reach it. It all starts with clarity. Having established routes, ready and documented, gives passionate team members a realistic goal to shoot for.

You can do this by documenting logical career lattices and ladders.⁴ If you aren't familiar, lattices are flexible formulas for employees to progress based on skills and experiences, while ladders are established, linear advancement routes. Both can be written out and communicated, with room for individuation.

4. Supplement your talent supply

If you want to move team members around to maximize business efficiency, it's possible you may need a hand in the spots they've moved out of. That's where a partner like Beacon Hill can assist. We offer Staff Augmentation, Contract to Hire, Direct Hire, Executive Search and other custom solutions that can make all the difference.

• Staff Augmentation provides flexible staffing solutions that fit your specific business budget. It allows you to temporarily scale at a top-tier level while reducing risk.
• Contract to Hire ensures the right fit. Try before you buy.
• Direct Hire allows you to keep doing great business while our team researches, identifies and introduces qualified candidates, manages the interview and selection process, provides detailed references and background information, negotiates compensation and provides valuable feedback after candidates start.
• Executive Search is a perfect option for sourcing C‑suite and executive-level talent. It's a confidential, dedicated resource offered by a team that knows exactly who to call.

Whatever support you need, we'll be here to help you succeed.

Now that you have a plan for internal talent mobility, you may want a partner up to fill any gaps that have been revealed. We're here for you.

Sources and inspiration

1. The complete guide to internal mobility: Boosting talent growth and retention.
2. How to Increase Employee Engagement (With Actionable Tips)
3. What Is Employee Engagement, and How Do You Improve It?
4. Career Ladders & Career Lattices: Developing Them at Your Company
5. 5 strategies to close skill gaps and solve talent shortages

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