5 Internal Mobility Best Practices You Should Implement

As companies struggle to source and retain employees, they must figure out new ways to improve the employee experience. And one of the best ways to go about it is by promoting internal mobility.

Internal mobility is when a company recruits talent from other teams, departments, and job functions within the company to fill open positions. It is very important because it allows you and your business to utilise the skills of employees in an optimal way.

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In addition, it helps you satisfy employees' requests for opportunities for development and advancement. Internal mobility means, among other things, that you invest in the skill development of existing employees rather than recruiting new talent, which is beneficial for both you and your employees.

Employees who are offered the opportunity to move to new positions internally are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged and stay at the company. To increase your employees’ motivation and commitment to their work and give them a reason to stay with your company, we’ve shared below five internal mobility best practices you’ll want to keep in mind.

1. Prioritise Learning and Development

Employees can only move in the right direction if they are provided with the opportunity to learn and develop. You can increase the frequency of internal hires by creating and nurturing a culture that encourages continuous learning in your organisation.

This means creating a comprehensive employee training plan that envisions the best learning and development tools, content, and training, which will encourage and reward employees for pursuing professional development and upskilling.

This practice is one of the best ways to make sure your company stays on the right track in terms of innovation and skills, which will help you increase the long-term retention of your top talent.

2. Develop Your Internal Task Force

For your employee mobility strategy to be successful, you need to make sure you have the resources you need to make it an integral part of your organisation's culture. You may need to build an entire internal recruiting team, hire one or two people to manage internal hiring, or retrain and coach existing hiring teams so they understand what the benefits of internal mobility are.

You should treat your team leaders as part of your internal task force since they will be the ones talking with employees about their career goals and the opportunities available to them. Managers might be reluctant to allow their top talent to move to another department or team, so make sure to remove any taboo around internal mobility and try to explain the many benefits that it brings.

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Your managers should be subject matter experts as well as people managers who can recognise and nurture the potential in their direct reports.

3. Create an Internal Mobility Strategy

To move your employees into new roles, tasks, and projects so they can grow more agile as people and team members, you must develop a solid internal mobility strategy.

Although no two strategies will look the same, they should still contain the following:

Proactive gap analysis to determine what skills you have now, what you need, and where they are most likely to come from.
Communication program that shows the value of internal mobility.
A process that employees can follow if they are interested in a position within the company or want to move up.
KPIs that can be tracked, such as the number of employees that you would like to see moving within your organisation each year.
Mentorship and training programs to help managers find and nurture high-potential employees.

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This strategy should be a cohesive part of an internal mobility program. It should clearly outline how employees can move vertically or laterally within your company.

4. Leverage the Power of Technology

A job board could be an option worth considering as it allows employees to connect with other people. Interactive technology and AI can also be used to help employees map their skills and navigate through different career paths. This will allow them to identify areas that need improvement and pinpoint their priorities.

Auxiliary reading: How to Use Technology to Upskill your Workforce

Technology can be used to highlight internal mobility and attract talent. You can use interactive timelines on your website to highlight your employees' career growth. The timelines can be colour-coded to show how employees can move across divisions and even where they have moved geographically.

5. Communicate Your Policies Effectively

Internal opportunities shouldn't be something that employees must search for on your intranet. Instead, inform employees by emailing them, posting the open positions on a virtual or physical board, and making sure that all line managers are informed about new upcoming opportunities.

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Ensure that your policies are consistent across all organisational levels and keep your staff informed about any changes made to these policies.

Final Thoughts

Internal mobility is key to business success as it helps organisations become more efficient in moving and developing existing employees. To succeed in the long term, you must make it a part of the company's culture. This requires setting the right policies in place throughout the employee lifecycle and using the right tech tools.

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