Internal mobility allows organizations to thrive especially in today’s competitive work landscape. But it begs the question: what are the benefits of internal mobility? Read more to find out!
While internal mobility has already been a hot topic in recruiting circles for years, especially in large companies, it’s important to know how it contributes to organization growth. Based on data from Linkedin, in 2020, the internal hiring rate was around 20% higher than it was during the same time in the previous year.
“The future of talent acquisition lies in reskilling, rather than finding someone better in the market. If you need to hire today, you need to reskill yesterday,” said Rajesh Ahuja, the Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Infosys.
But in what way can reskilling help achieve internal mobility in organizations?
As a refresher, reskilling involves learning new skills so that you can do different jobs. This means that having a workforce that possesses various relevant skills in today’s job market enables them to explore roles and industries outside of their current one.
Still, this also begs the question why is internal mobility important in any organization?
Here, we give you the main benefits of internal mobility for your company:
Fill vacant positions and roles faster
According to Josh Bersin, renowned HR expert, recruiting from outside is 6 times more expensive than hiring internally.
And it’s true! Having a talent pool with skills and knowledge relevant to your business is important in filling up vacant positions within your company faster, easier, and more importantly, less costly.
The truth of the matter is that the talent market and the work landscape are continuously changing. This means that new roles are arising! According to Forbes, organizations who have upskilled and retrained their workforce were able to let their current employees occupy much-needed positions as well as other emerging roles, especially during the pandemic.
And this is why internal mobility is crucial, not just in making any organization prosper, but also in enduring times of crisis. Having a skilled workforce within your company can help you immediately promote and reassign your employees whenever the need arises.
Improve employee retention and engagement
As organizations develop reskilling programs to promote internal mobility, employees will more likely stay employed in the same company. In fact, according to TalentLMS, 80% of surveyed employees say that upskilling and reskilling has boosted their confidence. And this can easily translate into their work satisfaction; thus, they’re most likely to enjoy their jobs and become more productive.
Imagine not having enough internal mobility in your company. You might risk losing top talent to your competitors or other organizations!
According to Deloitte, internal talent mobility can also boost employee engagement by as much as 30%. Since reskilling is a central element to achieving internal mobility, employees who are developing and are given the opportunity to learn other things outside of their own fields become more engaged not only in your reskilling programs but also in your company. Engaged employees equate to better productivity for your company!
Empower your talent pool
One of the greatest perks of having internal career mobility is that you allow your employees to further nurture their knowledge and skills, increasing their professional competencies that match the demands of the ever-changing workplace.
Internal mobility can help you empower your employees in more ways than one:
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement – Having internal talent mobility drives ongoing agility across your organization. This is also your way to support long-term employability of your workforce by encouraging them to shift roles, projects, and work assignments.
- Increase employees’ lateral growth – Considering how skills gaps are bridged, you give your employees more room for lateral growth. For example, a person from the marketing department can shift to taking an information technology-related role within your organization if they’re given the chance to have enough capabilities through reskilling programs in your organization.
- Provide autonomy to employees – Having a strong skills set gives anyone the freedom to expand their skills set, pivot to another career path, and grow more within your organization.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that upskilling and reskilling should work hand in hand for your organization to achieve more internal mobility, enabling your talent pool to develop further. Effectively manage a thriving internal talent marketplace that provides your employees enough room for later growth and further exploration in terms of their professional endeavors.
