Internal Mobility

Talent generally has three options when they crave change. They can choose to wait and hope change finds its way to them. They can search for new opportunities outside of their current organization. Or, they can pursue change within their organization. That last option is attractive because it means initiating change without taking too much risk. However, the chances given to employees to develop inside their organization depend on internal mobility programs. Not all organizations have such, leaving employees with two options both pointing toward the exit.

Internal mobility enables the movement of employees within an organization. The term is used interchangeably with talent mobility and career mobility. The movement of employees happens either vertically or laterally. Traditionally, internal mobility focused on promoting employees to more senior positions with increased responsibility against higher pay. A more modern approach, however, also enables employees to pursue other paths, including transitions to different roles at similar levels, temporary or permanent moves to hybrid roles working on different projects in varying capacities, and geographical transitions maintaining similar roles but working from different locations.  Internal mobility programs are structured processes that employees, managers, and talent teams follow to facilitate the movement of talent. In upward and role-to-role mobility that refers to activities and training that must be completed and milestones that must be reached before employees can transition to their new roles. Hybrid and geographical mobility programs are more checkmarks- and responsibility-oriented as talent requires their roles to be (re)defined and access to tools, offices, and other items enabling these transitions. All internal mobility programs aim to empower employees to pursue their interests and develop professionally.

Employee engagement is the core reason why talent mobility is important. It's critical to on-the-job performance and talent retention. Disengaged workers have poorer performances and are more active in job searches than their engaged peers. Data suggests that global employee engagement was around 23% in 2022 (Gallup, 2023). That was a record-high number. It shows what untapped potential there is in human capital. Internal mobility helps capture that potential while also addressing big challenges around talent shortages and skills gaps. Investments in mobility boost engagement and help prevent resource losses. In 2018, Gartner estimated that an average-sized organization loses about $49 million per year due to employee turnover caused by a lack of career mobility. It's harder to quantify the financial wins but they spread thick across the organization. Better talent mobility promotes internal hiring, encourages learning, closes skills gaps, and positively affects individual and team performances. Financial gains add to avoided costs and far outweigh any significant investment in internal mobility programs. That's what makes them worth the attention of leaders.

Talent mobility programs are good for business and create more skills-centric, growth-oriented, and transparent organizational cultures. Yet, only 6% of organizations believe they excel at internal mobility (Josh Bersin, 2021). Leading organizations are reporting better performances in employee retention, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and employee experiences. Hence, to no one's surprise, 70% of organizations are ramping up investments in internal mobility (Workday, 2023). Leaders understand the importance of internal mobility but find it difficult to prepare their organizations for it in the right way. According to research by Deloitte (2019), 76% of organizations see it as mission-critical but 60% of organizations aren't ready for internal mobility. Leaders know things can be better. 56% of employers believe they're doing an inadequate job of leveraging their existing talent and 37% of them argue it’s easier for employees to find a new role in a different organization (Deloitte, 2019). Employees agree. Organizations can do better. Only 36% of employees feel their organization is good at enabling internal mobility (Deloitte, 2019). Data indicating that internal mobility can be better is provided by the Boston Consulting Group (2022), showing a mere 10% of new roles are filled by internal lateral hires. More money for mobility programs shows leaders recognize their potential but without a comprehensive understanding of what works and what doesn't these programs fail to meet their purpose. 

The key to good internal mobility rests in combining investments with meaningful actions. It starts at the top where leaders need to incentivize themselves and their colleagues to get hands-on in attracting internal talent to their teams. This approach needs to trickle down management layers and create a healthy yet competitive atmosphere. Not all leaders have thousands of jobs to fill. For those leading organizations with fewer job opportunities, it's important to focus on the different types of mobility such as hybrid and geographical mobility. To succeed, talent teams must be given ownership over mobility programs, receive backing from leadership and regularly meet with employees to determine if the programs meet their purpose. If they aren't encouraging movement and fall short of boosting employee engagement, the programs need to change. Expanding programs that don't deliver equals wasted resources. When all the aforementioned is put in place, what remains is the data. Leaders and talent teams have to identify the right metrics to measure the impact of internal mobility on their organizations. Only then, is the capital invested in mobility programs able to convert to meaningful results.

Internal mobility encapsulates different approaches to enable employee movement vertically and laterally across the organization. Leaders need to invest in mobility programs because they increase employee engagement and consequently impact performance and retention. For most organizations, there's work to do. Most leaders and employees acknowledge that their organizations aren't adequately capturing the benefits of internal mobility. The work starts with leaders getting their hands dirty. Talent teams are ultimately responsible for making mobility programs available and collecting qualitative and quantitative data to measure whether they are effective. When done right, organizations provide employees with a very attractive way to pursue change without leaving the organization.