The ever-increasing gap between the supply and demand for quality talent has forced organizations to consider new approaches to retain existing talent. One strategy has been to nurture the talent pipeline within the company by encouraging career mobility in the organization. In fact, research shows that mobility strategies help retain talent and increase employee satisfaction. Not only do employee mobility programs facilitate a transfer of talent, but they also improve agility, innovation, and collaboration.

That’s not nearly all – the improved visibility and transparency would improve employee trust and confidence in the organization and encourage workers to nominate themselves for leadership roles as well. Additionally, the time and cost related to closing an open position would naturally come down. Simply put, by paving the way for fluid career paths, organizations will be able to retain quality talent, improve employee engagement, and devise an effective talent management strategy. 

Challenges to creating a culture of career mobility 

Only 6 percent of the respondents in the 2019 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report  stated that they were ‘excellent’ at moving people from role to role; whereas, 43 percent admitted to being ‘fair’ in the domain and another 16 percent said that they were ‘inadequate.’ 

Nearly 50 percent of the respondents noted that their organizations lack processes to identify and move employees. Another 48 percent cited a shortage in the availability of suitable employees to fill roles. However, surprisingly, the manager’s resistance to internal moves (46 percent) and lack of information for employees on available roles (45 percent) were also some of the top barriers to talent mobility. Research shows the employees find a new job in a different organization easier than with their current employer.  

How to get started?

Despite the challenges listed above, developing a culture of career mobility and designing a talent mobility program at your workplace isn’t as tough as it may seem. Here’s how to start:

• Begin small with clearly-defined goals that focus on one aspect of talent management, say reducing the turnover or improving engagement levels. Leveraging succession planning tools will help you identify talent that needs to be nurtured.
• Set up processes to capture the relevant data and initiate the process of getting everyone on board - everyone, from senior leaders to team managers.
• Create or invest in comprehensive mobility platforms that use the latest technology to build intuitive, intelligent, and interactive experiences for your employees to view vacant positions in the company. Integrate data analysis tools to connect employees with relevant information. 
• Identify high-potential and high-performing employees to initiate a discussion about their future plans in the company to understand their aspirations and devise suitable mobility options that fit their development requirements.
• Provide sufficient training, support, and mentorship opportunities to employees who move laterally to help them excel in their new role; encourage them to take up roles and responsibilities that best align their skills.

The best bet for organizations is to identify workers for new roles and responsibilities from within their workforce. However, we still have a long way to go in ensuring that talent mobility and talent management go hand-in-hand and that it is embedded in the culture of organizations