Our companies are seeing some of their most talented employees leave because of boredom (the Bore-out phenomenon affects 28% of us), and especially because of the lack of opportunities for evolution.
Reinforcing the internal mobility strategy is always relevant when companies are streamlining their talent acquisition budget. Allowing employees to train and progress within the organization can take many forms, both in terms of vertical and horizontal mobility. Let’s investigate the correlations between this liberalization of internal trajectories and retention.
Internal development, a growing demand from employees
Internal development leads employees to stay longer in organizations
For many years, we have seen a trend towards shorter and more fragmented career paths within the company. Several studies shed light on the sociological evolution of work.
Accelerating job changes
The amount of time spent in one job has shrunk dramatically: according to Labor statistics, the average person changes jobs between 5 and 13 times during their career.
What are the drivers of accelerated job changes?
Among the factors precipitating more regular job movements, artificial intelligence has an undeniable share. The Hauts de France region has estimated, through a study, that out of 542 jobs in 23 sectors, 523 will be impacted by this technology.
Then comes the ecological transition, which is changing entire sectors of activity, such as the automotive industry, with the end of the production of internal combustion engines and the move towards the construction of electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Fully aware of the situation, employees behave rationally to adapt to these conditions while showing, at 42%, a preference for achieving these changes within their current company.
Employees prefer internal advancements.
In addition, a 2019 survey conducted by Hellowork and Hays reveals that 75% of executives favor internal mobility because of their in-depth knowledge of the company. 60% want to develop their skills by changing positions while staying in the same company, and 47% value the possibility of keeping their seniority benefits.
A way to meet the needs of high potentials and top talents
More specifically, internal mobility offers more rewarding opportunities for profiles that need constant learning. A structured career path between several positions allows for renewed interest. “HiPo” profiles have a greater tendency to get bored and need to be regularly stimulated.
Internal mobility is thus a considerable asset for these profiles. They get the opportunity to develop their skills by familiarizing themselves with different departments and functions within the company. This gives them an overview of the organization and helps them understand the strategic issues and decision-making processes. In addition, they can build internal networks to make themselves known to the company's leaders, which is also a strong incentive for ambitious profiles.
Internal mobility therefore meets the need for employee autonomy by making them actors of their career within your structure.
Conquering the war of talent through internal development programs
Attracting talent through a culture of internal advancements
According to Glassdoor, career opportunities are among the top 6 most important criteria when choosing a company. This terminology does not necessarily refer to formal job assignments but rather to a philosophy that allows talent to multiply experiences. In an environment of constant talent shortages, companies that build and value a culture that spontaneously connects people and creates synergies from skills are more likely to attract and retain talent. Human Resources teams have a great interest in building a work environment open to experimentation and formalizing possible cross-functional changes to attract external expertise.
Retaining talent with internal developments
Quiet quitting," synonymous with decreased engagement, is symptomatic of a new way of looking at work. It affects a specific population:
A National Bureau of Economic Research study identifies the phenomenon as predominantly male, more associated with high-income populations between 25 and 39 years old. The Washington researchers’ study is available here.
Internal mobility drives the troops and truly helps with employee retention. According to a LinkedIn study, employees stay longer within a company if they have opportunities for career growth, such as cross-functional positions or regular promotions. The study results show that:
- After one year, 87% of employees are more likely to want to continue working at the company if they have benefited from internal mobility.
- After three years, 64% of employees are more likely to want to stay with the company if they have been internally mobile.
It is not only about having opportunities but making them visible and educating people on the steps to access them. The transparency with which internal mobility is carried out is also key to a successful Talent Management strategy. Discover how Neobrain’s platform facilitates the retention of your employees.
For less rigid, more open, and more resilient organizations
Mobility and talent fluidity
Internal mobility is all the more relevant in a retention strategy as it allows for a smoother organization. As a result, 85% of HR organizations say they are investing in more agile work organization models to gain speed and adapt quicklier to market changes. We explore this aspect further in our article: What forms of work organization tomorrow?
Mobility and skills availability
The competitive advantage of internal mobility is not limited to retention. To respond to the problem of skills shortages in a short period, to reduce costs by avoiding the need to recruit external talent, and to pass on valuable skills , a new model for allocating resources is emerging: the skill-centered organization. This model, adopted by companies such as Unilever and Vodafone, blurs the boundaries of business lines and considers each person’s know-how as the best way to organize the company’s activity.
Mobility and meritocracy
Internal mobility fosters equal opportunity and diversity by allowing a variety of profiles in terms of training and origin to stand out. Objectifying performance and expertise levels is a condition for promoting this meritocratic culture. By choosing more varied and accessible candidate pools, the company also reduces the risks associated with external recruitment. That is the basis for creating a talent marketplace.
Conclusion: internal mobility, a driver of retention, attractiveness, and fluidity for employees
Despite the liberalization of career opportunities, internal mobility remains appreciated by employees: it is an unhoped-for opportunity for the company. HR teams must formalize career paths.
What are the conditions for building meaningful career paths?
Three conditions are necessary to build engaging career paths:
- Keep a margin of freedom in the creation of new career paths
- Objectivize the criteria of mobility, communicate the decided policy , and thus make it beneficial to the performance logic.
- Create a mobility culture among managers and involve them in defining development criteria.
Today we talk about ‘Quiet hiring’, which consists of asking employees for additional tasks outside their initial role. A symptom of organizational renewal in which job descriptions are becoming obsolete, this phenomenon has severe consequences on retention, which is why a formal framework encouraged by the HR department is a preferred alternative.
