Internal Mobility Programs: How to Secure Buy-In & Get the Skills Your Business Needs

Internal Mobility Programs: How to Secure Buy-In & Get the Skills Your Business Needs

In today’s ultra-competitive and dynamic talent market, HR teams face a daunting challenge: how to unlock the full potential of their workforce and retain employees amid tight budgets and evolving market demands. Let’s explore the challenges involved in fostering effective internal mobility programs within today’s dynamic organizational landscape and how to address them to gain buy-in from your leadership team.

Getting buy-in for internal mobility programs when budget and resources are tight

When budgets are tight, getting buy-in for internal mobility programs can be challenging. Organizations are focused on efficiency and profitability, putting pressure on HR departments to optimize resources while delivering value. This focus on cost-effectiveness and short-term results often overshadows longer-term talent development initiatives. However, this lean mindset also presents an opportunity for internal mobility programs to shine as a strategic solution for talent optimization and cost savings.

Jeff Diana, hyper-growth advisor and former Chief People Officer, has some advice: “Your executives are really worried about this quarter and next quarter. So you have to tie these things to short-term business goals while we plant seeds and do things for the long-term, because we know that part of our agenda is to make sure the business has sustainability.”

In today’s business environment, HR professionals need to understand market dynamics and the state of their organizations. It’s crucial to tie internal mobility programs to short-term business goals to align with the immediate concerns of executives and investors. You need to tie investments to tangible business outcomes such as delivering on your quarterly operations plan, improving your company OKR completion rate, and increasing team productivity.

Understanding the business plan and key initiatives is essential. It’s important to present internal mobility programs not just as a long-term investment but as a solution to immediate business challenges. Whether it’s launching a new product, entering a new market, or simply optimizing current resources, internal mobility can play a critical role. And emphasizing the opportunity cost of a mishire, especially with limited resources, can make a compelling case for investing in quality, vetted talent within the company.

One effective strategy is to emphasize temporary project-oriented work, or “swarming,” where employees from different departments come together to tackle specific initiatives. This approach provides employees with developmental opportunities and exposure to different roles, acting as a primer for permanent moves. It allows businesses to be agile and responsive with their existing talent, optimizing the workforce they have without the need for external hires.

 

BONUS RESOURCE

Learn more from Jeff Diana, Rea Rotholz, and Stacey Nordwall about how to define internal mobility and how it impacts business results. Get their advice >

 

Build or buy: How to get the skills your workforce needs

To determine where mobility might be beneficial, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of the skills and talents already available. When the job market is tough, people tend to stay in their jobs longer, so it’s a strategic opportunity to focus on growth and development now to retain talent when the market loosens up.

Assessing your organization’s capabilities doesn’t always require expensive tools. Leveraging self-assessments, performance reviews, 360 feedback, and direct conversations with department heads can provide valuable insights into where skills gaps exist and where internal mobility programs could be beneficial.

When planning for the future, it’s helpful to compare your team with competitors to understand where you stand. Looking at profiles on LinkedIn, for example, can provide a concrete comparison and help identify areas for improvement. Additionally, understanding your business’s future goals, such as adopting new technologies or entering new markets, helps in mapping current capabilities to future needs.

Rea Rotholz, Senior Director of Learning Solutions at Hone, adds, “Whatever your business goal is or your company vision, that’s where you need to start building now. You need to understand the current talent and where those gaps are going to be, so that three years from now, you’re not thinking, ‘Oh, we don’t actually have the resources to reach this goal we imagined two years ago.’”

Once you have this information, the next step is upskilling to fill those needs. This involves a “build or buy” strategy. Building refers to developing existing employees through training, mentoring, and job rotations to enhance their skills and capabilities. This approach not only leverages the knowledge and institutional memory already present within the organization but also fosters loyalty and engagement among employees who see opportunities for growth and development.

Building internal talent can be a strategic advantage, particularly in areas where specific skills are unique to the organization’s operations or culture. It allows for a tailored approach to skill development, where training programs can be customized to align with the organization’s strategic objectives and future needs. This method requires investment in learning and development initiatives but can yield long-term benefits by cultivating a workforce that is deeply aligned with the organization’s goals.

On the other hand, buying refers to hiring external talent to fill immediate skill gaps or to bring in specialized expertise that may not be readily available internally. This approach is typically faster than building internal talent, especially when there’s an urgent need to onboard skills critical for business continuity or growth. However, it comes with higher costs associated with recruitment, onboarding, and potentially higher salaries or compensation packages for new hires.

The decision to build or buy often depends on the urgency of skill needs, the availability of internal talent, and the organization’s long-term strategic goals. In dynamic industries where technology and market demands evolve rapidly, organizations may need to balance both approaches. They may choose to build core competencies internally while strategically supplementing with external hires for specialized roles or to inject new perspectives and ideas into the organization.

Mitigating bias within internal mobility programs

When it comes to ensuring fairness in internal opportunities, transparency is crucial. Otherwise, it often comes down to chance — who has a supportive manager, who’s seen as having potential, or who’s great at self-promotion.

For those who might feel left out, unaware of available roles, or overlooked by their managers, it can be very demotivating. That’s why creating awareness is key.

Stacey Nordwall, VP of People Strategy at Pyn, offers some advice: “A big thing is really just about creating awareness. Make sure that people know about the open recs or the recs that are going to be open. Make sure that whatever process you have — how to apply, what’s the eligibility, what’s the selection criteria — is really transparent and well known. And it doesn’t always have to come from HR. Consider using ERGs or affinity groups to push out the opportunities and make sure that people are aware of what exists.”

Another critical aspect is being as skill-oriented as possible in defining roles. This approach helps mitigate biases by focusing on what individuals can contribute based on their capabilities rather than subjective perceptions. Implementing systems that objectively assess skills, whether through formal tools or skill inventories, further supports this goal.

Personalized feedback also plays a pivotal role. Providing detailed insights to every internal candidate about how they fit (or didn’t) for a role fosters accountability and ensures thoughtful decision-making. This process not only enhances fairness but also enhances the candidate experience, showing that their contributions and potential are valued.

Ultimately, by setting clear expectations and emphasizing skill development, organizations can cultivate a culture where everyone has a fair chance to thrive. It’s about creating an environment where growth opportunities are transparent, and fairness is ingrained in every aspect of career advancement. This approach not only benefits individual employees but also contributes to a more cohesive and motivated workforce.

How to measure the effectiveness of internal mobility programs

When you’re assessing how well your internal mobility programs are working, think beyond the usual HR metrics like promotion rates or employee satisfaction. Sure, those matter, but what really grabs attention across the business is tying your mobility strategy to tangible business outcomes.

For instance, rather than just saying “we promoted more people,” try linking it to how those promotions contributed to hitting business targets. Maybe your team’s output increased because people were in roles that suited their skills better. Or perhaps you met project deadlines faster because of the talent shifts within your company.

It’s about showing how internal moves directly impacted key business goals. Maybe after implementing your program, your department saw a significant improvement in customer service metrics or a boost in product innovation. These are the kinds of results that speak volumes to senior leadership because they show how HR initiatives translate into real business success.

So, when you measure the effectiveness of your mobility strategy, think in terms of operational improvements or strategic wins that your team contributed to. When you can demonstrate that your initiatives not only develop talent but also drive bottom-line results, you’ll not only get buy-in but also position yourself as someone who understands and delivers on business needs.

Embracing internal mobility programs for business success

By tapping into the skills and potential already within their teams, companies can make the most of their resources and create a culture where growth and opportunity go hand in hand. Overcoming challenges like bias and resource limitations requires teamwork from HR and leadership. Prioritizing openness, skill-building, and aligning with company goals sets the stage for a dynamic, motivated workforce that drives lasting success.

Want to dive deeper? Watch the full on-demand webinar to learn how to spot the roadblocks holding your employees back from growing internally and get real-world strategies for creating a workplace that encourages growth and advancement.