'If someone wants to move internally, it’s a lot more likely to be a lateral move than it is to be a step up'
Employees are looking to greener organizational pastures these days but not many are actually considering their current employer.
More than half (54 per cent) of U.S. workers say they have better job opportunities at their current employer than elsewhere.
And 76 per cent said they are aware of jobs within their organization while 72 per cent are aware of the process for moving into those positions.
And yet, less than one-quarter (23 per cent) have actually taken advantage of them, according to a survey done by Eagle Hill Consulting, in Arlington, Va.
Promoting internal career movement is an area that needs more attention, according to one HR consultant.
“It hasn’t been easy for organizations to provide this because they don’t necessarily have an easy system for employees to understand: what are other jobs? What would be accessible within my career path? What would my career path look like?” says Lorraine McKay, co-founder and chief of talent solutions at Human Resource Systems Group in Ottawa.
‘Nebulous concept’
So why are employers struggling to fill open jobs? For one, issues such as pay increases and internal mobility are not linked because of the way companies structure their processes, says Dannie Lynn Fountain, senior SWE sourcer at Google in Seattle.
“If someone wants to move internally, it’s a lot more likely to be a lateral move than it is to be a step up,” she says.
“They will take the new job [and] definitely have a new title but they’re still not going to change their pay until the end-of-the-year compensation cycle.”
For Fountain, who recently switched careers from sales to HR, many employers are not deploying internal mobility to its full potential.
“It’s on their radar, they’re just motivated to use it as a backfill into succession planning process, when really internal mobility should be focused on internal talent development: identifying individuals who are ready for a new opportunity,” she says.
“Honestly, probably one of the biggest barriers right now is that there’s this nebulous concept of internal mobility at a lot of companies but it’s not as clearly defined as it could be.”
Fear factor
For some of the 1,140 respondents — who were surveyed between July 22 and 27 — negative repercussions were feared by 35 per cent who openly explored internal options and the number was higher for younger employees: 42 per cent.
That desire to move is present, and employers should find ways to respond without negative repercussions, says McKay.
“Employers are looking for a way of keeping their employees and it doesn’t necessarily have to be through increased pay. It’s through job satisfaction and giving a future to the employee that they desire.”
By implementing a robust internal mobility program, this could help in keeping people onboard, says Fountain.
“Internal mobility can be a way to save employee retention in the case of tremendously talented employees, who are just in the wrong role for their skill set. A lot of times, companies lose those employees because they don’t take steps to support them and internal mobility programs that are well thought out could have a process in place for: ‘Let’s just move this person to a role that’s a better fit.’”
Combining this type of program with a solid training and development scheme could also yield better results as 66 per cent of respondents to the Eagle survey consider skill building as one of the top benefits of internal movement.
“Many employers have seen this for years in their employee satisfaction surveys, where employees, they do want a career and they look to the organization to help give them these tools,” says McKay.
“The benefit is an employee, they get to learn and develop and feel like they’re building towards a career and that’s the big advantage.”
This also would translate well for younger workers, according to Fountain.
“For millennial and gen Z individuals, research shows [they] expect promotions or role changes a lot faster than gen x and boomers might have in the past, so having really well-thought-out internal mobility programs, even if it has a rotational component, giving those individuals exposure to new roles more frequently can help with retention,” she says.
Steadiness is key
In order for internal mobility to work, says McKay, it can’t become a source of instability.
“A lot of supervisors don’t want to lose somebody to a different job because maybe they’ve got good performance right now and they know that performance might deteriorate if they have to train somebody else. There’s fear among supervisors… so that that needs to be managed, and you can’t have a free-for-all.”
“Mobility should be measured and managed to some extent, but you can’t be afraid of letting employees develop and move,” she says.
And ensure that whatever program is developed, it comes with an unbiased process, or it also risks failure, says Fountain.
“Internal mobility can exist through an ‘old boys club,’ where individuals are spotted for advancement opportunities in advance without a true interview or application process. So having an equitable internal mobility program that everyone has access to can help with that as well.”
