E-Book: The State of Internal Mobility for 2020

The following text is an excerpt from our latest e-book on our industry, “The State of Internal Mobility for 2020”.

Definition: Internal mobility, or career mobility,  refers to the movement of employees across roles or a complete change in an occupation within the same company.

Acquisition of key talent is a top priority for any large enterprise. A company is only as good as its people, so it’s not surprising that the recruiting and retention of talent has become one of the most mission-critical issues for all large organizations. 

For a while, we’ve been talking about the greatest source of talent that companies are ignoring: their own workforces. 

For companies to fill their talent gaps effectively, they need to look towards internal mobility.

Internal mobility is not a new concept. We all know that internal hires perform decidedly better than external counterparts on their first few years at a new role, according to a Wharton study. They are also approximately 20% cheaper from a salary perspective.

That being said, the core of internal mobility has changed greatly over the last few decades. We live in an innovation-based, skill-specialization economy. Modern career progressions, for the most part, are no longer linear. The days of starting work as a clerk in the mailroom and becoming an executive are over.

Translation: Because of limited advancement opportunities in their current company, people are changing jobs more frequently than ever before. 

This begs the question: Why don’t more companies have more defined, innovative internal mobility processes? 

Today, talent teams across the world are judged by their ability to make their employees feel that their best future opportunities are right where they are. This means improving the following metrics:

  • Employee retention rates

  • The number of internal applicants for new roles

  • More positive responses in career satisfaction surveys

Why Internal Mobility?

At Paddle HR, we believe that giving your employees the room they need to grow is the best way to retain their services. To fill the gaps they need, employers should look towards the talent they already have. Not only will this help keep their workforce intact, but it will also help save money in the hiring process. 

"Internal mobility is a dynamic internal process for moving talent from role to role - at the leadership, professional, and operational levels." - Bersin by Deloitte

So, why internal mobility? A survey conducted by Gallup rounded up the six main reasons for why people leave their jobs. Broken down by percentage, we see that lack of career growth is the main reason why people leave their jobs:

  1. Career advancement or promotional opportunities: 32%

  2. Pay/benefits: 22%

  3. Lack of fit to job: 20.2%

  4. Management or the general work environment: 17%

  5. Flexibility/scheduling: 8%

  6. Job security: 2%

Another reason why hiring managers should look internally is that internal hires tend to outperform external hires. Why? It could be that they’ve already been with the company for so long that you don’t have to spend time training them on things such as company culture, corporate structure, products and customers. 

In addition, they cost less. External hires command a 20% higher salary than their internal rivals, and a study by Airbnb found that internal candidates require 25-50% less interviewing time. 

In this e-book, we’ll share the industry’s best-kept secrets on internal mobility…

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Infographic: 3 Reasons Why Your Company Should Embrace Internal Mobility

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Why Internal Mobility Matters