Fostering Career Mobility: A Key to Talent Attraction and Retention

As time progresses and innovation increases in today's world, workers are pushing to learn and do more. They want to fulfill their needs for self-actualization by challenging themselves and using their abilities to the fullest. To advance their careers and add more accomplishments to their resume, employees typically seek employment opportunities in other companies.

Attracting and retaining talent is difficult, but internal career mobility can be the right solution. In this blog you will learn what professional mobility is, how you can offer it in your company and what benefits it has for your employees and your company.

What is professional mobility?

Career mobility means moving your employees into different positions and roles so they can expand their skills. These can be higher, lower or equal positions. Career mobility is a means of placing employees in unusual and challenging situations so that they can better adapt to different work tasks. If you e.g. For example, sending your accountant to work on a graphic design team can help them learn something new. This will stimulate employee interest and also expand your talent community.

Advantages of professional mobility

There are many benefits to providing your employees with career mobility opportunities, both for you and for your employees. Below we list some of the most obvious benefits of internal professional mobility.

Professional mobility attracts employees

Career mobility attracts employees who seek to grow beyond their current potential. They want to put themselves in different situations to learn what is happening around them and gain additional experience in different areas. Who wouldn't want to brag about their skills?

Imagine one day someone has a problem with a piece of software and knows nothing about it, but the person next to them solves their problem even though they work at the same level in the same area. That would be impressive. There are numerous reasons why employees will be interested in your company if it offers its employees the opportunity for career mobility.

Career mobility opportunities allow you to attract new talent with similar interests in the market. Your current employees will remain loyal to you if they know they can advance their careers within your company instead of looking outside.

Career mobility contributes to employee retention

If your employees know that your company will accommodate employees at different levels and in different roles, they will have no reason to leave you when career growth and job expansion attract them. In this context, you need to address their problems because 70% of employees stay with a company that promotes them within three years of joining. 62% of employees stay with the company if they are mobilized laterally.

Let's say your employee is interested in art and is a marketer. He starts taking graphic design courses and wants to try something new. Chances are good that he's looking for positions in the IT department that need graphic designers. You should give him the opportunity to work as a graphic designer so that he can pursue his interests and you receive the benefits of his efforts in another work role. Creating roles and opportunities for employees within your company will increase employee retention and reduce turnover rates.

Improving employee skills

Employees who work in different departments on their own initiative learn new things. Each person tries to make learning easy and interesting, which has a positive impact on their work performance. In return, this leads to greater productivity and efficiency. The more skills they acquire, the better it is for you and for them. Your skills can come in handy for you and you don't need to hire new candidates for something that can be done in-house.

For example, if you allow your employees to learn Python software, you don't have to look for IT specialists. You will solve the problems related to Python if you have the in-house talent for the task.

Increased productivity

According to a study conducted by HCI and Oracle in 2015, 60% of 291 employers reported that employees who were promoted performed significantly better than employees who were hired externally for the same tasks.

High productivity can result from job mobility because when one employee leaves, many others in line can replace him. Your work is never interrupted and organizational activities are carried out smoothly. Poor productivity can also be a problem for your employees as they work with little energy and efficiency. However, if you offer job mobility, they will be able to concentrate better because they won't have time to lack energy but will have to be on their feet to complete the task. Nobody wants to be a poor performer and miss out on all the benefits. Therefore, you will see higher productivity in your business.

You stay ahead of the competition

When your employees are multitasking and multi-talented, they contribute to your unique selling point and keep you ahead of your competition in the market. Let's assume there are two companies, A and B. Company A does not support job mobility and employees have the same daily routine. In Company B, on the other hand, employees change roles after two or three months. Which company has more to offer other potential employers? Certainly Company B. So if employees stay with you and offer more benefits, firstly, that makes you competitive because no one else will be able to achieve the same skills as your employees, and secondly, the talented employees will stay with you, like that that they are inaccessible to others.

Remember, to maintain a highly competitive workforce, you need to upskill your employees with a combination of processes and HR technologies.

Conclusion

Career mobility, or job mobility within your company, discourages your employees from looking elsewhere for growth opportunities. Career mobility helps attract and retain talent. People get bored with the routine they follow and need pleasant changes to challenge themselves. Offering your employees career mobility increases productivity and helps you compete in the market with a unique and well-trained workforce.

Invest in internal career mobility with IceHrm's innovative HR solutions. Empower your employees, foster growth, and maintain a competitive edge.