Everything You Gain Through Internal Mobility

Among the strategies defined to better manage employee careers and ensure their fulfillment is internal mobility. Every employee seeks fulfillment within their work and certain career advancement. Internal mobility therefore comes at the right time to motivate and retain them. What does it represent? What are its advantages? Discover in this video why internal mobility is a crucial issue for companies:

What Do We Mean by Internal Mobility?

Internal mobility is the process by which an employee changes jobs or positions within the same organization. It can take several forms and therefore translates into a promotion, transfer, job rotation, training, or reassignment. It can also include a salary increase and new responsibilities. The mobility request can come from the employee themselves. This request is submitted to their supervisors, or they apply for an internal job posting. In this case, the mobility is said to be voluntary. However, when a third party makes a request on the employee's behalf, we can say they are driving this request.

The Different Forms of Internal Mobility

Internal mobility comes in various forms. These include:

• Geographic mobility: Geographic mobility refers to the case where the employee works within another structure of the group that employs them, in another city, country, or continent. Internal geographic mobility can be due to several reasons, including the closure of an office, the company's relocation to another country or city, or by the employee's own choice.
• Horizontal internal mobility: Horizontal mobility involves the employee moving to a position with new responsibilities while maintaining the same hierarchical level. When the employee finds themselves in this situation, they need support to properly perform their new duties. This remains nonetheless a significant change for the individual, and at the same time a bet for the company that believed in them. Everything must therefore be done to ensure that the employee's productivity and motivation do not decline.
• Vertical mobility: Vertical mobility, on the other hand, allows employees to advance hierarchically with more responsibilities. It generally involves an increase in compensation and level of responsibility. Vertical internal mobility therefore represents a real opportunity for the employee.

Professionals in the management field unanimously agree that one of the reasons for employee fulfillment lies in the secrets of a good internal mobility process.

How Can Internal Mobility Be Encouraged?

The implementation of the internal mobility process is led by the human resources department. This is also part of human resources management and must be mentioned in the employment contract from the start. How to promote an agile internal mobility path? This is the concern of every company that wants to see its employees' skills multiply, see them thrive and develop. Here are some elements that can easily promote this mobility, as it represents after all a change or professional evolution for employees:

• Encourage employees to apply for vacant positions and participate in internal mobility programs
• Offer training and development opportunities to develop employee skills and give them more options for advancement within the company
• Clearly communicate the benefits of internal mobility and the career opportunities that result from it
• Create a discussion forum to facilitate dialogue between employees and managers
• Establish employee recognition programs that encourage internal mobility
• Facilitate employee transitions between different positions using appropriate tools and resources
• Create transparent selection processes to promote internal mobility.

The advantage of internal recruitment for the company is well established. Business leaders prefer to give opportunities to their existing employees rather than recruiting new talent. This is why everything is put in place to make mobility a success.

The Stakes of Internal Mobility

Internal mobility or crossboarding represents a real challenge for companies and employees. It aims to:

• Retain employees: every employee aspires to career advancement. What better way than to do so within the same company? By offering them this option, your company will meet their expectations and ensure their long-term loyalty. Your employees will be able to advance professionally without having to leave the company, and you won't need to launch new recruitment drives.
• Increase team productivity: internally, employees are already familiar with how the company operates, its vision, and its culture. They will therefore have a head start over new recruits and will adapt more quickly. Moreover, they will feel recognized and valued. You can thus capitalize on employees' skills and increase their motivation.
• Facilitate recruitment and onboarding: the company will certainly save time and money. Indeed, it will call upon employees who have already proven themselves and will spend less time training them. The company will therefore considerably reduce the costs and constraints associated with recruitment.

The Importance of Human Resources for Internal Mobility

The human resources department uses management tools to measure and manage internal mobility processes. Human resources play a decisive role in internal mobility. Indeed, they are responsible for selecting and training candidates, managing transfer processes, and monitoring the progress of employees who have been promoted. Human resources are responsible for identifying employee skills and capabilities, implementing the training and development programs necessary to ensure that employees are ready to take on new responsibilities. The HR department also ensures oversight during employee transfers and implements an evaluation system for their follow-up. They are also tasked with ensuring that promoted employees are well integrated into their new environment and new team. They must also ensure that they are aware of the changes and requirements that accompany their promotion. Finally, the human resources department ensures that the internal mobility process is fair and transparent for all employees. A competent employee is certainly sought after by other companies. How to effectively reduce turnover? This is also one of the HR missions that internal recruitment addresses.

What Are the Limitations of Internal Mobility?

The advantages of internal mobility are certainly numerous, however it also has some limitations. It is important to know them before getting started. Indeed, any company considering internal recruitment has an obligation to train the employees concerned. Changing positions involves performing new tasks. The employee must therefore be properly trained to excel in accomplishing them. This requires a significant investment and a lot of time. Furthermore, internal recruitment considerably limits your choices. The company does not necessarily have the desired profile for the position to be filled within its ranks. It is therefore sometimes necessary to resort to external talent. In cases where there is only one position to fill and several candidates, internal recruitment can create a climate of rivalry within the company. If the reasons for choosing one employee are not understood, there is a risk of jealousy, rumors of favoritism, or inequality. When internal mobility is not well managed, when the employees concerned do not find their interest or professional development in it, this is felt. Motivation and the willingness to work are no longer there. Quiet quitting: buzzword or real issue? This is truly one of the consequences that companies face. In an increasingly evolving and competitive job market, human resources (HR) must meet major challenges, attract talent, and retain them once recruited. Internal mobility is a policy that remains essential for meeting these challenges. The tools and means used during its implementation require monitoring, follow-up, or redesign to achieve company objectives and satisfy employees. We can therefore say that the benefits of internal mobility are numerous.