Hiring the best talent cannot suffice the agility and flexibility goals of a business. Top talent always steps into an organization with a growth mindset. It understands the importance of developing their skills and taking up new roles and need a sense of career advancement. Thus, providing talent an equal opportunity to grow is important. It can be achieved through talent mobility.
Talent mobility is when employees can move between different positions within their organization. Talent mobility helps HR managers gain insights into employee skill sets, backgrounds, and career aspirations. These insights help managers to place employees into new roles matching their goals. Talent mobility helps organizations to meet the changing market needs, increase efficiency and improve employee satisfaction.
Talent mobility is the secret sauce to creating an agile and happy workforce. There are many simple ways to introduce talent mobility in business:
01- Signing up on external talent marketplaces to create a talent pool
02- Developing existing employees through training programs
03- Creating visible career paths for their employees
04- Supporting cross-functional projects in the organization
05- Removing internal barriers and creating flexible policies
Talent mobility helps companies become more agile. Companies can dynamically develop and align their workforce to suit their business needs. Internal talent mobility can help HR professionals strategically plan their human resources and connect them with opportunities. Companies can utilize the untapped skills of employees and meet organizational goals. One of the biggest challenges HR may face is identifying skills within their workplace and where they lie. The best talent can be found within the organization, but a lack of visibility between the teams can make this talent go to waste. To develop a culture of transparency, HR can launch a talent marketplace within the organization. It can make it easier for employees to find new opportunities, whether a short-term gig or a long-term project.
As per a LinkedIn Survey in 2021, about 74% of the employees use their jobs as a shelter. A steady paycheck and monetary perks are the only motivation that keeps them going. The situation is likely to stay the same even this year if employees won’t find any other reason to stay in an organization except for money. They are likely to leave if they won’t be able to forecast growth opportunities in the organization.
When an organization loses its top employee, they also have to bear the cost of productivity and knowledge of that talent. Also, finding a replacement is another cost companies have to bear.
Retaining top talent means providing them with adequate opportunities to grow and test new waters. Providing employees an opportunity to move within the organization and taste new experiences is a great way to ensure they stay for a long time. Reduction in employee turnover is the best indicator that the mobility strategy is working.
When employees feel valued and motivated, they do not hesitate to bring their best to the table. They are likely to take the initiative whenever an opportunity is presented which requires them to push their boundaries. Through internal mobility HR managers can create an internal talent pipeline of motivated and skilled employees, ready to take on responsibilities when required. This can cut the onboarding time required by the new hire, especially in leadership roles. Management gets to understand their employees’ backgrounds better and can work towards supporting employee goals, resulting in better connections between employees and management.
An effort is a two-way street. If employees are putting their effort to provide value to businesses, organizations should return the same by investing in employee development. Through talent mobility, companies can connect employees to their desired roles. When employees can notice the effort a company is putting into their career advancement, they feel inspired to reach their full potential. Letting your employees move around teams gives them a chance to establish a connection with the other members as well. This arrangement can be beneficial when organizations are working in a remote setting.
Companies are focusing on diversity and inclusion in 2022 and the coming years. Even employees wish to work with organizations that support DEI. While achieving DEI can be complex, providing equal pay and opportunities to employees irrespective of their gender is a good initial step. A lot of organizations still struggle with women’s equity in the workplace. It is comparatively harder for women to re-enter the workforce if they exit due to any reasons. To encourage continuous female participation, many companies are using talent mobility. Companies can encourage continued female labor participation by allowing them to move to flexible projects and long-term assignments. Talent mobility will enable female employees to stay relevant in the workforce while getting a chance to upskill themselves.
Every talent requirement cannot be fulfilled within the organization. While companies will be moving people into different short-term and long-term roles, they also have to ensure the work pressure does not pile up on one employee or department for that matter. This is where HR can use the external talent pipelines. External talent marketplaces can play a huge role for businesses introduce talent mobility and have an agile structure. By hiring freelancers and contractors, companies can fill the productivity gaps and get things in order. Since freelancers require minimal training and are adept in their craft, the company also saves on cost of hiring and training a new employee.
FlexC is an AI-enabled external talent marketplace that can help businesses find and manage top talent. Through FlexC’s AI recommendations, HR will be able to onboard the best freelancers and contractors for their short-term and long-term talent requirements. The platform even simplifies their performance tracking and invoicing. FlexC’s dashboard showing real-time data will help businesses track the productivity of freelancers and contractors. Through real-time data managers can analyze how employees contribute to the company’s professional development. To achieve successful talent mobility, businesses need to adopt a ‘buy, borrow, or bring’ mindset. And to buy or bring new talent into the workplace, there’s no better place than FlexC.