Gartner Says HR Leaders Must Build a Robust Strategy to Improve Talent Mobility

“Creating desirable career opportunities for employees within your organization is essential to prevent attrition,” said Lauren Smith, vice president in the Gartner HR practice. “Progressive organizations go one step further and help employees move jobs internally and intentionally staff open roles with internal candidates.”

HR leaders can engage active job seekers and drive talent mobility by promoting internal opportunities through in-person or online job fairs, and training candidates on resume writing and offering workshops or webinars to provide more career growth and development opportunities for employees.

In order to provide an understanding of the opportunities available across the enterprise, HR leaders must change the culture around internal career moves.

A Pull Approach for Active Job Seekers

Organizations can retain employees who are already seeking a new position by making it easier for them to find internal positions and apply successfully. Only 27% of employees agree that their organization makes finding job opportunities that suit their interests easy for them, according to Gartner research. HR leaders should apply external recruiting best practices internally to ensure employees understand what opportunities are available.

Showing that career development is both feasible and desirable in the business allows organizations to effectively engage active job seekers.

Engage Employees Not Actively Seeking Jobs

While building critical skills and competencies remains a top priority for HR leaders, organizations should look to current employees who are not actively seeking another position and adopt strategies to nudge them to consider internal opportunities. Gartner research shows that 36% of employees might switch jobs under the right circumstances, even if they had no prior interest in new opportunities.

With employment rates at a record low, external recruiters are incorporating new methods to attract employees through employee referrals and social media. Gartner research finds that 52% of employees report that they would respond to recruiters from outside organizations if contacted. Retaining employees will require organizations to leverage their inside knowledge to engage employees as effectively as their competitors.

HR leaders can consider the following tactics for engaging current employees who are not actively seeking jobs:

• Utilize matching algorithms or AI-based tech solutions to deliver customized job suggestions to qualified candidates.
• Encourage internal transfers by allowing managers and employees to refer one another for open internal vacancies.
• Involve recruiters by applying internal fill goals to their performance indicators and providing access to employee information.
• Raise the responsibility for the long-term growth and career interactions of employees from direct supervisors to “managers once removed” by allowing them to play an active role in executive meetings.

“Each company may find a different combination of resource allocation and tactical action, but HR leaders will need to develop strategies targeting both active job seekers and employees who are not actively looking for new roles to maximize retention,” Ms. Smith added.