26^th June 2017

It is estimated that the millennial generation will have up to 7 careers and 22 jobs by the time they hit their retirement age. Imagine the loss if employers are not able to facilitate at least some of these movements within the organization. Ironically, some organizations today do not consider attrition to be avoidable or undesired if an individual has decided to make a career transition or pursue a different life goal. It sounds like the pigeon closing the eyes when the cat comes.

Organizations can have tremendous positive impact on their bottom line as well as the top line by promoting talent mobility. However, they will need to work towards building an ecosystem where, like any other strategic advantage, talent mobility can flourish.

So what are the key imperatives for an organization to leverage talent mobility to its advantage?

1. Talent Insights:A large number of organizations are unable to leverage the full potential of internal talent mobility because the HR team fails to provide meaningful talent insights. This is largely due to the unavailability of unified, multi-dimensional data that is factually correct and current. According to an Oracle-PWC study there are approximately 175 data points that could impact an employee’s feeling about his/her current assignment and trigger attrition risk. Organizations need to be able to track such seemingly irrelevant yet functionally critical data points.
2. Strategically drafted development paths:A large number of organizations are reactive in mobilizing talent. Sudden expansion or unforeseen loss of talent often triggers movement of people within the organization, leaving little room for fitment analysis. My own very optimistic estimate is that ‘no more than 5% organizations in India’ have a scientific planned talent mobility strategy mapped to key roles. This will need strategically drafted development paths that individuals tread in real life. It is rare that the development paths are used as maps for navigating employee journeys in real life.
3. Talent review with real time insights:The good news is that more and more organizations are realizing the importance of the Talent Review process. The bad news is most of them are struggling to collate insights about the individuals for the process. This is largely due to silo’ed HR systems, processes and data capturing mechanisms. The real benefit of the talent review process comes when the discussions are based on potential, perceptions and performance backed by real time data. Too often talent review is largely focused on potential review.

‘Business managers…become the biggest roadblocks to internal Talent Mobility’

4. Culture of Mobility:Like any other resource, business managers tend to be protective of their key talent and become the biggest roadblocks to internal Talent Mobility. Many individuals have decided to quit their current organizations, simply because the internal political dynamics do not allow them to pursue the role of their choice. CEOs and not just CHROs need to constantly work towards creating a culture of mobility within the organization. Transparency through real time data and analytics can be the biggest lever for such a culture transformation.
5. Employee as owners of their career:Organizations need to provide platforms for employees to search and apply for jobs of their choice within the organizations – like any other external candidate. Often regressive practices like tenure, past PMS rating, manager’s consent etc. act as an impediment to talent mobility. Providing a role of choice to an employee is not a favor anymore – it is a winning strategy in the war for talent.

Implement the five imperatives and make internal talent mobility your strategic advantage. In 2017 any company not prioritizing talent mobility will already have lost a battle in the war for talent due to the ‘Leaking Talent Bucket’.

#employeeexperience #empexp #employeeengagement #digitalHR #hrtransformation #modernHR #leadershipdeveloment #talentmanagement #changemanagement #HIPO #careerdevelopment #talentdevelopment #talentacquisition #retention