With the latest changes in the working world, the internal mobility process has become a key concern for managers. It has logically become a strategic issue for HR departments seeking to :
89% of HR managers believe that career paths within their organization lack clarity for many employees..
Extract from the study "The 5 priorities for HR managers in 2024" carried out by Gartner
Internal mobility is the ideal way of meeting the employee's high expectations. It is also a major asset for organizations that know how to put it in place: it promotes employee motivation and commitment.
Ultimately, it's a win/win partnership between employees and their employer. It's the start of a virtuous cycle whose ultimate aim is to :
The result is a stable professional environment focused on the objectives to be achieved and part of an ambitious corporate project.
In this article, we give you the keys to setting up an internal mobility process within your organization. You will see that internal communication is at the heart of this approach.
What is internal mobility? This process brings together various practices that punctuate an employee's career path via :
It materializes in the form of :
In practical terms, internal mobility means changing jobs, departments or responsibilities within the same organization.
The internal mobility process therefore describes an employee's change of function, status or department within the same organization, which may be:
The term internal mobility conceals a number of different realities. Mobility can be initiated by:
Before explaining the stages in the internal mobility process, it is necessary to briefly recall the different types of internal mobility encountered in organizations:
Horizontal mobility occurs when an employee changes departments within an organization but remains in the same job.
The concept of vertical mobility applies when an employee receives a promotion within the same department. This translates into more responsibilities and potentially a higher salary.
Under cross-departmental mobility, the employee moves to another department within the same organization and gains responsibilities (and even salary).
Geographical mobility should also be mentioned. This covers mobility to a different branch, site (in the case of a multi-site company) or administration, generally closer to the employee's place of residence.
Today's employees are demanding more from their employers in terms of:
Employees want to boost their careers and fulfill their professional aspirations. In particular, they want to:
For employees, the internal mobility process is a way of:
When it is effective, the internal mobility process offers many benefits to employees. But it is also advantageous for companies that know how to support the internal mobility process:
The internal mobility process is therefore an opportunity to pacify and regulate relations between employees and management. The latter shows its desire to help employees, and therefore the organization itself, to grow.
The partnership between employees and their management is a win-win situation, with both parties benefiting.
This is where the role of HR departments comes into its own: they need to work together intelligently with senior management and managers to drive this mobility for the benefit of employees.
The coherence of the internal mobility process depends on their involvement. They are in the best position to design the mobility plan:
They handle the operational side of internal recruitment:
As we have already mentioned, internal mobility offers many advantages to an organization.
It responds perfectly to the need for organizations to adapt to the labor market. It is easy to replace a departing employee with an internal recruit:
The internal transition is a smooth one: the employee has time to get used to his or her new duties, initially dividing his or her time between each position.
What's more, the current employee already knows the company:
From an administrative point of view, there's no need to set up a new recruitment file or check employment history.
However, it is important to update the employment contract by means of an amendment as soon as possible. Be careful, however, to ensure that the internal representative has the required skills: seniority is not always the most appropriate criterion for making a decision.
Internal mobility is one aspect of the employee experience within a company that deserves to be promoted through internal communication initiatives:
There are not only advantages to internal mobility. This process has its limits. That's why it needs to be carefully thought through in order to target needs and expectations.
The creation of new internal positions and the contours of certain functions (strategic or technical) sometimes require us to recruit talent externally: in this case, we need to call on headhunters, job boards or ATSs (the classic methods of external recruitment).
Over-systematic internal mobility stifles a company's dynamism and its capacity for renewal. This is often the symptom of companies that find it difficult to recruit externally:
What's more, it's useful to have an outside perspective on the way a department and, more generally, an organization works. Bringing in new energy is useful.
Some organizations favor internal mobility to manage staff movements. Care must be taken to ensure that recruitment does not cause an imbalance in the operation of the department of origin or destination.
The risk is that certain aspects of the collective, such as:
The problem is the same when it comes to resolving conflictual situations by using the internal mobility process. You run the risk of displacing a problem or creating new ones.
In the case of small organizations (SMEs, for example), it is complicated to rely solely on internal mobility:
The benefits of internal mobility are limited. External recruitment is once again essential.
The internal mobility charter is the document that serves as a basis for any employee likely to be interested in internal mobility. This charter must be easily accessible to everyone. It conveys a clear message that everyone can understand.
The company mobility charter structures your internal mobility process. It sets the framework:
The internal mobility charter sets out your organization's values, such as respect for equal opportunities for men and women. This has the effect of putting an end to any suspicion of favoritism or rigged promotion.
The charter sets out management's commitments in terms of supporting employee mobility and ongoing training.
Disseminating this information is of crucial importance: to ensure that everyone is informed, use your internal communications tool to publish a post including a link to your mobility charter.
Communicate your mobility charter and raise awareness among your employees. An employee who applies internally is first and foremost an employee who is fully aware of his or her career development opportunities.
The know-how and interpersonal skills of employees should be assessed on an ongoing basis by department managers, especially if internal job vacancies are advertised frequently. Managers take the pulse of their departments. They measure the efficiency and motivation of their staff.
Managers have a relay role with HR: they assess employees' skills (hard and soft skills) and communicate them to HR.
Some managers build up internal pools of talent that are likely to respond positively to HR's expectations for future vacancies.
An unavoidable ritual in many organizations, the annual performance review is a way of rewarding the efforts made during the year. It is sometimes a place where employees express both their frustration and their ambitions.
It is up to the HR department to develop the skills assessment process that will be used by the manager during his annual appraisal interview. This involves:
The annual performance review deserves to be properly prepared and led by the manager:
Raising awareness and encouraging your employees to move internally is a good thing. Taking a proactive approach over the long term is even better. A concerned and motivated employee is one who is aware of the possibilities for internal development.
As a result, it is essential to communicate regularly about the training available and to offer each employee opportunities for professional development. Your employees will acquire additional skills that will enhance their professional activity.
This will boost their career within your organization and, why not, encourage them to apply for internal mobility.
66% of HR managers believe that the career paths offered to their employees are unsatisfactory.
Extract from the Gartner study "The 5 priorities for HR managers in 2024".
In other words, the personalisation of career paths is still lacking. Internal mobility should be flexible, so that each individual's career path can be adapted to suit:
The practice of "Living my life" in a company is an interesting way of understanding the skills expected, the constraints and the social interactions of another job or a particular assignment.
Internal recruitment should be carried out intelligently, respecting all the stages of traditional recruitment. Candidates will feel valued and their efforts will be appreciated.
On the HR side, this means:
On the candidate's side, this involves:
Setting up an internal mobility process is an opportunity to demonstrate flexibility and adaptability. When well structured, internal mobility responds to the challenges of the labor market.
It allows organizations to:
But setting up an internal mobility plan is not enough. You also need an effective internal communication tool to disseminate, communicate, explain, convince and encourage your employees.
As part of our internal communications tool, Steeple's Jobs application stands out from other job boards and ATSs thanks to its ease of use and efficiency:
In just a few clicks, employees can access all the functions of the Jobs application:
The Steeple Jobs App is the best HR tool for internal mobility and cooptation.