When a vacancy arises, the first thing many companies do is think about recruiting a new employee. However, it may happen that the talent that is needed to fill that position that has become free is already working within the organization itself. The promotion or internal mobility It is a question to take into account, because it has many advantages. This means considerable savings in both time and money when filling vacancies.
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What is internal mobility?
It's no coincidence that members of the millennial generation are reluctant to stay with one company for long. This attitude is not only due to the way these people are, it also greatly influences the way in which companies have acted in recent years.
Workers between the ages of 30 and 45, who already have extensive work experience, know that Opportunities to move up within the company where they work are very rare. PTherefore, they decide to look for alternatives to grow in another company.
We know that professional development is one of the highest aspirations of any employee, whether they are more or less qualified. However, many companies deny any possibility of internal promotion. As we said at the beginning of the article, when a vacancy arises, the first thing they do is post a job offer to find a new employee. This happens without stopping to think that the best person to take on these tasks could be someone who already works there.
At a time when attracting talent is especially difficult, and retaining it is not easy either, you have to do the following. FFostering promotion from within is an easy and convenient way to attract more talented employees, and to keep those who already work at the company from wanting to leave. This is because they know that they have possibilities to improve professionally within it.
Promotion or internal mobility consists precisely in promote the professional development of staff members. It does not necessarily have to be a promotion. It can be a change from one position to another that allows assuming new responsibilities, facing new tasks, and continuing to learn and developing new skills.
Why is internal mobility so important?
a recent gallup report has revealed that the Employee labor discontent continues to grow. So much so that 74% of the companies surveyed have had higher resignation rates in 2022 than in 2021.
The phenomenon of great resignation, which began during the pandemic, is far from over and, in fact, seems to be in full swing. On the other hand, the level of employee commitment to their companies barely exceeds 20%. TAll this translates into phenomena such as a drop in productivity, increased absenteeism and an increase in voluntary resignations, which puts companies in serious trouble.
If it is known in the labor market that the employees of a certain company are leaving voluntarily, how are job seekers going to want to work there?
In the end, companies find themselves in a situation where neither are they capable of retaining their employees nor do they have the capacity to attract talented candidates. But it's not all bad news, because internal promotion is emerging as the perfect solution to both problems.
Companies that apply internal mobility policies and thereby allow their employees to continue developing, have a higher talent retention rate. In addition, they are perceived abroad as good places to work.
Benefits of promoting internal mobility
Next, we will better understand to what extent this way of managing human resources is important. To do this, we are going to see in more detail the benefits that can be derived for companies and their employees from applying internal mobility policies.
Improves ability to retain employees
The lack of professional development expectations It significantly affects employees. This is because no one wants to spend a lifetime doing the same thing with no chance of improvement. Therefore, if the worker knows that he cannot grow in the company in which he is, the time will come when he decides to go to another.
As we saw before, the application of internal promotion measures makes it possible to fight effectively against this phenomenon. This shows staff members that there are options to continue advancing within the company, either by moving horizontally (taking on new tasks, changing departments, etc.) or by moving vertically (a promotion).
Increase staff engagement
Many employees feel undervalued in their position. They are tired of doing the same thing day after day and not having opportunities to demonstrate other talents, abilities and skills, and also not to learn them. The consequence of this could not be more detrimental to the company: the staff get frustrated and lose their motivation, which leads workers to not feel committed to their employer.
On the contrary, if the worker knows that he can prosper and grow professionally, he will be much more motivated and integrated within the company. Besides, give to the 100% in each of the tasks you have to face, because they will all be a challenge for him.
Allows you to configure various equipment
Searching for diverse talent is a real necessity for companies. This is because they are verifying that the teams in which the abilities of their members are too homogeneous may have problems to continue advancing.
Building diverse teams isn't always easy, but here's a way to keep things a bit simpler: integrating staff from one work group into another. This simple example of internal mobility can make the teams are much more efficient and can achieve high performance.
Improves the image of the company as an employer
Although internal promotion has many advantages, not all vacant positions in the company can be filled through it. At some point, the company is going to have to go to the job market to look for new employees and, when it does, it should have the best possible image as an employer.
If it is perceived by those looking for a new job as a good place to work, it will have benefits. Those talented people whose profile fits well with what is being sought will have interest in working in that company and will not hesitate to send your resume.
On the contrary, if the company's reputation is not good, it will have a very difficult time attracting really interesting candidates to its selection processes. This means that recruitment processes are much longer and not as effective as they should be.
save time and money
The worker who is moved from one position to another requires a period of adaptation and possibly training. However the process of adaptation to the new position will be much shorter and cheaper, compared to what it costs for a newly hired employee to perform at 100%.
In addition, the chances of success in adapting to the position are much greater when the person occupying it is an employee who already worked in the company. This is because already has internalized basic issues such as culture, the mission and the values of the same.
What to do when faced with a vacancy: internal promotion or new hire?
We have already seen that internal promotion has a number of important advantages. But we can also find some drawbacks in it, such as the following:
- Inability of old employees to contribute new ideas.
- Absence of the necessary talent within the company.
- I am suspicious of the rest of the classmates when one of them is promoted.
- Possible cases of favoritism.
- Maintenance and contagion of malpractice. If the employee who changes jobs has a series of bad habits, they will take them with them, and may even “infect” them with other colleagues.
In the case of new hires, these also have advantages and disadvantages. From a positive point of view, it should be noted that they allow:
- renew the workforce and promote diversity
- Find the most suitable profile for the vacant position, even if you have to invest a little more time to get it.
On the side of the drawbacks we have several:
- the high cost in time and money involved in finding the perfect candidate
- the need to invest in the training of new employees
- the lack of adaptation to the business culture, which can lead to voluntary abandonment just a few weeks after hiring.
So what should companies do? There is no single answer, because it depends on each specific case. Ideally, the company should have an internal promotion system, to benefit from all the advantages that we have previously reviewed. Besides, tobefore a new vacancy, which first examines whether You can cover it with any of the staff members. If not, then you will have to resort to a selection process with external candidates.
