Mobility: The solution to the skills challenge

Mobility, which involves moving employees in any direction to another role inside the organisation in a way that benefits both the organisation and employee, enables skills development. It also supports retention, as mobility actively engages an employee and shows them that their employer is committed to developing their career. Research shows that employees stay 60% longer at organisations with better mobility.

Why mobility?

Persistently tight labour market conditions and underinvestment in skills development have created a skills challenge that organisations can’t easily buy their way out of. An external-first approach to acquiring skills may not be preferable or even viable as inflationary pressures continue to exert a drag on business investment. By mapping and building skills internally, organisations can plug existing skills gaps, meet future skills needs, and better retain individuals who already align with the organisation’s culture.

Mobility is also key to lower turnover. Lack of career development is a top reason why talented employees leave a job, while internal progression supports worker satisfaction and retention. [1] It is a win-win for employees and organisations: employees enhance their skills, career and earning potential, while organisations benefit from happier and more productive employees, higher retention of skills, lower recruitment costs and, ultimately, an enterprise that is better prepared to remain relevant and competitive in future.

But to maximise the benefits of mobility, it’s necessary to understand how mobility has evolved and how best to approach it.

To build a future-fit workforce and retain vital skills, organisations must embrace mobility. 

What does the mobility landscape look like in 2023?

Mobility is not a new concept, but it is an evolving one. Today, mobility is not so much an activity as a mindset that advocates skills building, diversified learning and new experiences over anything else.

In the past, mobility involved moving an employee upwards through promotion. Today, organisations move employees in different directions across the business. Employees may be free to test out a role in another department or engage in short-term projects to build skills and experience without formally switching role. And organisations are not just moving employees into new roles – they are moving them with upgraded skillsets.

Employees don’t necessarily think in terms of mobility, but value opportunities for professional development. For organisations, the term mobility is better understood in the way it is talked about than how it is implemented. In practice, mobility spans the entire spectrum of career advancement and professional development for every single employee and is increasingly personalised.

As well as becoming more personalised to each employee, organisations adopt a more fluid, project orientated approach. There is greater focus on using technology platforms to enable mobility, data to inform mobility strategy decisions, and combining technology with a human-centred approach.

If the conditions are right, the benefits of mobility can be far-reaching for organisations and employees alike.

Is your organisation mobility ready?

Certain conditions or headwinds can impede mobility, such as:

The organisation does not know its philosophy on careers

To introduce mobility successfully, there must be a vision and philosophy around mobility, and an internal-first mindset to sourcing and building skills. This can’t be developed overnight and requires buy-in from senior leadership. Internal resources and support must then enable mobility.

The adoption of new technology tools can be low

A digital talent marketplace that allows employees to upskill/reskill for new opportunities within the organisation is a common mobility solution. But employees are often encouraged to use multiple tools and platforms. This increases the risk that they fail to engage with any of them. For mobility solutions to be successful, organisations must support their adoption.

The organisation is too siloed

There may be multiple teams doing different things and trying to solve different challenges around mobility, with separate initiatives running simultaneously. It can be hard to meet diverse challenges with one mobility enterprise solution, especially if operations are siloed. A unifying vision, philosophy, mindset and overarching strategy is necessary to ensure mobility goals are met.

There is a lack of ownership over mobility

Usually, a careers division takes ownership of mobility, but this can still mean a lack of ownership. Create a careers mobility team that is accountable for the successful adoption of mobility solutions and strategy success.