"As someone who engages with clients daily, I see first-hand the challenges of navigating a competitive labour market amid the latest phenomenon of the ‘Big Stay’ – a trend where employees seek stability over frequent job changes.
With this new dynamic at play, it’s crucial to recognise the importance of transferrable skills within your existing workforce. We’ve found that almost two thirds of employees are confident that their current skills can transition across industries, highlighting the untapped potential for internal mobility. This approach is often overlooked, but it can help address skill gaps and enhance employee satisfaction and retention, critical factors in a competitive labour market.
At the same time, external recruitment remains a vital component of any strategy, bringing in fresh perspectives and specialised skills that complement internal talent. In fact, balancing the two gives employers the best of both worlds – a resilient workforce capable of meeting evolving demands – but of course, this is often easier said than done.
In this article, we delve into these themes, providing insights and strategies that will help you navigate the challenges of talent shortages, leverage the strengths of your existing employees, and know when to ‘build’ and when to ‘buy’. If you’d like more personalised information, please don’t hesitate to reach out directly to Adecco. Together, we can build a workforce that is skilled, diverse, and fit for the future."
Niki Turner-Harding, Country Head Adecco UK & Ireland
Key takeaways
- Internal Mobility: Internal mobility— or talent mobility —describes the movement of employees between roles within an organisation, either between departments or within the same team. Encouraging internal mobility can improve talent retention while helping employees develop new skills and advance their careers.
- Job Stability: The “Big Stay” trend is gaining traction, with more employees seeking job stability and security. Our research shows that 15% of workers stay out of loyalty to their employer, while 23% value stability as the key factor in their decision to remain in their current position.1
- Transferrable Skills: Identifying and assessing transferrable skills within the workplace is essential for the success of internal mobility, whilst aiding employee satisfaction and retention.
- External Recruitment: Despite the benefits of internal mobility, sourcing talent externally is vital in filling specific skill gaps. This approach complements internal mobility by introducing diverse perspectives to build a dynamic and adaptable workforce.
An Introduction to Talent Shortages and Internal Mobility
The UK’s talent pool is shrinking, with the latest figures revealing almost one in four people of working age are economically inactive whilst vacancies remain above pre-pandemic levels.2 Additionally, one in five employers (20%) anticipate significant difficulties filling vacancies within the next six months. Ongoing shortages have led to an increased demand for qualified talent, impacting both attraction and retention.3
Indeed, among employees who are considering a career change, 20% would do so as they feel they are not making progress in their current job, while 19% feel they are not using all their skills, signalling a demand for investment and utilisation of existing workers.4
Without an effective workforce development strategy, employers risk facing a dual challenge of a shortage of available talent in the market coupled with a disengaged existing workforce.
As a potential solution to this, internal mobility refers to the movement of employees within a company, which involves changing departments or responsibilities depending on their skills and career goals. This movement can occur both vertically and laterally, by going up or down the hierarchical structure or staying at the same level across various departments or positions.
The Rise of the Big Stay
Amidst challenges of high staff turnover and talent shortages, which were fuelled by the twin forces of COVID-19 and Brexit, a shift in employee preferences is emerging. Early signs suggest that workers are now moving away from what was described as the “Great Resignation” and choosing to stay loyal to their workplaces, shifting the balance of power back to employers. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) coined this as the ‘Big Stay’ with James Cockett, labour market economist, stating that “the so-called ‘Great Resignation’ is well and truly over and has been replaced by the ‘Big Stay,’ with more people opting for job stability”.5
According to Adecco’s Global Workforce of the Future Survey 2023 across 30,000 workers worldwide, 15% of UK respondents said loyalty to their employer was the main reason for staying in their job for the next year, while 23% cited job stability as a key factor for remaining in their role.6 The annual research also highlights a shift in employee motivations from 2022-2023, with a 7 percentage points (pp) increase in people wanting to progress with their current employer and a 5 percentage points (pp) increase in employees seeking re-skilling for new roles within their company.
Comparison of Career Motivations for the Next 12 Months: 2022 vs. 2023
Would like to be upskilled or reskilled for a new job with their current company
Would like to progress with their current company / employer
Source: Adecco’s Global Workforce of the Future Survey, 2023
A key advantage of this shift for employers is that they can confidently invest in building and upskilling their current workforce to plug talent gaps, knowing that employees are seeking career longevity and stable employment. Furthermore, employees who make a vertical or lateral internal move are more likely to stay at their organisation longer than those who do not. According to LinkedIn data, workers who have moved internally have a 64% chance of remaining with an organisation after three years. Meanwhile, employees who have not moved internally only have a 45% chance of staying in their current workplace after three years.7
Skills and Purpose are the Priority
As prefaced in our previous article, Hiring for Tasks not Titles , the importance of skills intelligence cannot be underestimated when developing internal mobility programmes. Identifying career goals, purpose, and transferrable skills already present in the workforce are the first steps in understanding employees’ desired career paths and ensuring businesses do not lose talent.
In fact, most Gen Zs (86%) and millennials (89%) say having a sense of purpose is important to their overall job satisfaction and well-being.8 By upskilling and progressing workers internally, employers can benefit from efficient onboarding into new roles and steady transitions while cultivating a culture of learning and development.
Promoting a positive and progressive work ethos is particularly important as it is directly linked to talent retention levels. Additionally, business leaders should ensure that teams are effectively managing where these skills are placed, maintain transparency, and avoid talent hoarding within departments and role seniority. LinkedIn research found that those in senior and managerial positions have plenty of opportunities for growth, while individual contributors may face more challenges with internal mobility. Individual contributors have an average internal mobility rate of around 24%, while managers and directors have an approximate mobility rate of 50% — over twice the rate of the individuals collaborating with them.9
Case Study: Internal Mobility at The Adecco Group
The Adecco Group has embraced internal mobility to align employee skills and interests alongside company needs. Regan Semmens, who was part of the compliance team as a Business Process Coordinator, has a degree in marketing and a passion for content and creativity. Recognising her potential, The Adecco Group facilitated an interdepartmental move for Regan from Compliance into the Marketing Team. The transition enabled her to pursue a career path more suited to her interests and purpose, positively impacting both Regan and the business.
Throughout the process, I felt seen and heard. The commitment from my new manager to bring me on board was evident, and the talent acquisition process was both professional and consistent. My manager made it clear that she is dedicated to highlighting my successes and helping me achieve my goals. She understands how I want to develop and is committed to guiding me through what it will take to get there. I am excited to embark on this new challenging era and to delve deeply into my marketing talents. I look forward to participating in projects that allow me to collaborate with more colleagues internally and make my work more meaningful in a creative and purposeful way
Regan Semmens, Adecco Group Business Process Coordinator
Buy vs. Build
It is important to note that not all skills can be sourced internally, and an over-reliance on internal mobility alone can threaten diversity without incorporating fresh minds. In addition, it is essential that when an employee has moved internally, the role that they vacated is backfilled to ensure that workloads are not unreasonably increased. To build a successful talent pipeline, internal mobility should be complemented by external recruitment. Bringing in experienced professionals from the wider talent pool not only fills vacancies but can also upskill the broader team, aid in succession planning, and help build a diverse and adaptable workforce with new perspectives.
Employers should continually assess and upskill their existing workforce, but may still find gaps in specific competencies and qualifications, requiring additional roles to be created or backfilled. This is particularly evident with the rapid advancement of technologies such as generative AI and machine learning.
Adecco’s latest business leaders survey highlighted that the competitive jobs market is likely to get tougher as technology advances and that most companies plan to recruit rather than train existing teams.10 Prioritising the right skills is therefore crucial in balancing the ‘buy vs. build’ strategy. The survey also found that businesses are far more confident in building soft skills such as emotional intelligence, rather than specialist digital and tech skills like digital and data literacy.
How do you plan to fill these skills gaps?
Source: Adecco Business Leaders Survey 2024
Striking the balance between promoting from within and hiring new talent is key to managing persistent skill shortages and helping businesses thrive. By linking internal mobility with external recruitment, businesses can ensure that their existing workforce is being upskilled while the immediate need for specialised skills can be outsourced.
Four ways to effectively leverage internal mobility and external recruitment to overcome talent shortages
1. Create a Clear Competency Framework
- Start by outlining career paths within the business and engage with hiring managers to pinpoint required competencies. Highlighting the skills needed for each role is an essential foundation for prioritising the most effective areas for upskilling.
- Determine if there are any outstanding skills that may need to be sourced externally and connect with recruiters who can help match qualified candidates.
- Engage with Adecco thought leaders to stay up to date with continually evolving industry standards, aligning these with organisational needs. This is particularly, important in areas such as technology, which have seen rapid advancements in short timeframes.
2. Invest in Employee Development
- Once competencies have been identified, offering training programs to build both soft and technical skills begins paving the way for progression and filling vacancies.
- Make the most of the apprenticeship levy to provide employees with opportunities to earn recognised qualifications and enhance their skills.
3. Ensure Communications are Transparent
- Understanding employees’ purpose and career motivations is invaluable in retaining and attracting talent while boosting engagement and productivity.
- Be sure to have regular 1-2-1 meetings to create an open dialogue to discuss role satisfaction and support any changes.
- Make sure any internal vacancies are fairly communicated through the company intranet, newsletters or emails, and ensure that application processes are confidential.
4. Embrace Positive Attrition
- Understanding that employee attrition is not always negative is essential in long-term workforce planning.
- Develop a strategy to backfill these positions effectively and benefit business needs, some roles can be redefined when hiring externally to better meet skills and industry requirements.
Contact Adecco
To learn more about how we can streamline your workforce management