Many organizations have internal mobility policies and guidelines to support career development. These organizational resources help to guide decision-making, streamline internal processes, ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and minimize business disruption. And while policies and guidelines are essential, they can sometimes impede internal mobility by overly regulating the “rules and conditions” under which these moves occur. A few examples of policies and guidelines that influence internal movement include:
- conditions on how long an employee should be in a role or with the company (e.g., 12, 18 months) before applying to other internal opportunities.
- requiring employees to request and receive permission from their managers before they can apply on an internal opportunity.
- restricting employees from moving more than one level in the organization. (e.g., a person at a manager level cant apply on a Sr. Director role if there is another level (Director) in between the current and target role).
- discouraging internal recruiters from reaching out to internal workers that might be a good match for another opportunity.
These are only a few policies and guidelines that can influence internal mobility. As you think through various policies and guidelines that affect internal mobility, which do you believe are necessary and enable internal mobility? Which of them detract from internal mobility and should be eliminated or modified? While these answers will vary by organization, answering these questions can help talent leaders determine which internal mobility policies and guidelines will work best for their organizations.
