Research: Why Rejected Internal Candidates End Up Quitting | Harvard Business Review

Internal mobility is a vital component of a firm’s talent strategy. And one way organizations are enabling this strategy is through their internal talent marketplace (ITM). An ITM often uses a technology platform to make it easier for current employees to learn about and apply for new internal opportunities–such as jobs and projects. As firms activate their ITM, they can recognize many benefits, such as filling talent needs faster. This article points to an inherent challenge of the job opportunity component of an ITM:internal job applicants who apply for an internal role and do not get awarded the position are nearly twice as likely to leave their organizations, unless the hiring manager interviewed the candidate or if the role was awarded to another internal candidate instead of an external candidate. And since managers receive an average of ten internal applications for every job, there is an increased retention risk of rejected candidates. And while these are insightful points, the larger purpose of this post is to reinforce the various factors (beyond technology) that impact an ITM’s effectiveness. What do you believe are the less talked about challenges (beyond technology) that must be mitigated to realize an ITM’s benefits? One issue relates to culture: are managers expected to share internal talent, or is it acceptable to hoard talent?