The State of Internal Mobility, Succession, and Career Development 2022-23

Internal mobility, career development and succession management are important to both employee and organizational goals. Each of these issues, while separate, strongly influence the others. When done well, they can have tremendous benefits, such as improved employee retention, increased engagement and the ability to bridge skills gaps. However, when even one of the elements are not done correctly it can lead to major challenges in the organization. For example, if a manager is resistant to internal movement, their employees may become less engaged resulting in them eventually quitting.

Further, if organizations lack metrics, it can cause bias and lack of awareness when it comes to the effectiveness of their internal mobility, career development and succession processes. It’s crucial for organizations to understand the effectiveness of the programs to fix any issues before they become detrimental to the organization.

To get a better understanding of internal mobility, succession and career planning, this report will discuss:

• the effectiveness of internal mobility, succession management, and career development processes

• the barriers to success of these process

• what organizations can do to overcome these challenge

• the key differences between organizations with successful approaches to internal mobility, career development and succession management and their less successful counterparts

• recommendations that may lead your organization to talent mobility success

Internal mobility

While most respondents say they have effective processes for managing internal mobility, organizations still suffer from a number of challenges.

• Nearly two-thirds agree or strongly agree that their organization’s process for managing internal mobility is effective.

• However, upon closer examination, we find that only:

1. forty-two percent of respondents say they look to internal candidates first when filling open positions

2. thirty-three percent say their culture supports job mobility

3. only 29% say that there is considerable mobility within their organization

4. and only 21% measure internal mobility on a regular basis

• The most widely cited obstacles to internal mobility are:

1. managers who are resistant to movement

2. employees are not provided with dedicated development time

3. lack of positions to move employees into

Compared with organizations with less effective internal mobility practices, those with effective mobility practices are:

• over six times more likely to agree or strongly agree they have an effective process for managing succession

• three times more likely to say managers are incentivized for advancing employee careers

• almost three times more likely to say their procedures allow employees to communicate hidden talents

• less likely to say that managers don’t encourage movement

Succession planning

While most organizations have succession plans, there is much room for improvement.

• While 91% of organizations have either a formal or informal succession plan, only 48% say their organization is effective or very effective at managing succession.

• Of those that have a succession plan, the most important outcomes for succession management are for:

1. increasing talent retention (40%)

2. increasing employee engagement (38%)

3. creating opportunities for career advancement (37%)

• The most common methods to identify candidates to fill key roles are:

1. using performance indicators

2. nomination by senior leaders

3. nomination by direct manager

Compared with organizations with less effective succession management practices, those with more effective ones are:

• four times more likely to view the TA officer as being one of three parties most responsible for the succession management process

• over twice as likely to use a strategic workforce planning system

• about twice as likely to get input from a technology to fill key roles for their succession management

• more likely to engage in formal and informal succession management

Career development

The time and financial resources dedicated to employee development has increased in many organizations over the past six months, but they still struggle to allocate development opportunities.

• Half of respondents say the financial resources devoted to employee development have increased a little or a lot over the past six months, and 60% say the same about the amount of time.

• Nearly two-thirds (62%) agree or strongly agree that their organization has an effective process for managing career development.

• While 49% say managers are encouraged to help employees develop their careers, just 36% say managers have skills required to do so.

• Though a majority rate their career development technologies positively, only 14% say they are excellent.

Compared with organizations with less effective career development practices, those with more effective ones are:

• over seven times more likely to have a formal career development process

• over five times more likely to say they have managers that have the skills required to help employees develop their careers.

• over four times more likely to rate their organization's use of technologies for career development as good or excellent

• over three times more likely to have to have a defined and formal process for career planning and development

• about two times more likely to have defined tools and/or technologies for career planning and development

• more likely to provide career development processes/programs to all workers

Key Takeaways and Recommendations

1. Ensure your talent mobility practices are truly effective. This involves crafting a multidimensional approach that includes the following tactics:

• For positions where it makes sense, look first to internal candidates when filling available job openings

• Provide employees with information about internal openings and give them enough time to evaluate and apply to internal jobs

• Provide the tools and technologies needed to facilitate and track internal mobility

• Incentivize managers to help their direct reports move to new positions if it is beneficial for the employees and the organization; discourage “talent hoarding”

• Accurately measure internal mobility

• Gauge whether your corporate culture encourages internal mobility

• Create a formal but not overly bureaucratic process and refine it until it is working in an optimal way

• Make someone responsible for the internal mobility process and hold them accountable for its success

2. Educate managers on the benefits of internal mobility. As seen earlier in the report, one of the biggest obstacles to internal mobility are managers who discourage movement. While it is understandable that managers want to keep their top performers as it benefits their team in the short term, it can be at the detriment of the organization in the long term. This is because said top performer may eventually feel their career growth is stagnated and quit if a better opportunity at another organization opens up. By allowing employees to grow their careers it can lead to greater employee retention. A new hire or an internal move can also help managers in that the new team member can fill skill gaps and potentially teach the team new skills through cross-training. This can improve the team’s performance as a whole.

3. Consider lateral moves if there aren’t currently opportunities for upward movement. Not all organizations are able to give promotions as frequently as they would like. A solution to this is lateral career moves. Organizations can find out what employee interests are through surveys and one-on-ones with managers. Further, managers can encourage employees to create career development plans. By doing so, employees can make lateral moves that are good for their development, align with organizational goals and could potentially set them up for a promotion in the future.

4. Create a formal succession management process. While an informal succession management process is better than no succession management process, organizations must recognize the value in a formal process. A formal process can help reduce bias. For example, employees may feel like they don’t belong because of their gender, race, or religion. This is especially relevant in today’s day and age with the emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. Having diverse employees at only lower levels of an organization is not good enough; it is crucial to have a diverse leadership team to show a true commitment to DEI. A formal succession process can potentially reduce the risk of skilled employees getting passed over for a promotion due to bias.

5. Ensure all workers have career development discussions and opportunities. Career development discussions and opportunities are beneficial for both the organization and the employee. This is because, as seen earlier in the report , employees want to develop their careers. In fact, if they’re able to spend more time on career development, they are more likely to be engaged. Consider making career development opportunities available for all employees and not just higher level leadership. Further, personalize where possible.

6. Create individualized career development programs. It’s no secret that each employee has unique interests and goals, which is why it’s crucial to have individualized career development plans. But some employees may not just have a single career interest. In this case, managers can help employees create multiple plans and discuss with the employee which one best fits their skills and interests.

7. Forge connections between internal mobility, succession and career development processes. These three areas can be synergistic. For example, internal mobility relies on having “ready-now” talent available that is enabled by effective career development. Similarly, promoting people into leadership positions relies heavily on an effective approach to succession planning and making the kinds of lateral moves and promotions that provide high potentials with critical skill sets.