Competition for top talent is increasing, and so is an organizational focus on engagement and retention. Today’s economy is fast-paced and changing rapidly, meaning organizations need agile and flexible workforces. Continuously working towards improvement and growth requires having the best people in each role, and having all employees meet high standards of motivation. While talent management is key to building a strong foundation of processes that encourage success through hiring, onboarding, and development, talent mobility can help your organization go even further. Talent mobility is becoming a must-have for any company looking to hire and retain amazing employees and develop and align your workforce to strategic business goals.

The Echelon Group defines talent mobility as, “The practice of moving people within an organization, in hopes that new skills will be gained and sharpened through the employees’ new roles and responsibilities. The objective is to have the right talent at the right place at the right time to ensure business results and successful business outcomes.” Essentially, giving employees the opportunity to develop and grow beyond the standard linear career progression. Organizations benefit from focusing on building a mobility program, as you are more likely to get the most out of your employees’ skills. Having a flexible team means that you can focus your external hiring efforts on the most specialized and difficult to fill positions. Employees are more likely to either seek out employment or remain with your organization because of the strong opportunities for development. People like to be given opportunities to thrive and contribute to organizational success, and the ability to grow within a company is highly valued by prospective and current employees.

Talent mobility allows you to create a strong leadership pipeline while improving engagement and retention. According to a report by Global Human Capital Trends, 53% of younger workers want to take on leadership roles, but only 6% of organizations have strong leadership programs in place. Having a mobility program in place means you are able to see how employees perform in a variety of roles and use data from learning and performance activities to identify leadership candidates. Engagement and retention is improved because employees have ongoing potential to achieve new goals and meet new challenges, create meaningful connections, and build skills.

So how can competencies enhance your organization’s talent mobility? Because competencies identify the crucial behaviors and qualities needed for success in a particular job, employees are able to see what competencies they need to make not just vertical moves, but also lateral. For instance, without competencies making a move into another department but at the same management level seems complex. It can be unclear whether employees have the skills necessary for success in such a seemingly different role. Competencies allow connections to be made between roles in different departments, and employees can see what skills they already have to be useful in another role. People can also clearly see what skills they lack and create a specified development plan as a result. Competencies also allow people to see when they are performing well, leading to greater engagement and retention.