The Magic of Job Matching

Everyone experiences rejection at one point or another. It’s an unpleasant yet unavoidable feature of living out life as a human being. It’s also what many people will point to as a negative and potentially disastrous side effect of embracing internal mobility. 

The argument goes something like this…

“If we encourage our talent to apply for jobs within the organization, and after going through the process they aren’t chosen for the position, won’t we have made them unhappy and less likely to stay?”

…and you know what? Yes. They’re absolutely right. Even the companies that go above and beyond to build a culture of mobility will see this scenario play out occasionally.

However, this is a don’t-throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater situation. When done right, internal mobility works. It grows careers, it dramatically boosts retention, it saves a ton of money, and believe it or not, it actually limits the amount of rejection that happens. 

You see, the best way to adopt internal mobility is not to simply create an internal job board and/or encourage employees to search for, choose, and apply for jobs they find interesting. 

An open search can get too aspirational too quickly, and can set them up for sadness. Inevitably, they will pursue jobs that they are unqualified, unready, or just plain unfit for. Unfortunately for them – and for us as their employers hoping to keep them around – the end result will be rejection, dissatisfaction, and eventual departure.

Luckily, there is a better way: job matching.

Matching people to jobs and vice versa transforms the internal mobility experience into a positive one for all involved. Matches should be made based on skill set and aspirations together, so that employees automatically have a better chance of a) securing a role and b) moving closer to their career goals. When recruiters need to fill roles and find fits, they can simply take a look at matching employees and tap them to apply. When employees are looking to move up or around the organization, they can receive personalized recommendations.

That feels a whole lot better than being left to carry out an open search on their own. No longer will employees have to find and take a guess at positions that could very well lead to rejection. No longer will they have to put in all the effort to stay. We’re the ones who want to keep them around, so it only makes sense to reshape the employee experience into a smooth and easy one. That’s the magic that job matching can work on internal mobility.