More than just a job

Employers have open jobs to offer candidates, and candidates look for open jobs with employers. This simple exchange is what’s left when talent acquisition is stripped down to its most basic level. When we think about what actually leads to a candidate pursuing, taking, and staying in a role, things get a bit more complicated.

You see, people do want the jobs that employers have to offer. They want money. They want benefits. They want perks like WFH and PTO. These are indeed things that current and potential employees want in a job, but they’re also things that aren’t exactly hard to find in a job market like this one.

Right now, top talent is in high demand and people can be selective about their next career move. For our jobs to stand out in the crowd, we as employers need to go beyond the basics. We need to offer more than just jobs – we need to offer futures.

There’s only one way to do that, and it’s to embrace talent mobility at an organizational level. We need to make it easy for our people to move up and around the company. We need to provide real opportunities for them to learn new skills and explore career pathways. We need to give them the freedom and support they need to blaze their own trails.

This way, candidates and current employees alike will know they can build a future with us. It’s a winning formula all around.

Our jobs will suddenly look a whole lot more attractive to job seekers, because it’s not just the job they’re applying for anymore. It’s a pathway to achieving their long-term goals. It’s an open door with countless other open doors beyond it. It’s a chance to experience the growth that everyone yearns for in their career, and that’s a key tenet of any truly great employer brand.

External talent aren’t the only ones who will take note of talent mobility. It’s more than a reason to come work with us: it’s a reason to stay. Internal talent will be able to drive their careers forward without ever having to step outside the organization, and we might find ourselves with less open roles to fill to begin with. Turnover costs time, money, and headaches, and I think we can all agree that less of it is a very, very good thing. 

Looking past the boosts to employer brand and retention, offering futures through talent mobility also impacts an organization’s future. Every company has people that could become its next generation of leaders, but they can only get there if we help them forge the path. 

At the end of the day, we have so much to gain from delivering on the promise of a future rather than simply filling a job. It’s time to make it happen by getting on board with talent mobility.