WORQDRIVE, the people-first internal talent mobility engine, today announced that it has been named Best Comprehensive Solution for Talent Management in the 2022 HR Tech Awards.

There’s a big difference between the people who already work with us and, well, everyone else.  

We know our employees. We’re invested in them. We’ve poured our precious time, effort, and cash into getting acquainted with them. We know how they fit, and we know how they help us accomplish our goals. Their success is directly tied to our success as an organization. 

Is it just me, or is the current labor situation just a massive Dumpster fire? I keep looking at the open jobs, the lack of workers, our customers who are looking to find quality talent and struggling to do so. I see all the quits every month and all I can think about is that what we are doing right now is an unsustainable model.

At its most basic level, the employer-employee relationship is built on trust.

Employees trust employers to pay them for their work. Employers trust employees to show up, behave professionally, complete tasks, manage projects, meet deadlines, and… well, you get the idea. We trust our employees to do a whole lot of things.

Here’s the thing: a company is more than its C-suite. Applying succession planning solely to that level leads to countless other valuable employees walking out the door. We need to redefine and democratize succession planning across all levels of the workforce if we want that to change.

Maybe we’re not doing a good job of making our employees aware of internal openings. We might think we just don’t have the numbers for it. It’s possible we haven’t made an effort to understand what our workers can be doing or want to be doing. These are the usual suspects. The top obstacle in the way of internal mobility might surprise you. 

If you had to guess, would you say that internal mobility A) decreases employee engagement or B) increases employee engagement?

If you went with B, congratulations! You win.

If we’re being honest here, the disconnect between employers and employees on what constitutes good internal mobility is quite hefty. If we don’t get everyone on the same page, we’re not going to see any of the benefits.

Most people think of it in terms of its most nefarious forms: racism, sexism, homophobia, and other insidious drivers of discrimination. While these are indeed all-too-common types of bias, there’s a whole lot of other ways it can creep into our perspectives and actions.

It’s no secret that people are leaving your companies to join other companies. We are constantly hearing about The Great <insert word> that’s ravaging our workforce right now. We know. We get it.

We also know that these people would really rather stay. It stings, but we can’t do anything about it because we don’t have the budget for it.

When we hear about the so-called skills gap–and we’re hearing about it a lot lately–it brings to mind a very specific image. It’s hard not to picture a tiny crack in an organization’s abilities slowly widening into a cavernous abyss, plunging any projects and deliverables that once progressed smoothly to the finish line down to their doom.

What I continue to advocate for is the following:

Open a requisition.

Source from your own people first.

I bet there are enough people that already work for you to build a strong slate.

Hiring from within is a great idea. Actually, scratch that, it’s an amazing idea. The wonderful people that are so crucial to the success of our businesses will thank us for it, and so will the CFO when retention soars as a result.

That said, it’s not something that should be done …

We’ve all heard it before: The pushback on promotions and mobility around the idea that filling one job with someone who already works for you means you still have a job to fill, right?

Sure.

Mostly.

The idea is that the alluring glow of fast extra cash will be irresistible to job seekers, leading to an instant boost in applicants and hires. Boom, staffing problem solved!

Except…It’s not.

It took a deadly pandemic and a dramatic upheaval of our daily lives, but our workers have finally realized that life is too short to remain where they don’t feel valued or understood. Many are considering their future, and wondering whether or not they truly have a path forward at their company.

All of our eggs are securely in the switcher basket. We really do focus solely on getting people to switch from their company to our company. If we are to believe all of the research, 94% of people would rather stay at their company if you invested in them, according to LinkedIn. They WANT an upgrade.

Is it Talent Acquisition? Talent Management? The argument ends here!

In our day-to-day of building worqdrive, we’ve gotten to witness the balance and tug of Talent Management and Talent Acquisition as entities within an organization and we have thoughts.

Regardless of what you’re hearing about the Great Resignation, look at what you’re seeing.

You’re seeing great people leave your company.

HR Technology is not known for having strong organic adoption, but when it comes to Internal Mobility, it’s all about adoption and stickiness. Here’s what to look for when evaluating Internal Mobility technology and tools.