Pic: IMAGESBAZAAR

Talent mobility — the movement of employees from one position to another within the same organisation — is an efficient and cost-effective method of talent deployment that correlates with higher performance

Intense global competition for scarce talent with specialised skills is creating a turbulent employment market. With epic shifts in business dynamics, talent is replacing capital as the key competitive differentiator. As "talentism" becomes the new capitalism, human potential becomes the catalyst for change and the major agent of economic growth. Today, India inc is facing an increasingly competitive scenario and organisations have increased their expectations and are looking out for the most dynamic, talented and productive employees to leverage the existing workforce. "Talent mobility is about flexibly moving talent internally to fulfill an employee's career aspiration along with meeting business requirements. It is a complete win-win situation.  From an employee perspective, it allows him/her to experiment with activities that they otherwise feel hesitant to undertake due to fear of failure. For the organisation, it helps to meet business requirements in no time with a good talent who knows the organisation well, and hence able to contribute better," says Sandyp Bhattacharya, vice president -HR, Comviva. It presents a cushion and support to the employees that even if they are unable to deliver in experimental roles, the option of returning to the same position is always available. 

So, if we were to understand the primary and secondary drivers for this talent management strategy in organisations, what would they be? Anil Garg, vice president – HR Asia, Whirlpool states "Growth is the primary driver for this strategy, followed by cost. This strategy provides organisations with great flexibility and nimbleness to redesign roles and responsibilities of people in critical positions to drive growth."

• It provides organisations with a cost advantage in multiple ways -
• Internal employees are more likely to begin delivering in new roles than new recruits;
• Providing people with cross functional/location exposure is a great development tool;
• Providing people with challenging roles to meet their career aspirations is a cost effective retention technique.

Keeping in mind the new emerging demands, the need to move potential talent to the right role at the right time has become vital. "Preserving institutional knowledge which in some cases could be competitive information is a major strategy for talent mobility. Enhancing the employer brand is another incentive. This strategy gives you value for money than opting out for expensive external hiring. Hence, for talent retention strategies organizations need to design and effectively promote talent mobility programs," opines Kamal Karanth, managing director, Kelly Services India. 

According to a recent report, the globally-connected nature of trade, technology, capital, and regulation will necessitate a significant swell in the movement of employees between countries, leading to increased use of short-term and ‘commuter' international assignments. These factors coupled with the rise of emerging markets, increased focus on new revenue streams and changing demographic imperatives are projected to increase the number of employees working on international assignments by fifty percent over the next decade. So how does this affect the organisations' capital (read: employee) strength? "The more people an organisation has who are capable of moving around different roles, the greater is its human capital strength. After all, talent is the only differentiator in today's competitive world where new product innovation has its "me too" products available in three months globally," adds Garg.

An effectively implemented talent mobility programme is highly cost-effective. Besides, it promotes internal talent and enhances employee engagement which is directly related to increasing retention of employees within an organisation for a longer period. So would talent mobility be amongst the top three strategies in 2012 for organisations to retain and motivate employees? "Definitely. We believe that depth and width of experience develops and readies our talent for leadership over a period of time. In fact, a history of lateral mobility and varied experience is an important qualification in the appointment of our global leaders' at the most senior levels," says Sanjay Jorapur, country HR director, Honeywell India.

A versatile talent pool strengthens the companies' potential to successfully meet business requirement and hence is also considered as a great talent investment. When the internal mobility process is optimised, leveraging the existing employee base produces powerful results that directly and positively impact corporate goals.

- Manoj Reddy