Hidden Talent Pools & the Potential of Internal Mobility

Strategic Reorgs Offer New Opportunities for Both Employees and Employers

Are you overlooking hidden talent pools when restructuring? One of the first areas to face cuts during a restructuring is talent acquisition. Recruitment budgets often shrink and the ability to hire externally slows down, leaving critical roles unfilled in a new organizational structure.

Many companies have found that external recruitment campaigns during a restructuring incur more than just the excessive costs of advertising roles.

Data from the Society for Human Resource Management benchmarked the average cost per hire (industry and role agnostic) at nearly $4,700. When factoring in hard and soft costs, most employers estimate the expense to be three to four times the person’s salary. So, if the salary is $60K, the total cost to recruit and hire could easily be $180 – $240K.

An effective solution lies not externally but in-house: untapped pools of talent – a “hidden” job market – perfectly suited to fill crucial roles during a restructure.

The Hidden Job Market: Unveiling Opportunities for Employees and Organizations

The hidden job market includes positions, gigs, and assignments that are not advertised publicly but accessed through internal referrals, promotions, and networking.

These hidden opportunities can be a lifeline for both the organization and its employees during a restructuring. Tapping into this market allows companies to:

Retain valuable talent

By promoting internal candidates, companies retain institutional and historical knowledge lost during external recruitment, ensuring business continuity.

Boost employee morale

A company restructuring is a tumultuous time for employees. Reduce the feelings of uncertainty by creating clear paths for advancement and growth. Awareness of new options helps people see positive potential in the changes afoot.

Reduce recruitment costs

Filling roles internally is often more cost-effective than external hiring, reducing the financial burden during an already expensive restructuring process.

The Role of Internal Mobility

Internal, or career mobility involves strategically moving employees within an organization to fill open roles. This is a critical component of resilient workforce strategy, especially at a time when the company’s ability to hire externally is restricted.

To drive an initiative like this, organizations need to build and implement an effective system typically involving an internal mobility platform.

The Pitfalls of Internal Mobility Platforms

HR and hiring managers are essential to the successful implementation of the organization’s platform. As the dual stresses of restructuring and uncertain hiring timelines cause growing resentment, they’re often left in a frustrating limbo.

Unfortunately, despite HR or the transformation office’s best efforts to redeploy employees, ideal job matches can often go unnoticed.

Key challenges and solutions

Challenge: Lack of visibility. Every role unlisted on internal platforms leads to a missed opportunity.

Solution: Make sure every employee is aware of the platform and knows how to use it.

Challenge: Inconsistent use. The platform needs buy-in across the business, especially for line managers.

Solution: Our research at LHH found only 8% of employees check internal job boards. Encourage managers to be consistent in posting openings and promoting them to their teams and other managers.

Challenge: Bias and favoritism. Platforms may inadvertently perpetuate biases, as managers may prefer to offer roles informally to the employees they know.

Solution: A strong cadence of promoting internal roles, non-linear career paths, and psychologically safe environments across teams cultivates innovation through diverse backgrounds and experience.

Challenge: Technical limitations. A poor user experience or clunky search functionality can stop employees using the platform altogether.

Solution: Regularly evaluate platforms for outdated posts and poor UX. Prioritize it as a critical employee retention and internal recruiting tool.

Quickly and effectively fill critical roles internally by addressing these challenges.

The Power of Human Connection

A powerful tool for addressing these structural or technical challenges is simply human connection. With regular touchpoints with their employees, organizations encourage employees to take charge of their development and uncover hidden opportunities.

The personal connection is so important, because employees who “survive” layoffs typically experience a 20% drop in productivity. So, whether an employee retains their role or is redeployed into a new one, maintain a rapport with them to support engagement.

• Foster networking and mentorship. An open culture of networking and mentorship helps employees uncover hidden opportunities and gain valuable career insights.
• Promote career conversations. Employees need to hear and experience the company’s commitment to internal mobility through conversations with their managers. One-to-one, personalized career conversations ensure recognition of each employee’s talents.
• Encourage proactive career management. Supporting employees to pursue internal opportunities drives engagement and builds career satisfaction.
• Personalize the approach with 1:1 career coaching. Make sure these conversations are personal, transparent, and tailored to the individual employee’s role and prospects.

Consider the Impact on Your Employer Brand

As you plan budgets, consider investing in your talent for internal mobility, or if layoffs are required, outplacement. Whether employees stay, leave on their own, or are part of a reduction in force, it benefits everyone to provide proactive career development.

One of the biggest reasons employes stay in a role is the opportunity and environment for career progression and upskilling. More than 50% of surveyed workers for The Great Potential: Global Workforce of the Future said so, leading to 86% feeling confident that if needed, they could find a new job within six months.

When it comes to your employer brand, a workplace that supports career and skill progression is a strength. It helps retain your top talent and leads individuals to champion your organization as a great place to work.

For employees who leave by choice, it inspires positivity around your organization as one supportive of their success, regardless of their path. For those included in layoffs, it provides empathy and goodwill toward their transition into a new role.

Regardless, an employer brand invested in the success of current and former employees facilitates recruitment from inbound, outbound, and even boomerangs, if departures were amicable and handled compassionately.

Evolve your Organization while Growing Individual Talent

Internal mobility platforms are only as strong as the information fed into them on internal role availability. Often organizations contain “hidden” talent pools or job markets, especially invaluable to those companies facing restructuring.

The ability to fill roles internally while fostering employee engagement and satisfaction is essential during unstable and uncertain times. It’s critical companies recognize the value of internal mobility platforms complemented by a culture that values individual employees and promotes career activism.

Whether individuals stay or eventually leave, restructurings offer companies a chance to be strategic if they plan long-term. Layoffs or restructuring performed for short-term gains are dangerous and often create more problems than they solve.

Think through all the options when taking your organization in a new direction through restructuring. We’re here to help.

Keep the conversation going. Contact us to discuss your organization’s potential with customized LHH solutions for employers of all sizes.