Transversal mobility
For very small businesses, it’s obvious to practise versatility on a day-to-day basis by looking at production, customer relations or administration according to the priorities of the moment: it’s easy to grasp the interdependencies between tasks and to respond to generic or specific requests regardless of the field of action, moving quickly from planning to execution. For medium-sized and large companies, it’s more a case of structuring by departments, hierarchies and projects, which makes it easier to find one’s way through the critical size effect and increased complexity.
The desire for versatility and synergies between different professions, experiences and skills all help innovation and problem-solving. That’s why HR departments and line and project managers are in favour of internal brain circulation to mix approaches and encourage cross-learning. Internationally, it’s a similar story: after 3-5 years in a post, a country manager is often offered the chance to move to another capital city, several times over, before returning to head office.
An organisational skill for companies and administrations
Most of the time, employees in an organisation are looking to improve their position. This evolution is grafted onto the hierarchy, increased responsibility for tangible results, the deepening of knowledge, and the opportunity to lead expert teams. While moving up is attractive, it can also be tough – whereas lateral mobility, which is just as attractive, is less painful. For the members of the company, it brings diversity, additional learning, new activities and colleagues who see the business from different angles. Humanly enriching, this agility will undoubtedly have individual financial benefits later on when experience and personal skills have doubled thanks to the versatility previously experienced.
The challenges of internal mobility
Advertising vacancies internally is important for any public or private company. Firstly, it is less expensive than publishing a job advert and going through the lengthy external recruitment process, whether this is carried out by the HR department or an external service provider. Secondly, an employee who appreciates his or her employer but wants to improve or diversify his or her objectives is demonstrating loyalty in substance and flexibility in task. It is advisable to encourage this behaviour within the organisation.
It is in the company’s interest to encourage agility and the multiplication of talent, to make people as aware as possible of the diversity of expertise and the enriching complexity of the establishment, and to raise people’s capacities towards collaboration through cross-functional projects.
On the other hand, there are potential drawbacks if the company relies too heavily on internal recruitment. Indeed, even if employees evolve from department to department, the integration of new change-makers is necessary. Otherwise, stagnation could ensue. You must therefore avoid limiting the pool of candidates by choosing only members of your ‘family’, out of comfort with the process or fear of too much effort in terms of the time it takes to integrate or absorb new people.
In a large organisation with departments whose tasks are specific and based on specialised knowledge, internal recruitment makes sense because the diversity of people
people and the focus of their work supports the renewal of minds. All the more so if the institution is active at global level through research and publications on the economic development of countries and the major social issues of the day – which is the case at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
See also : Cross-functional Management Training
10 years as a service provider to the OECD
EUROBOGEN is celebrating 10 years as a service provider to the OECD in the field of cross-functional mobility. For the past decade, we have been running a programme to prepare candidates for interviews with a panel of internal recruiters made up of managers, business experts and HR officers. The training focuses on individual preparation for successful interviews. The programme is delivered in small groups – face-to-face, e-learning and synchronous coaching – with simulated interviews. At the same time, training is provided for recruiters, as an alignment of recruitment techniques, behaviours and practices during the panel interview make up a complete and coherent approach for all. This is how internal recruitment practices become an organisational skill. In the interests of transparency and social justice in the workplace, both sides of the encounter (applicants and assessors) play the internal recruitment game according to the same rules.
In addition to this specific theme of internal mobility, EUROBOGEN is a partner of the OECD in the areas of event facilitation, collective intelligence, cross-functional project management and leadership.
For more information or a free initial consultation, please contact us on 03 88 40 48 47 or by e-mail at contact@eurobogen.com.
If you need expert advice, don’t hesitate to contact Isabelle DUQUESNE, CEO of EUROBOGEN, psychotherapist (PhD), mediator and corporate trainer for over 30 years.
