Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2025 - 26

Don't Go!
Help Leaders Drive Retention
With Internal Mobility
By Julia C. Phelan, Ph.D.
In recent years, it has been difficult to
avoid stories about The Great Resignation.
Many companies have experienced
high levels of employee turnover, which
along with tight job markets has led
them
to
reexamine
recruitment
and
retention strategies. The current labor
market conditions serve as an important
reminder for companies to reflect on the
type of workplace environment they are
creating and why employees are leaving
in the first place. Research shows that
having opportunities to learn and grow
is the No. 1 factor employees say defines
an " exceptional work environment. "
Regardless of industry, data also show
that lack of career development and
advancement opportunities are neck-andneck
with pay as the main reason people
decide to leave (or stay at) their jobs.
The reality is that employees want
opportunities to learn. Without clear
pathways toward professional and
personal growth, employees will look
for them elsewhere. For example, of the
two-thirds of employees who have left a
job because of a lack of career growth,
90% would have stayed if they had seen
growth opportunities. And, three of the
top five factors people consider when
pursuing new jobs reflect their desire to
stretch, grow and develop new skills.
26
Do the work to understand what career growth
and development mean to your employees and
then support them to realize their goals.
The Link Between Internal
Mobility and Attrition
The link between attrition and internal
mobility is well established: When
employees have opportunities to
learn, they are less likely to leave. But
if employees are going to advance
their careers within your organization,
they must know about (and actually
have) growth opportunities. You might
imagine that when looking for a new
opportunity, employees would start
with their current employer. But that's
not always the case.
For instance, 50% of employees say it
is easier to find a new role outside their
organization than inside, and many don't
even look. A recent Gartner survey found
that only 33% of people looking for a new
job in the prior 12 months searched within
their organization first, and around onehalf
of those surveyed were unaware of
internal job openings at their company. If
the path forward, upward or laterally is not
obvious, employees may think it is easier
to leave their position than to find new
opportunities within your organization.
How to Improve Your
Learning Culture and
Impact Internal Mobility
To improve the learning culture in your
organization and encourage people
to stay, it's important you dig in and do
the work to understand what career
growth and development mean to your
employees and then support them to
realize their goals. Leaders are in a unique
position to impact internal mobility by
enthusiastically modeling a culture of
learning and connecting it directly to each
employee's career aspirations as well as
your organizational mission and goals.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/help-wanted-charting-the-challenge-of-tight-labor-markets-in-advanced-economies https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/learning/resources/pdfs/linkedIn-learning-workplace-learning-report-2022.pdf https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected/ https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-great-attrition-is-making-hiring-harder-are-you-searching-the-right-talent-pools https://hbr.org/2022/04/3-ways-to-boost-retention-through-professional-development https://hbr.org/2022/04/3-ways-to-boost-retention-through-professional-development https://trainingindustry.com/content/uploads/2023/09/Ben-Eubanks-Final-Report-4.pdf https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbooksauthors/2023/11/27/top-barriers-to-internal-mobility-and-how-they-can-be-solved/ https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/learning/en-us/pdfs/workplace-learning-report/LinkedIn-Learning_Workplace-Learning-Report-2023-EN.pdf https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/2022-01-26-gartner-recommends-organizations-confront-three-internal-labor-market-inequities-to-retain-talent https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/learning/en-us/pdfs/workplace-learning-report/LinkedIn-Learning_Workplace-Learning-Report-2023-EN.pdf

Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2025