Employee Internal Mobility. How to Do It Right?

In what cases do companies experience a shortage of employees? Here are several common situations:

• Sharp increase in product demand and production volume requires additional resources to meet the production needs.
• Seasonal spikes in demand make it ineffective to hire new employees on a permanent basis.
• Lack of suitable skills in the labor market.
• Employee turnover.
• Geographic limitations that prevent sufficient labor resources from being available for production.

One way to overcome the shortage of labor resources is through employee internal mobility.

An example of such an approach is the rotation within Tesla, which experienced rapid growth in product demand, leading to challenges in meeting staffing needs. The company implemented a strategy of internal staff rotation to fill critical positions and ensure uninterrupted operations.

For example, if a battery production plant faces a shortage of staff, the company seeks resources from other production areas, assembly lines, or logistics, who possess the necessary skills and experience. These specialists are given the opportunity for internal mobility, which replenishes the workforce shortage and ensures continuous production.

Internal employee mobility allows Tesla to:

• Minimize hiring time.
• Reduce the training period.
• Maintain operational efficiency.
• Provide growth opportunities.
• Maximize the potential of its workforce.

Planning employee internal mobility within a company involves considering various factors. Here are a few steps that can help create an employee mobility plan:

1. Define the goal and reasons for internal rotation within the company. This can include organizational restructuring, project assignments, skill development, or career advancement.
2. Assess skills and competencies. This assessment will help distribute suitable roles and responsibilities among the employees within the company.
3. Identify job requirements. Clearly define the requirements and duties of each position in the company. This will help match suitable roles based on employees’ skills and interests.
4. Consider preferences. Take into account employees’ preferences and career aspirations. Some individuals may have expressed interest in specific positions or departments, and aligning their preferences can increase motivation and job satisfaction.
5. Develop a transition plan: Create a detailed plan for employee transition to new positions, including transition timelines, departments involved in the transfer and data on the specialists who will be moved.

To simplify and expedite employee mobility planning, Epoll Soft has developed software that:

• Imports data about specialists from other software.
• Analyses specialists’ experience and competencies.
• Considers the production plan.
• Generates an employee mobility plan with specified timelines and departments.

A similar system allows a food production company with over 4,000 employees to optimally plan employee mobility and avoid additional hiring without reducing production volumes.

Learn more about the system on our website.