Talking Internal Career Mobility with Dr. Edie Goldberg

What do employees want? As per the LinkedIn Learning Report, the answer seems to be professional growth. Employees are willing to undergo learning and development if the outcomes lead to career growth. The data is clear for every HR team out there. The questions then arise in carrying out this exercise.

Dr. Edie Goldberg is one of the authors of The Inside Gig, along with Kelley Steven-Waiss, which produces a framework to operationalize internal career mobility in organizations.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What is an “inside gig” and how does it differ from traditional internal talent mobility?
• Why should companies adopt the inside gig model, and how does it address current workplace challenges?
• How can HR functions, particularly Talent Acquisition and Learning & Development, leverage the inside gig paradigm?

And more!

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Internal Career Mobility – The Inside Gig Model by Dr. Edie Goldberg

• Internal talent mobility at its most basic is about a culture that supports employees applying for internal positions. The “inside gig” concept is a more sophisticated approach that allows employees to take on internal projects or side jobs across the company, leveraging their skills and exploring new areas of interest. This concept is about allowing employees to bring their whole selves to work.
• The traditional job structure is rigid and puts people in a box, but employees are constantly learning, growing, and have diverse skills and passions that are often not utilized. The inside gig model allows companies to be more agile and adapt to changing business needs, allowing employees to move between projects and tasks as needed.
• Companies need to move from thinking about jobs to thinking about projects. This means understanding the skills and expertise that employees have and redeploying talent based on the needs of the projects.
• HR functions have a key role to play in the inside gig model. Talent acquisition can adopt skills-based hiring practices, and Learning and Development can leverage internal gigs as a way to learn in the flow of work. This approach allows employees to explore career options, learn new skills, and gain new experiences.
• Internal projects should not be administrative tasks but should offer opportunities for growth and development. For example, a technical employee interested in management can take on a project leadership role to test their skills and gain experience. These projects help employees build relationships across the organization, increasing productivity by allowing them to access more knowledge.
• The inside gig model of internal career mobility can revolutionize leadership development, moving away from structured programs to experiential learning. You can train managers to coach their teams and use AI tools to enhance their leadership skills.
• For organizations that want to get started with the inside gig, it is crucial to understand the key skills driving the organization’s strategy and the skills that their employees have. They need to create a talent-sharing mindset among managers. Although some companies use tools like SharePoint for project posting, a technology solution is needed to enable talent sharing at scale.
• The company, Here Technologies, saved $14 million in the first year of implementing an internal talent marketplace, due to leveraging their internal talent rather than hiring external contractors or new employees. They also saw an increase in employee engagement, cross-functional collaboration, and the development of business acumen within the company.
• Ultimately, technology, especially AI, will empower employees to learn and develop in the flow of work. This approach will help people reach their full potential and pursue the careers they are interested in.

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