Optimizing Talent Mobility
By Dayana Falcon, Talent Mobility Manager, ESPN
In an ever-changing and dynamic world, the next generation of talent (Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha) are craving unique experiences that help broaden their horizons. As companies find the balance and flexibility between remote and in-person, it’s important to make the time when employers are in the office count, while also keeping inclusion top of mind, especially for remote employees. And that’s where Internal Talent Mobility can play a crucial role in helping your business and talent thrive.
What Is Internal Talent Mobility?
Internal Talent Mobility refers to the movement and development of employees within an organization, allowing them to explore different roles and responsibilities, widen their business acumen beyond their department, and shape their career opportunities. It involves the strategic and intentional deployment of internal talent to fill new positions, meet organizational needs, and support employees where they want to grow and develop. In layman's terms, it’s doing more with what you've got, and INVESTING in your people.
3 Actionable Tips to Empower Talent Mobility
1. Make Career Development Visible
Remember the concept of “water cooler conversations?” You have an opportunity to redefine that for your hybrid workforce by creating a physical space for career to be visible and top of mind.
At ESPN, in addition to our virtual ESPN Career Center, we made one IRL! Inspired by the legendary Sportscenter, the space provides breaking news and game-changing opportunities for our employees to keep their career game flowing. Our mission is clear: elevate the employee experience, foster a culture of growth, and ensure equal access to opportunity. We’ve hosted events from mindful coloring to leadership meet and greets, to producer cut versions of documentaries and speed networking with ESPN Career Coaches, while having always-on experiences in the space to invest in our teams growth and development.
2. Create Unique Moments of Recognition
Whether it’s a company milestone, hitting new benchmarks or a big team win, I want to empower you to create unique experiences to celebrate your teams. We’re talking beyond cupcakes here….Think more along the lines of integrating your company brand and sharing best practices with a pop of fun that allows the team to relish in the success, together. These moments create the definition of belonging and create an emotional reinforcement loop to keep going!
At ESPN, we recently marked a special occasion: ESPN Deportes 20th Anniversary. Given our company priority of audience expansion for Latino sports fans, it was crucial to acknowledge and celebrate the strong foundation we've built. This celebration serves to propel us forward with even greater momentum for the future of Audience Expansion. We celebrated with influential Latino speakers at all levels, in-person localized celebrations across all of our offices, spotlighting best-in-class work across our departments, a 20 impactful moments video timeline of our teams' experiences, digital mosaic of photo memories across two decades of sports excellence, culinary delights, dominoes of course, photobooth, trivia and giveaways!
3. Experiment! Experiment! Experiment!
As an organization, align on which element of your business you’re collectively willing to step outside of your comfort zone and bring new innovative thinking into the fold, from anyone in your organization. Create in-person brain trust meetups, think tanks and collaboration sessions that enable experimentation across departments. When you invite your teams to the table to disrupt the status quo, they’ll be locked in and engaged to contribute.
At ESPN, we never stop highlighting the best in sports. And in turn, we launched the ESPN Career Center All-Star Talent Showcase to spotlight the talented employees who bring sports stories to the fans and help the employees learn from one another on a global stage. We add a bit of competition at the forefront of our approach. In year three of our competition, we used a digital greenroom technology called BrandLive to produce the show with our show host at a studio in Bristol. Our behind the scenes production teams really brought the show to life.
In conclusion, optimizing Talent Mobility for a hybrid workforce isn't just about navigating change—it's about embracing it as an opportunity for growth and transformation. By making career development visible, celebrating achievements, and fostering a culture of experimentation, you'll not only empower your employees to thrive but also propel your organization towards a future of limitless possibilities.
Let's unleash the power of Talent Mobility and redefine the future of work together. Let's make waves, break barriers, and leave your employees speechless! I can't wait to see what you come up with….
