Traditional career paths emphasize strict upward mobility within an organization. How does mobility differ in organizations with innovative/alternative career paths? List three innovative/alternative career paths discussed in the text and describe how mobility occurs in each. Have you ever worked with an organization that utilized any of these methods? What is your opinion of these mobility paths?

264 PART THREE Goal 2: The Right Number of Applicants Determining the internal-external mix for recruiting depends on whether there are enough internal applicants to fill needs. The planning chapter described some tools that are used for estimating the number of internal applicants that are avail able for a job. Tools like Markov Analysis and replacement charts highlight of important factor in using internal recruitment: every person who moves into a new tore creates a vacancy in their previous role. As we discuss later, casting too wide a net in internal recruiting creates problems since there could be many employees who apply for but are not offered an internal option. Goal 3: Applicants at the Right Time Strategic talent management means that the organization identifies crucial skills that will be needed for future positions and begins cultivating these skills in the workforce well in advance. By proactively developing needed skills, the organization will be able to significantly reduce the lead time to fill positions with very specific KSAO requirements. The ability to build KSAOs in the current workforce in anticipation of future staffing needs is the key advantage of an internal recruiting system. Internal hires are also often able to leverage their knowledge of internal processes and cul- ture, and therefore reach full productivity more quickly than external hires. Many of the applicant sourcing strategies we discuss in this chapter, like talent management systems and succession plans, explicitly incorporate a long-term perspective. Mobility Paths and Policies The internal recruitment system will be crucially dependent on the mobility paths and policies that have been established in the organization. Just as the external labor market can be divided into segments or strata of workers believed to be desir- able job applicants, so, too, can the internal labor market of an organization be divided into segments. This division is often done informally inside organizations. For example, managers might talk about the talented pool of managerial train- ees this year and refer to some of them as "high-potential employees." As another example, people in the organization talk about their "techies," an internal collec tion of employees with the technical skills needed to run the business. Mobility Paths A mobility path consists of possible employee movements within the internal labor market structure. Mobility paths are determined by many factors, including KSAO requirements, workforce characteristics, organizational culture, and labor market characteristics. Mobility paths are of two types: hierarchical and alternative. Both types determine who is eligible for a new job in the organization. Hierarchical Mobility Paths. Examples of hierarchical mobility paths are shown in Exhibit 6.1. As can be seen, the emphasis is primarily on upward mobilCHAPTER SIX Internal Recruitment 265 EXHIBIT 6.1 Hierarchical Mobility Paths Nonexempt Exempt Technical Employees Employees Staff Specialists Employees Leadperson Vice president Senior consulting Vice president engineer Journeyperson Manager Consulting engineer Corporate Division manager manager Apprentice Supervisor Senior engineer Specialist Generalist Helper Representative Engineer Trainee ity in the organization. Due to their upward nature, hierarchical mobility paths are often labeled "promotion ladders." This label implies that each job is a step toward the top of the organization. Employees often see upward promotions as prizes because of the promotions' desirable characteristics. For example, a promotion might lead to a higher rate of pay, and a transfer may result in a move to a better work location. A great deal of research has been conducted on these types of "tour- naments" for higher pay and promotions, with evidence clearly suggesting that individuals increase their effort when faced with the prospect of a large payoff. However, this same research suggests that competition can lead to counterproduc- tive behavior, like sabotaging other employees or turnover among those who do not receive promotions. An exception to the primarily upward mobility in the promotion ladders in Exhibit 6.1 shows the lateral moves that sometimes occur for the staff member who has both generalist and specialist experience as well as corporate and division exper rience. This staff member is considered more well-rounded and better able to work within the total organization. Experience as a specialist gives the person familiar- ity with technical issues. Experience as a generalist gives the employee a breadth of knowledge. Corporate experience provides a policy and planning perspective, whereas division experience provides greater insight into day-to-day operational matters. Hierarchical mobility paths make it easy, from an administrative vantage point, to identify where to look for applicants in the organization. For promotion, one looks at the next level down in the organizational hierarchy, and for transfer, one266 PART THREE Staffing Activities: Recruitment looks over. Although such a system is straightforward to administer, it is not ver flexible and may inhibit matching the best person to the job. For example, the boy person for the job may be two levels down and in another division from the vacest job. It is very difficult to locate such a person under a hierarchical mobility pa Alternative Mobility Paths. Examples of alternative mobility paths are shown in Exhibit 6.2. The emphasis here is on movement in the organization in any direction up, down, and side to side. Employee movement is emphasized to ensure that each employee is continuously learning and that they can make the greatest contrib to the organization. This is in direct contrast to the hierarchical promotion ladder. where the goal is for each person to achieve a position with ever-higher status. Many organizations have shifted to alternative mobility paths to be flexible, avoid. ing the rigidity of strict hierarchies. Parallel tracks allow for employees to specialize in technical work or manage. ment work. Historically, technical specialists had to shift away from technical work to managerial work if they wanted to receive higher-status job titles and pay. In other words, a technical specialist was a dead-end job. Under a parallel track sys- tem, however, job titles and salaries of technical specialists are elevated to be com- mensurate with their managerial counterparts. Such parallel track systems avoid the problem of employees being promoted out of a job they were effective in, and into a role requiring KSAOs they do not possess. For example, hierarchical paths sometimes mean that an excellent engineer is promoted into an administrative role that matches neither her skills nor her interests. In a parallel track system, this EXHIBIT 6.2 Alternative Mobility Paths Parallel Tracks Lattice Track Vice president Senior consulting engineering engineer Training Division personnel manager manager Manager engineering Consulting engineer Recruitment Compensation supervisor supervisor Supervising engineer Senior engineer Recruiter Engineer Compensation specialist Lateral Track Production manager- Project manager- International sales - Sales managerCHAPTER SIX Internal Recruitment 267 engineer can grow their career by taking on increased responsibility for the part of the job they are best at. With a lateral track system, there may be no upward mobility at all. The individ- ual's greatest contribution to the organization may be to stay at a certain level for an extended period of time while serving in a variety of capacities. Lateral tracks are quite common, especially in industries and countries with strong labor protect tions that make hiring and terminations administratively complex and expensive. A lateral track system allows for the flexible assignment of employees within the organization in response to changing strategic and operational needs.' A lattice mobility path has upward, lateral, and even downward movement. For example, a recruiter may be promoted to a recruitment supervisor position, but to continue to contribute to the organization, the person may need to take a down- ward step to become knowledgeable about all the technical details in compensa- tion. After mastering these details, the person may then become a supervisor again, this time in the compensation area rather than in recruitment. The person may have experience in training from a previous organization and be ready to move to training manager without training experience internal to the organization. Finally, the person may make a lateral move to manage all the HR functions in a division (recruitment, compensation, and training) as a division personnel manager. Some organizations have adopted a team-based structure, hoping to maximize the information flow, increase flexibility, and minimize boundaries among employ- ees. These organizations may do away with formal job titles and ranks altogether, with workers being reassigned to different roles in various project teams as needed. Such a structure is found mainly in research and development environments. The role of internal recruitment in such organizations changes completely, as talent management is focused on pairing employee KSAOs with unique project demands that are constantly in flux. This means there is a dramatic increase in the need for assessment of employee KSAOs and collaboration with team leaders to reconfig- ure groups quickly and efficiently. Such team-focused arrangements can be highly motivational for highly skilled individuals who are self-directed and engaged in their profession. When upward mobility is limited in an organization, as in those using alternative mobility paths, special steps need to be taken to ensure that work remains mean- ingful to employees. Examples of steps to make work more meaningful include the following: 1. Alternative reward systems. Pay increases can be based on an individual's knowledge, skill acquisition, and contribution as a team member. These pro- grams are successful at encouraging employees to develop job-relevant skills." 2. Team building. Greater challenge and autonomy in the workplace can be created by having employees work in teams where they are responsible for all aspects of work involved in providing a service or product, including self-management