Accessible Internal Jobs Board
Implementing an accessible internal jobs board is one of the nine cornerstone policies that companies can implement today to help untapped talent enter, thrive, and stay in the workforce. To access the rest of the policies, read the full System Upgrade report today.
What is an accessible internal jobs board?
It looks like a central and accessible platform where employees can view and apply for open positions. A jobs board can provide visibility into open roles across the organization and support internal mobility. Hiring internally, rather than externally, is generally preferred among employers. Yet only around one third of employees search internally for their next job before looking elsewhere. In many cases, it’s easier for employees to look outside their company for a job. An internal jobs board that is easy to use, communicated about frequently, and meaningfully designed could change that. With intentional design, an internal jobs board can be an effective practice to make sure employees stay and excel in the workplace.
Did You Know
Role Expectations
Having a jobs board helps employees understand the type of roles available to them and the skills expected as they seek to grow their career internally.
Employee Retention
Internal jobs boards improve employee retention by making opportunities for growth and advancement within a company more accessible to employees– both within or outside of their current department. Employees who make a lateral move within three years of being hired are 62% more likely to stay at their company.
Organizational Agility
By expanding employee networks and skills through internal jobs boards, employers can create more organizational agility.
Career Advancement
Employees form informal social networks to find opportunities in the workplace, but Black, Latina, and Native American (BLNA) women in the technical workforce tend to have fewer, less influential connections. An internal jobs board can help BLNA women find career advancement opportunities.
Equitable Pay
Employers who are transparent about pay benefit
from lower turnover rates since employees know
how their work is valued, making them less likely to
look for a new job
The Numbers
46%
Of BLNA women in the technical workforce feel their company’s internal jobs board is designed keeping them in mind.
11
Percentage Points
More likely to be considered for BLNA women compared to other technical employees.
Policy in Practice
Meet Emelia, a programmer at a gaming company looking for the next move in her career to AI programming. She wants to stay at her company, but doesn’t see any openings posted online. Emelia knows some positions are only posted internally for current employees, but can’t figure out where to find them and is nervous to ask her manager out of fear of being held back. With seemingly no options at her company, she has been searching for jobs at other gaming companies.
If Emelia can access the jobs board listing roles currently open to internal employees, she can know what options are available to her to better navigate her career shift. Additionally, seeing job descriptions and skill expectations for roles not currently open would support her long-term career planning. With easier access, she might be motivated to stay because she has a clearer path forward internally,
Policy Pairings
If you’re looking to supercharge your jobs board strategy, consider also implementing the recommended cornerstones:
- Share salary ranges
- Offer professional development programs
- Provide actionable next steps for development
6 Design Questions
1
How can we use quantitative and qualitative data to identify how pain points differ for each group?
Organize listening sessions, focus groups, and surveys that collect disaggregated data from employees by race, gender, and level to identify unique pain points related to internal mobility.
2
How can we offer employees multiple relevant options?
Provide information sessions about new roles added to the jobs board and opportunities for employees to share roles and skills they’re interested in (even if those roles aren’t on the jobs board yet). Provide job descriptions and skill expectations for all roles, whether or not they’re available, to support career planning.
3
Have we ensured that all options are accessible and easy to use?
Eliminate unnecessary barriers to accessing the jobs board by making it a prominent resource and socialize the board among more informal networks like employee resource and affinity groups.
4
How are we communicating frequently and clearly about this practice?
Consistently communicate across multiple channels about the internal jobs board whenever there are new postings to increase visibility (e.g. through employee resource groups, newsletters, Slack and other collaborative platforms, offline bulletins, firmwide town halls).
5
How are we promoting a culture that encourages adoption?
Encourage people managers to normalize conversations about internal mobility–including lateral movements, share their own experiences of career advancement, and chart career paths with employees to reduce anxieties around internal mobility.
6
How are we continuously measuring impact and iterating as needed?
Ask different employees across the workforce what is useful about the internal jobs board or what continued pain points they are experiencing.
Questions?
Get in touch at impact@rebootrepresentation.org