A Short Guide to Building Internal Talent Pipelines
5 steps to power career mobility and fill skill gaps
Building internal talent pipelines at scale is not an easy feat or something that can be done overnight. But approaching the process strategically and with best practices in mind can set your business up for long-term success. This guide provides five steps to help you get started.
Identify priority roles for strategic needs & create internal career pathways to fill those roles
STEP ONE
To start building talent internally, you first need to prioritize the most important roles. Take a look at the time it takes to hire for roles, the cost of talent acquisition, demand for the role, as well as time and cost to upskill. Using labor data can also help you understand the broader landscape to see which roles are in highest demand across the market, taking into account where campus recruiting may see declining numbers, how local inter-industry competition may be high, or when a role is easy or hard to upskill into. Once you identify the roles you need to fill, evaluate entry-level roles that can serve as a starting point for the career path to those roles. These can include jobs that tend to have high turnover, high volume, or a good foundation of skills. For example, a customer support representative can be skilled into another support-oriented role, such as an IT support specialist. Next, map those roles to areas of high need to create a career path. From these starter roles, consider what education and training can build the skills needed for an employee to take the next step on their given career path.
ENTRY LEVEL
GATEWAY ROLE
DESTINATION ROLE
For more on the virtuous cycle of career pathways, read our blog post on why upskilling programs are your secret weapon in the war for talent.
These roles require limited or no formal training, have low earnings, are not upwardly mobile without further education, and are particularly vulnerable in the present economy.
These roles require limited formal education, but with the right additional training, they serve as a key launch point to mobility.
These roles provide significant earning potential, upward or lateral mobility, and relative stability in a rapidly changing knowledge economy.
Curate learning opportunities and quality training that align to those pathways
STEP TWO
The next step is to choose the right academic and learning options to support employees along their chosen career paths. There are a few qualities to look for when thinking through your options.
Skills-aligned programs
The education options you offer should help provide the skills and knowledge needed to help employees get to the next level of their career. In addition to degrees, consider bootcamps, certificates, career diplomas, and other short-form credentials. Often these programs can also be complemented with real-world experience, whether through skilled volunteerism, mentoring, or stretch projects.
A range of options
If you want to power internal mobility for every employee, you have to provide a range of options that meet employees where they are in their educational journey. That can be language learning, high school completion, short-form credentials, or degrees. Try to look for options that build over time, so you can offer value on the way to a full degree.
Built to serve working adults
Your employees don’t look like the traditional student. They’re working adults who are balancing a job, family, and a myriad of responsibilities while trying to go back to school and grow their careers. To support this group, ask a few questions to determine whether learning providers are a good fit for working adults. Do they typically serve the demographics of your workforce? Look at program design—are there multiple start times per year? Flexible scheduling? Online learning is a must have, but look to see if they had programs in place before the pandemic. The educational providers that are doing it well have had programs in place for years.
Quality outcomes
You also want to know if the learning provider is setting your employees up for success. This means looking at data such as retention and graduation rates (especially for part-time students), loan default rates, earnings after graduation, and career placement data.
Market opportunities to employees and help the right people find the programs
STEP THREE
The most well-designed, intentional career pathways won’t help anyone if people aren’t aware of them. Business leaders should ensure they’re able to reach all employees where they are and provide guidance in helping them select the program that’s the right fit for them. Successful education program launches use a multichannel approach with strong leadership advocacy. Best-practice tactics include:
Management support and leadership advocacy are important in marketing the program, while technology can help employees evaluate career paths and learning opportunities to find what interests them. Assessments and career-first program enrollment can help employees set career objectives and identify programs that meet their needs. Make sure to include expected compensation and future job growth as well.
A special CEO/CLO announcement (video, town hall call out, email)
Features across internal channels: intranet banners, newsletters, blogs, videos
Talking points and resources for managers and leaders
Coverage in local and national media outlets as well as social channels
Advertising through Employee Resource Groups
Internal career fairs
Support employees from enrollment through graduation and beyond with coaching
STEP FOUR
Don’t expect your employees to figure out their new career path all alone. To create internal talent pipelines that actually help people advance their careers, you need to complement technology and learning with human support. This means more than a Help Desk that answers technical questions. Your workforce is composed of working adults who are juggling numerous responsibilities while trying to go back to school and further their careers. They may have caregiving duties, some may have had negative experiences with higher education, and others might be the first in their family to go to college. Successful internal pipelines support each individual learner across a few dimensions. Having a dedicated coach to provide career and education guidance—along with the nitty gritty on options, application, and enrollment—can help keep employees motivated and accountable. Coaches can provide emotional support to individuals who aren’t the typical university student or corporate learner. This doesn’t have to be done in-house. As you build out internal pathways, ask education or technology partners if they provide this support.
of Guild students say coaching helps them be more successful than they would be on their own
74%
customer satisfaction score for Guild's coaching services
98%
higher completion rate for students in Guild programs compared to the national average
2x
Measure performance, ROI, and continue to make improvements to the program
STEP FIVE
Putting career pathways in place is just the beginning. You need to continually track and manage the program to see if it’s working. Are employees getting held up at some point in the enrollment process? Are they not completing the courses? Do they earn a new credential but don’t apply to the next job? Measuring performance can help you see where employees are encountering friction in the process. Maybe you need to bolster coaching or mentoring support, market the program more proactively, or make sure the program is connected to the next job. You also need to evaluate business needs to see where you need to add new pathways. Technology is changing, and the shelf-life of skills is decreasing. New pathways can help your business adapt to a changing market.
Want to learn more about measuring your organization's efforts? Read our guide, "The Dollar Value of Education: 5 Elements of ROI," to see how you can determine the return on investment for education and upskilling programs across the talent lifecycle, from attraction to retention, development, brand, and engagement.
Interested to see what career pathways can look like in practice?
WHAT'S NEXT
TAKE A LOOK
We've mapped out the skills and credentials needed to help a warehouse worker, a cashier, and a customer service rep progress into high-demand roles.
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