For many large organisations, internal staff mobility is known to be beneficial for retaining talent and nurturing career growth. NUS recognises the merits of this approach and has in place the Internal Career Mobility Programme, which provides staff with ample opportunities to gain exposure and build professional networks internally. To support the process, the University launched the Internal Job Marketplace, a one-stop staff portal for job opportunities within the University, in early 2020.
As part of their career development, staff are encouraged to consider a new job rotation every three to five years of service, and advised to select a more challenging internal role for their next position. Nonetheless, Executive and Administration (E&A) staff who have served in their current roles for a minimum of two years, and contract staff who are three months from the completion of their contract can apply for new roles at other NUS units. Interested staff can find out more about the programme from the updated Internal Career Mobility Policy.
The programme also provides NUS units with opportunities to tap on available staff within the University before seeking external candidates, potentially saving recruitment time and resources. “Our many talented staff possess an intricate understanding of how the University operates, and have a strong organisational culture fit,” observed Catherine Ng, Project Lead and Senior Associate Director at Office of Human Resources (OHR) who heads the Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development teams. Catherine noted that existing staff can also demonstrate how they have contributed to the University’s shared mission.
With an increase in staff training and upskilling across NUS, talent management and retention has become a priority. “To ensure job satisfaction and adequate support for career development goals, clear guidelines and robust processes are in place to enable fair practices and consistent staff management,” Catherine added.
“An advantage for internal candidates is that they are able to contact the hiring managers directly and find out more about the new role,” shared An Jae Hyeong, Co-Project Lead, Executive at OHR and Internal Job Marketplace Community Manager, who regularly shares content on topics such as making successful job transitions between departments. Staff can leverage various career advancement resources available on the portal for guidance to support their internal job application.
“Moving to a new role, team and department can seem a bit daunting, but it is also an opportunity to learn new things and apply the skills you have in different ways,” said Joe Havely, Associate Director at Faculty of Engineering who recently transferred from NUS Business School.
To date, 249 jobs across different levels have been posted on the Internal Job Marketplace and 526 applications were processed. The interest shown by staff on job rotation and career development within NUS is aligned with findings from the University-wide Organisational Agility Survey conducted in March 2020, where 81% of respondents cited that their career goals can be achieved at NUS. The positive outcomes and learning points from the Internal Job Marketplace pilot launch have encouraged the team to expand job postings beyond E&A staff to include other University talents for the next project phase.