FACILITATING INTERNAL MOBILITY WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION

Systems and methods for facilitating internal mobility within an organization are described. In some example embodiments, the systems and methods may cause a display of a graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization, such as a single employee, a team of employees, and/or a job listing service of the organization, where the graphical user interface includes information associated with the first entity of the organization, and cause a display of a display element within the graphical user interface that is associated with a second, different, entity of the organization and that includes information associated with the second entity of the organization.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

The present disclosure describes methods, systems, and computer program products, which individually provide functionality for facilitating internal mobility within an organization. For example, the systems and methods described herein may provide various online or web-based portals that promote and connect teams of employees to other employees within the organization, among other things.

In some example embodiments, the systems and methods may cause a display of a graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization, such as a single employee, a team of employees, and/or a job listing service of the organization, where the graphical user interface includes information associated with the first entity of the organization, and cause a display of a display element within the graphical user interface that is associated with a second, different, entity of the organization and that includes information associated with the second entity of the organization.

For example, the graphical user interface may present a job listing page (the first entity) representing a job listing for an available job with a team of the organization along with content provided by the team (the second entity), such as information identifying employees within the team, information associated with projects being worked on, videos and other branding for the team, and so on.

In some example embodiments, the systems and methods may track information associated with the portal in order to streamline hiring processes within the organization. For example, the systems and methods may receive and/or access information identifying a recruiting goal for a team within an organization, determine a metric based on interactions between employees of the organization and a portal associated with the team; the metric associated with satisfying the recruiting goal with internal candidates of the organization, compare the recruiting goal to the determined metric, and provide a recommendation (e.g., a number or type of external candidates to recruit) associated with recruiting individuals outside of the organization to the team within the organization based on the comparison.

Therefore, in some example embodiments, the systems and methods may facilitate the efficient and timely movement of employees within an organization to different roles and/or teams within the organization, enabling the employees to work in different aspects of an organization while enabling the organization to effectively utilize internal mobility to better align the talent within the organization to the needs of the organization, among other benefits.

Other advantages and aspects of the inventive subject matter will be readily apparent from the description of the figures that follows.

Suitable Computing Environment

FIG. 1is a block diagram illustrating various functional components of a suitable computing environment100, consistent with some embodiments, for facilitating internal mobility within an organization.

As shown inFIG. 1, the computing environment100includes an organization server130, such as a server that supports an Intranet or other internal networked environment, which is generally based on a three-tiered architecture, consisting of a front-end layer140, an application logic layer150, and a data layer170. The modules, systems, and/or engines shown inFIG. 1represent a set of executable software instructions and the corresponding hardware (e.g., memory and processor) for executing the instructions. However, one skilled in the art will readily recognize that various additional functional modules and engines may be used with the server130to facilitate additional functionality that is not specifically described herein. Furthermore, the various functional modules and engines depicted inFIG. 1may reside on a single server computer, or may be distributed across several server computers in various arrangements.

As shown inFIG. 1, the front-end layer140includes a user interface module (e.g., a web server)145, which receives requests from various client-computing devices, such as a user device110, over a network120, and communicates appropriate responses to the requesting client devices. For example, the user interface module(s)140may receive requests in the form of Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) requests, or other web-based, application programming interface (API) requests. The client devices110may be executing conventional web browser applications, or applications that have been developed for a specific platform to include any of a wide variety of mobile devices and operating systems.

The network120may be any communications network utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), the Internet, mobile telephone networks, Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, wireless data networks (e.g., Wi-Fi® and WiMax® networks), and so on.

As shown inFIG. 1, the data layer170includes several databases, including databases for storing data associated with the organization, such as an employee database172that stores data and other information associated with employees of the organization, a team database174that stores data and other information associated with teams of employees within the organization (e.g., product teams, service teams, organizational teams, project-specific teams, and so on), and/or a jobs database176that stores data and other information associated with job listings and job application activities for available jobs within the organization (e.g., for available jobs with certain teams within the organization).

The application logic layer150includes various application server modules155, which, in conjunction with the user interface module(s)145, generates various user interfaces (e.g., web pages) with data retrieved from various data sources in the data layer170. In some example some embodiments, individual application server modules155are used to implement the functionality associated with various applications, services and features of the server130. For example, a messaging application, such as an email application, an instant messaging application, or some hybrid or variation of the two, may be implemented with one or more application server modules155. Similarly, a search engine enabling users to search for and browse employees pages, team pages, job listing pages, and so on, may be implemented with one or more application server modules155.

In addition to the various application server modules155, the application logic layer150also includes an internal mobility system160, or portal, that facilitates the presentation of user interfaces associated with entities (e.g., employees, teams, job listing services, and so on) of the organization. Of course, other applications or services that utilize the internal mobility system160may be separately embodied in their own application server modules155.

The internal mobility system160may perform one or more algorithmic processes that facilitate connections between employees of an organization and teams or available roles with the organization, such as algorithmic processes that cause the display and/or presentation of user interfaces that contain information provided by multiple entities, among other things.

As illustrated inFIG. 1, in some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160is implemented as a service that operates in conjunction with various application server modules155. For instance, any number of individual application server modules155may invoke the functionality of the internal mobility system160, to include an application server module associated with receiving information from the user device110and/or an application server module associated with an application to facilitate the viewing of user interfaces, such as via the user interface115of user device110. However, in some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160may be implemented as its own application server module such that it operates as a stand-alone application or system.

In some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160may include or have an associated publicly available Application Programming Interface (API) that enables third-party applications or other applications, algorithms or scripts within the organization to invoke the functionality of the internal mobility system160, among other things.

Thus, in some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160or portal facilitates connections between employees and teams or roles provided by an organization by providing user interfaces that act to advertise the needs of entities within the organization and/or exchange information between the entities of the organization, among other things.

Examples for Displaying Information Via an Internal Mobility Portal

As described herein, in some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160supports and/or provides a portal that connect entities within an organization, such as a portal that presents user interfaces displaying information associated with employees, teams of employees, job services, and other entities of an organization.FIG. 2is a block diagram illustrating example modules of the internal mobility system160, consistent with some embodiments.

As illustrated inFIG. 2, the internal mobility system160includes a variety of functional modules. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the functional modules are implemented with a combination of software (e.g., executable instructions, or computer code) and hardware (e.g., at least a memory and processor). Accordingly, as used herein, in some example embodiments a module is a processor-implemented module and represents a computing device having a processor that is at least temporarily configured and/or programmed by executable instructions stored in memory to perform one or more of the particular functions that are described herein. Referring toFIG. 2, the internal mobility system160includes a display module210, an information exchange module220, and a recommendation module230.

In some example embodiments, the display module210is configured and/or programmed to cause a display of a graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization that includes information associated with the first entity of the organization. An entity may be a single employee, a team of employees, a job listing service, or any other individual, group of individuals, department, and/or service of an organization (e.g., a company) that is associated with an organization and/or provides a page or portal to be viewed by employees of the organization.

In some example embodiments, the information exchange module220is configured and/or programmed to cause a display of a display element within the graphical user interface that is associated with a second, different, entity of the organization, and that includes information associated with the second entity of the organization. For example, the display element may provide information (e.g., content from a marketing team) within a user interface (e.g., a job listing) associated with an entity (e.g., a job services group), the information provided by and/or associated with another entity (e.g., the marketing team).

As described herein, the display module210and the information exchange module220may enable the presentation of user interfaces having various configurations of presented information. Example configurations include:

A configuration where the graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization presents a page associated with the employee, and wherein the display element associated with the second entity of the organization presents content provided by the team of employees;

A configuration where the graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization presents a page associated with the employee, and wherein the display element associated with the second entity of the organization presents one or more job listings provided by the job listing service, the job listings representing available jobs within the organization;

A configuration where the graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization presents a page associated with the team of employees, and wherein the display element associated with the second entity of the organization presents information associated with an employee within the organization within a different team of employees of the organization;

A configuration where the graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization presents a page associated with the team of employees, and wherein the display element associated with the second entity of the organization presents one or more job listings provided by the job listing service, the job listings representing available jobs within the team of employees;

A configuration where the graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization presents a page associated with the team of employees, and wherein the display element associated with the second entity of the organization presents one or more job listings provided by the job listing service, the job listings representing available jobs within the team of employees determined to be suitable for an employee of the organization that is currently viewing the page associated with the team of employees;

A configuration where the graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization presents a job listing page for the job listing service that includes one or more job listings provided by the job listing service, the job listings representing available jobs within a certain team of employees, and wherein the display element associated with the second entity of the organization presents content associated with the certain team of employees; and/or

A configuration where the graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization presents a job listing page for the job listing service that includes one or more job listings provided by the job listing service, the job listings representing available jobs within a certain team of employees, and wherein the display element associated with the second entity of the organization presents content associated with the certain team of employees and associated with an employee of the organization that is currently viewing the job listing page for the job listing service; and so on.

Thus, in some example embodiments, the portal may include and/or support a user interface provided by a certain entity that includes information from the entity, as well as information provided by another entity.FIG. 3is a display diagram illustrating an example user interface300provided by the internal mobility system160that is associated with a team within an organization, consistent with some example embodiments.

The user interface300displays a team page within the portal, such as a page associated with a team of employees within an organization. The user interface300may include and/or display information associated with the team, such as team update information310(e.g., content describing updates, members, or projects of the team), team member information312(e.g., information associated with members of the team), team provided content314(e.g., videos, pictures, images, documents, and/or other content that may provide insight or be related to the team and/or its members), and other displayed information not shown in the Figure.

As described herein, the user interface300also includes display elements that include, display, and/or present information from one or more entities within the organization, such as display element320that displays job listings for available jobs with the team represented by the team page. Further, the user interface may include various user-selectable elements that facilitate interactions between viewers and the user interface, such as a user-selectable element330that, when selected, presents the viewer with more information about the team, and/or user-selectable element335that, when selected, enables the viewer to follow the team and associated activities (e.g., blog posts, job postings, updates, and so on) performed by the team within the portal. Of course, the user interface300may include other information and/or displayed content.

FIG. 4is a display diagram illustrating an example user interface400provided by the internal mobility system160that is associated with a job page within an organization, consistent with some example embodiments.

The user interface400displays a job listing page within the portal, such as a page associated with an available job within an organization and provided by a job listing service (e.g., a career site, an applicant tracking service, and so on) of the organization. The user interface400may include and/or display information describing an available job, such as a job listing410(e.g., information describing the job, the required skills, the required education, the required experience, and so on), as well as a user-selectable element430that, when selected, enables a viewer of the page to apply for the page, obtain more information about the job, and so on.

As described herein, the user interface400also includes display elements that include, display, and/or present information from one or more entities within the organization, such as a display element420that displays content from a team page representing a team with which the job is located, and/or display element425that displays content for members of the team with which the job is located. Of course, the user interface400may include other information and/or displayed content.

FIG. 5is a display diagram illustrating an example user interface500provided by the internal mobility system160that is associated with an employee within an organization, consistent with some example embodiments. The user interface500displays an employee dashboard within the portal, such as a page associated with a single employee or individual associate with the organization. The user interface500may include and/or display employee specific information505, team update information510for a team that includes the employee as a member, other team update information515for teams followed by the employee, and so on.

As described herein, the user interface500also includes display elements that include, display, and/or present information from one or more entities within the organization, such as a display element520that displays job listings for available jobs with teams followed by the employee (e.g., job listings that match the skills and/or attributes of the employee). Further, the user interface500may provide various elements that enable the employee to navigate and/or otherwise interact with the portal, such as a search box530that facilitates searches for teams, a search box535that facilitates searches for available jobs, and so on. Of course, the user interface500may include other information and/or displayed content.

In some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160may include other user interfaces, such as interfaces associated with administrators and human resources personnel that provide navigation tools, metrics, analytics, reports, and so on.

Therefore, in some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160may perform various methods in order to connect employees to teams and/or roles within an organization, among other things.FIG. 6is a flow diagram illustrating an example method600for displaying a user interface associated with facilitating internal mobility within an organization, consistent with some embodiments. The method600may be performed by the internal mobility system160and, accordingly, is described herein merely by way of reference thereto. It will be appreciated that the method600may be performed on any suitable hardware.

In operation610, the internal mobility system160causes a display of a graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization, an entity being a single employee, a team of employees, or a job listing service of the organization, the graphical user interface including information associated with the first entity of the organization. For example, the display module210may cause a display of a graphical user interface associated with a first entity of an organization that includes information associated with the first entity of the organization. An entity may be a single employee, a team of employees, a job listing service, or any other individual, group of individuals, department, and/or service of an organization (e.g., a company) that is associated with an organization and/or provides a page or portal to be viewed by employees of the organization.

In operation620, the internal mobility system160causes a display of a display element within the graphical user interface that is associated with a second, different, entity of the organization, the display element including information associated with the second entity of the organization. For example, the information exchange module220may render, or cause to be rendered, a display element provides information from other entities supported by the portal that are not associated with the currently displayed user interface.

For example, the internal mobility system160may generate and/or display a user interface presenting a job listing for an available job, identify a team associated with the available job, retrieve and/or access information or content provided by and/or associated with the team, and present the information associated with the team along with the job listing.

In some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160may track and/or monitor interactions between employees and other views of user interfaces (e.g., pages, display elements, user-selectable elements, input boxes, and so on), and provide recommendations associated with hiring or other employee acquisition or retention goals, among other things.

FIG. 7is a flow diagram illustrating an example method700for providing recommendations based on portal interactions, consistent with some embodiments. The method700may be performed by the internal mobility system160and, accordingly, is described herein merely by way of reference thereto. It will be appreciated that the method700may be performed on any suitable hardware.

In operation710, the internal mobility system160receives and/or accesses information identifying a recruiting goal for a team within an organization. For example, the system160may receive a recruiting goal of a number of new employees to hire, a number of employees to transition to a new team or role, a certain type of new employees to hire, a number of internal viewers of the portal, a number of external viewers of job listings, and combinations thereof.

In operation720, the internal mobility system160determines a metric based on interactions between employees of the organization and a portal associated with the team, the metric associated with satisfying the recruiting goal with internal candidates of the organization. For example, the system160may determine a metric associated with a number of viewers of the portal (e.g.,900viewers in the past week), a number of certain types of viewers of the portals, the actions performed by the viewers within the portal, and so on.

In some example embodiments, the system may determine the metric based on a number of employees that interacted with the portal associated with the team, and/or based on a number of suitable candidates that interacted with the portal associated with the team, the suitable candidates being employees of the organization having characteristics that match one or more characteristics associated with one or more available jobs with the team.

In operation730, the internal mobility system160compares the recruiting goal to the determined metric. For example, the system160may determine a difference and/or percentage difference between viewership and applicants, between internal employee viewers and available positions, and so on.

In operation740, the internal mobility system160provides a recommendation associated with recruiting individuals outside of the organization to the team within the organization based on the comparison. For example, the system160may provide a recommendation to reduce the hiring goal, to increase the hiring goal, to reduce the number of external or internal job advertisements, to modify the external or internal job advertisements, and so on.

Thus, in some example embodiments, the internal mobility system160may facilitate the generation of analytics and recommendations associated with hiring and/or retention goals, enabling recruiters in an organization to identify potential internal candidates (or, internal mobility trends) and adjust their external recruiting efforts accordingly, among other benefits.

The various operations of example methods described herein may be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that are temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanently configured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modules, engines, objects or devices that operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modules, engines, objects and devices referred to herein may, in some example embodiments, comprise processor-implemented modules, engines, objects and/or devices.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of a method may be performed by one or more processors or processor-implemented modules. The performance of certain operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine or computer, but deployed across a number of machines or computers. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors may be located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment or at a server farm), while in other embodiments the processors may be distributed across a number of locations.

FIG. 8is a block diagram of a machine in the form of a computer system or computing device within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. In some embodiments, the machine will be a desktop computer, or server computer, however, in alternative embodiments, the machine may be a tablet computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a personal audio or video player, a global positioning device, a set-top box, a web appliance, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system1500includes a processor1502(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a main memory1504and a static memory1506, which communicate with each other via a bus1508. The computer system1500may further include a display unit1510, an alphanumeric input device1512(e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device1514(e.g., a mouse). In one embodiment, the display, input device and cursor control device are a touch screen display. The computer system1500may additionally include a storage device1516(e.g., drive unit), a signal generation device1518(e.g., a speaker), a network interface device1520, and one or more sensors, such as a global positioning system sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor.

The drive unit1516includes a machine-readable medium1522on which is stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., software1524) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The software1524may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory1504and/or within the processor1502during execution thereof by the computer system1500, the main memory1504and the processor1502also constituting machine-readable media.