Have you tried rotating people among different areas or teams, particularly when they express an interest in learning something new? If so, what has your experience been with this approach? Have you found that it helps employees who want to join another team or develop a new skill, and has it led to positive outcomes for your organization?

When I joined, I looked for all the high-potential people on the team and considered how long they had been with the company. You have about 18 to 24 months to determine if someone is motivated to learn and grow. The steady, reliable team members are essential, but the curious and motivated ones need opportunities to develop. We created opportunities for them, such as transferring someone from accounts payable who was a certified PMP and wanted to do project management in IT. This not only motivates and develops talent but also helps retain people who might otherwise leave for other opportunities. It’s important to backfill those roles with people who are passionate about that work.

In my previous company, we had a leadership development program where participants rotated every six months into different organizations to gain knowledge, but it was mostly for future leaders. For our current teams, we’ve had people express interest in broadening their experiences, but the challenge is that we’ve recently restructured our teams based on value stream mapping. If we rotated people too often, it would disrupt our metrics and make it hard to measure improvement. For a formal program, I think longer rotations—perhaps a year—would be more effective, as shorter ones could destabilize the teams.

We also had a “bench program” for high-potential employees who had outgrown their current roles but didn’t have a promotion available. We would talk to them about their interests and try to loan them out to other departments to keep them engaged and prevent them from leaving the company.

I actually have a reputation for bringing people from the business into my team, and while it may not always be popular, it has been very effective. This approach helps break the mold of people being stuck in roles like QA, BA, or developer. When you get someone from the business, they are eager to learn about technology and already understand the core business. It’s a great formula for success because they have the relationships, the business know-how, and everything else can be learned on the job. They may not become coders, but there are many roles they can fill successfully.

Also, our parent company runs rotation programs across different departments, typically for rising stars being groomed for leadership or those who want to learn another area of the business. These rotations usually last six to twelve months, and the program has been very successful. Sometimes, people find a team they love and decide to stay, which is fantastic for everyone.