From Lateral Moves to Lateral Thinking
A version of this article was originally published in the February 1999 edition of People Management.
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It is rare to attend a gathering of HR managers these days without the conversation turning towards the question of how best to encourage and enable the lateral movement of staff.
This is widely seen as the antidote to functionally oriented thinking, and as a way of overcoming the career limitations presented by flatter structures. Yet many organisations struggle to achieve the extent and rate of movement which they feel to be desirable.
Despite this relatively common difficulty, the effectiveness of the approach as a central plank of HR strategy is rarely called into question.
Whilst many of the benefits attributed to lateral moves are undoubtedly important for business success (Box 1), the key question is: Are these the best way of achieving them?
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Box 1 - LATERAL MOVES
At a workshop I attended recently, the assembled managers suggested that lateral moves:
- are an inevitable outcome of flatter organisations
- help to develop generalists rather than specialists
- facilitate the transfer of capabilities, skills and knowledge
- can lead to a better customer focus
- eradicate barriers between functions
- increase the range of challenging opportunities for people
- can assist employability
- address the need for managers to have a flexible mindset
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