Job rotation can serve many purposes, including to encourage innovation, to help retain key employee, and to reenergize the workforce.

Most companies don’t share talent or ideas between business units. Many line managers fear productivity disruption or the loss of a good employee to another area. To gain the support of these managers, it is important to stress the benefits that rotation can bring, including skill-building, cross-pollination of ideas, greater understanding of the business, and enhanced productivity. These benefits can far outweigh any costs or inconvenience.

Cross-training can help keep people feeling fresh and motivated. They also gain knowledge that can help them become more flexible in an increasingly competitive corporate environment.

With recent talent shortages in many areas, job rotation may be a better option than sending employees out to get a formal education. Job rotation can even work at different career levels:

• New hires: most commonly used; gives new hires the chance to get a taste of different areas of specialization or services to which they can later commit on a full-time basis.
• Mid-career management development and succession planning: frequently used as part of the promotion and development process.
• Retirement planning and knowledge retention.