Creating a culture of internal mobility to drive performance

Creating a culture of internal mobility to drive performance

Organizations that strategically deploy internal mobility see significant improvements in performance, retention, and employee engagement. A culture where employees grow and can move to roles that better utilize their talents leads to faster productivity, lower replacement costs, and a resilient workforce. The key lies not only in making opportunities available, but in fundamentally changing how managers, leaders, and employees view mobility. Many organizations have policies on paper, but fail in execution because they underestimate the psychological and cultural barriers.

Why transparency makes the difference

Many organizations invest in career programs, but fail because employees simply don’t know what opportunities are available. L’Oréal discovered this through research: 50% of their employees wanted more visibility into career opportunities, and 56% of departing employees cited lack of clarity about internal growth opportunities as a reason for leaving. The solution is surprisingly simple: transparency. By introducing an internal talent marketplace or job platform where all internal opportunities are visible, organizations enable employees to proactively shape their careers. L’Oréal’s “POP” platform resulted in 75% of externally posted vacancies ultimately being filled by internal candidates, and 81% of all vacancies being posted internally first. This is not just an HR tool, it’s a statement that the organization values growth from within. Implement a central, searchable platform where all internal opportunities are visible: roles, projects, rotations. Ensure employees can filter by skills they want to develop, not just job titles. Make the process simple: an employee should be able to find and apply for an internal vacancy in less than five minutes.

Breaking through the manager barrier

The biggest barrier to internal mobility is not policy or technology, it’s managers holding onto their best employees. Research shows that 70% of recruitment professionals say the biggest obstacle to internal mobility is a manager who doesn’t want to let go of good talent. This behavior doesn’t arise from malice, but from fear. Managers fear they won’t be able to meet their performance targets without their best team members. This is a psychological problem that requires a culture shift. Organizations must reward and recognize managers who help their employees grow, even if it means they leave their team. Workday saw 50% more internal movement among employees who took on temporary work or project roles, because this offered managers a middle ground: employees can grow without permanently leaving. The underlying message is important: holding onto talent doesn’t lead to retention, it leads to departure. Insufficient career development is the primary reason people resign. Make talent development an explicit part of manager KPIs and performance reviews. Assess managers not only on team results, but also on how many employees they’ve helped grow and move internally. Implement temporary work or project roles where employees can develop new skills without leaving their current role. Introduce regular talent reviews where managers openly discuss which employees are ready for new roles, and recognize managers who facilitate this.

Career conversations as a strategic tool

Many organizations conduct annual performance reviews, but this is insufficient for real career development. Research from Quantum Workplace shows that 82% of employees who discuss their career with their manager more than once a month are highly engaged, compared to only 53% who do so just once a year. That’s a 29 percentage point difference. Career conversations are not the same as performance reviews. They’re about ambitions, skill development, and future opportunities, not about what someone achieved last year. Research from Right Management shows that 76% of HR leaders say their managers are overloaded, meaning many managers don’t know how to conduct effective career conversations. The key is structure. Effective career conversations have three elements: actively listening to what the employee wants to achieve, identifying skill gaps and development opportunities, and creating a concrete action plan with follow-up steps. Schedule monthly career moments instead of annual reviews. This doesn’t need to be long, 30 minutes per month is sufficient. Use a structured format: what are your current strengths, what would you like to learn, which roles interest you, how can we get you there? Train managers in active listening and asking good questions, not giving answers. Document action plans and follow up on these in subsequent conversations. Deepler’s platform can help with this by gathering insights about employees’ career ambitions and development needs.

Psychological safety as foundation

Internal mobility requires employees to take risks: they must ask questions about new roles, dare to make mistakes in new positions, and be able to be vulnerable without fear of negative consequences. Without psychological safety, employees stay in their comfort zone. They don’t apply internally because they’re afraid their current manager will see it as a lack of loyalty. They don’t ask for development because they fear it will be seen as weakness. Organizations that want to stimulate internal mobility must first create a culture of psychological safety. This means leaders must openly talk about their own career steps, mistakes, and learning moments. Celebrate internal promotions and role changes publicly. Make stories visible of employees who have successfully changed roles, including the challenges they encountered. This normalizes movement and makes it less scary for others to take the step. Ensure that applying for an internal role has no negative impact on the relationship with the current manager. Communicate explicitly that exploring internal opportunities is encouraged and valued. Deepler’s measurements of psychological safety can help organizations understand where barriers exist and which teams or departments need extra attention to create a safe environment for mobility.

Facilitating development and training

Employees often want a new role, but don’t feel qualified. The lack of skills is a real barrier, but also a solvable one. Organizations that invest in reskilling and upskilling make internal mobility concretely possible. This goes beyond traditional training. It means helping employees develop the skills needed for future roles, not just for their current position. Think of shadowing colleagues, mentorship programs, cross-departmental projects, and targeted development tracks. Amazon’s Career Choice program is an extreme example: they pay 95% of tuition for employees who want to develop skills, even if those skills are outside their current role. This led to higher retention and an internal talent pool that better aligns with future needs. Identify which skills your organization will need in the coming years and build development programs that help employees acquire these skills. Make this visible: employees must know which training is available and how it helps them move to desired roles. Link development to career conversations. If an employee shows interest in a new role, there must be a clear development path with concrete steps and resources to reach that role.

Measurable impact and next steps

Internal mobility is not a soft HR initiative, it has hard business impact. Organizations with strong internal mobility see 41% longer employee tenure and 34% higher retention. Internal candidates are on average 20% faster to productivity than external hires and cost significantly less to recruit. Start by measuring your current state. How many vacancies are filled internally? How long do employees who move internally stay versus employees who don’t move? What are the main reasons employees leave? Deepler’s employee surveys can quickly reveal these insights by regularly gauging career ambitions, development needs, and barriers employees experience. Data-driven insight makes it possible to make targeted interventions. Start small but strategic. Choose one department or team to pilot with transparent job posting, monthly career conversations, and development opportunities. Measure the impact and scale successful policies to the rest of the organization. You don’t build a culture of internal mobility in months, but in years. It requires consistent attention, leadership commitment, and breaking old patterns. But organizations that do this well create a competitive advantage that’s difficult to copy: a workforce that stays, grows, and performs.