Developing a company culture that supports internal mobility

Developing a company culture that supports internal mobility

The labor market is tight. At the same time, many organizations have employees who have secretly been browsing LinkedIn for a while. Not because they’re necessarily dissatisfied, but because they feel they’ll get more opportunities to grow elsewhere. The irony? Those growth opportunities often exist within their current organization as well, but the culture doesn’t support taking advantage of them. Internal mobility, the ability of employees to move within an organization, isn’t an HR gadget but a strategic necessity. It’s about employees switching roles, developing new skills, or exploring another department without leaving the organization. Yet in practice, many companies mainly talk about this but do little with it structurally.

Why internal mobility is crucial now

The costs of external recruitment have increased explosively in recent years. Recruiting a new employee quickly costs between €5,000 and €15,000, and that’s not even accounting for onboarding time and productivity loss. Additionally, it takes an average of four to six months before a new employee is fully productive. Internal mobility flips this equation. Employees who move internally already know the organization, understand the culture, and are fully operational in their new role within a few weeks. Moreover, research shows that organizations with a strong internal mobility culture have 41% higher retention. But there’s more at play. The new generation of employees expects development opportunities. Not in five years, but now. They want to learn, grow, and try different roles. If your organization doesn’t offer that opportunity, they’ll find an employer who does.

The cultural blockades you need to break through

The biggest barrier to internal mobility isn’t in systems or processes, but in the culture. In many organizations, managers are held accountable for their own team results, not for their contribution to the broader organization. The result? They hold onto their best people, even if that means those employees can’t grow. This silo mentality is toxic to internal mobility. Managers who see their team as their property rather than as talent they get to develop for the entire organization create a culture where people feel trapped. And trapped talent eventually leaves. Additionally, there’s often a lack of transparency. Employees simply don’t know what opportunities exist within the organization. Vacancies aren’t communicated internally, or only after someone has already been approached externally. That sends a clear signal: we’d rather look outside than inside. Fear also plays a role. Employees don’t dare indicate that they want something different, afraid their manager will interpret that as dissatisfaction or lack of loyalty. And managers don’t dare start a conversation about future prospects, afraid they’ll trigger the departure of their best people.

The shift from attracting talent to developing talent

A culture that supports internal mobility starts with a fundamental mindset shift. From “we need to bring in the best people” to “we need to help the people we have grow into the best version of themselves.” That may sound like a subtle difference, but the impact is enormous. This shift means you start rewarding managers for developing talent, even if that talent subsequently moves to another department. It means career paths are no longer linear, but multidirectional. Someone can go from sales to operations, from HR to marketing, from specialist to generalist and back again. In practice, you see successful organizations make this concrete by making development an explicit part of performance management. Not just “what have you achieved?”, but also “how have you developed yourself and others?” and “what new skills have you learned?”.

Transparency as foundation

If you want employees to move internally, they need to know where they can move to. That seems logical, but in many organizations there’s an enormous gap between the opportunities that exist and what employees know about them. Transparency starts with actively communicating internal vacancies, preferably before you look externally. But it goes further than that. It also means making clear what competencies are needed for different roles, what development paths exist, and how employees can prepare themselves for a next step. Some organizations go even further and create internal talent marketplaces where employees can see what projects are running, which teams are looking for extra capacity, and where temporary assignments are available. That gives employees the chance to explore new areas without having to change jobs immediately. Regular career conversations are also part of this transparency. Not once a year during the performance review, but as an ongoing conversation about ambitions, interests, and development opportunities. Managers who do this well don’t just ask “how are things in your current role?”, but also “where do you want to be in three years?” and “what skills do you want to develop?”.

Creating psychological safety

Internal mobility can only flourish in a culture where employees feel safe expressing their ambitions. If someone doesn’t dare say they’re interested in another role, or if a manager reacts defensively to such a signal, the movement stops immediately. Psychological safety means employees know it’s okay to explore, experiment, and even fail. It means a conversation about internal advancement isn’t seen as a sign of dissatisfaction, but as a healthy signal of ambition and engagement. Leaders play a crucial role here. They need to open the conversation, not wait for employees to come themselves. Asking questions like “which parts of your work give you the most energy?” and “are there areas you want to do more with?” create space for honest conversations. This also requires a culture change at management level. Managers need to be trained and supported to have these conversations. And they need to be rewarded for facilitating internal mobility, not punished.

Learning and development as the norm

In organizations with a strong mobility culture, learning isn’t an extra, but an integrated part of work. Employees get time and space to develop new skills, even if they’re not directly relevant to their current position. That can range from formal training to job shadowing, from cross-functional projects to internal internships. It’s about giving people the chance to taste other roles before making a definitive switch. Some organizations use a percentage of work time that employees can spend on learning and development. Others create rotation programs where employees temporarily work in another department. Still others facilitate internal mentorships where employees can learn from colleagues in other functions. The most important thing is that this doesn’t happen ad hoc, but is structurally facilitated and encouraged. If development can only happen in the evening hours or on weekends, the message is clear: it’s not really important.

Data and insight as catalyst

You can only manage what you measure. Organizations that take internal mobility seriously actively monitor how many employees move internally, which departments have the most mobility, and where blockades exist. This data provides valuable insights. Do you see that certain departments hardly let employees go? Then you know where to start the culture change. Do you notice that employees mainly move vertically and hardly horizontally? Then you can question whether you’re creating enough opportunities for broad development. Employee surveys can also play a role here. Regular polls where you ask about development opportunities, career prospects, and psychological safety give you real-time insight into how employees experience the mobility culture. You can then use those insights to improve in a targeted way. Deepler helps organizations collect and interpret this data. Through short, two-minute surveys, you quickly gain insight into where the opportunities and blockades are, without it becoming an administrative burden for HR or employees.

From strategy to practice

You don’t build a mobility culture with a nice policy document, but with concrete actions that are visible every day. Start small but structural. For example, introduce a rule that every vacancy is first posted internally for two weeks before you look externally. Train your managers in conducting career conversations and make development an explicit part of their objectives. Create platforms where employees can see what opportunities exist and facilitate introductory meetings between departments. Celebrate internal mobility successes. When someone moves internally, communicate that broadly and show what it has delivered for that person. That normalizes internal movement and inspires others to also look at what’s possible. And perhaps most importantly: ensure the top models it. If management only recruits externally for key positions and never moves internally themselves, the message is crystal clear, regardless of what the policy says.

The impact on retention and engagement

Organizations that succeed in creating a mobility culture see measurable results. Employees stay longer, not because they can’t go anywhere else, but because they find enough challenge and development within the organization. Engagement increases because people feel seen in their ambitions. They don’t have to leave to grow, they can do it within the organization. That creates a sense of connection and loyalty that you can’t buy with salary increases or secondary employment benefits. Moreover, it increases your organization’s agility. When employees are used to moving, taking on new roles, and continuing to learn, you as an organization can respond more quickly to changes in the market or strategy. Internal mobility isn’t an HR project, but a strategic choice that impacts the entire organization. It requires a culture change that takes time, but the return is enormous. Employees who stay, grow, and contribute. That’s ultimately what it’s all about. Start today by mapping how your employees experience the current mobility culture. Those insights are the starting point for targeted improvements that truly make an impact.