Benefits of Internal Mobility: 5 Statistics You Should Know

In today’s competitive job market, attracting and retaining top talent has become a major challenge for organizations. And one of the solutions to this problem is to provide employees with opportunities for growth and development through internal mobility programs.

These programs allow employees to switch between different roles, departments, or locations within an organization, providing them with new challenges and opportunities for career advancement.

But what are the main benefits of internal mobility? And why should your company consider it? In this article, we’ll answer these questions and back them up with statistics that reveal why internal mobility is here to stay.

1. Internal mobility improves employee retention rates

Statistic #1: “Workers who have moved internally have a 64% chance of remaining with an organization after three years, according to LinkedIn data. Meanwhile, employees who haven’t moved internally only have a 45% chance of being around after three years.”

Recommendations:

Encouraging internal mobility by providing career development opportunities (job rotations, promotions, lateral moves, etc.) can serve as a vital step towards enhancing employee retention and maximizing the skill set available within your organization.

And with a talent marketplace, you can democratize access to these career development opportunities and showcase them to your employees through a self-service model, enabling them to:

• explore non-linear career paths
• pursue new roles or assignments
• participate in temporary projects based on their interests, skills, and available opportunities

2. Internal mobility reduces recruitment costs

Statistic #2: “79% of L&D leaders agree it is less expensive to reskill a current employee than to hire a new one, while 54% agree that internal mobility has become a higher priority at their organization since COVID-19.” – LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report

Recommendations:

While internal mobility initiatives can reduce the costs and time associated with external hiring, they cannot succeed without a robust talent management strategy.

To identify the necessary skills and best-fit candidates for mobility opportunities, such a strategy should include:

• skills assessment methods and tools
• flexible career development planning personalized for each individual’s set of skills and career aspirations
• clear and trackable employee development goals
• transparent training opportunities

3. Internal mobility supports skills development

Statistic #3: “Those workers who were upwardly mobile had pursued mobility, but with stretch roles and stretch skills, meaning they moved into jobs and roles that were adjacent but still represented maybe up to 40 percent nonoverlapping new and different skills that they hadn’t deployed or exercised in their previous role.” – McKinsey report

Recommendations:

Whether we talk about lateral or vertical moves, there are no guarantees that every employee who embraces internal mobility will succeed. Many other variables can have an impact.

For example, the presence (or absence) of adequate and easily accessible training opportunities will play a key role in how fast a worker adapts to their new position and responsibilities.

Encouraging someone to make an internal move when they aren’t ready or it isn’t aligned with their long-term aspirations is also unlikely to yield positive results. In this situation, the initial stage of discovery — identifying necessary skills and ideal candidates for mobility — can make or break the internal mobility program.

4. Internal mobility boosts employee engagement

#Statistic 4: “Employees who move into new jobs internally are 3.5x more likely to be engaged employees than those who stay in their current jobs.” – LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report

Recommendations:

Organizations should embrace internal mobility, especially in a world where only 21% of employees are engaged at work, according to data from Gallup.

The reason why internal mobility programs can have such a significant positive impact on engagement levels is that they address several essential pain points:

• help employees avoid feeling stuck in their roles or careers
• enable people to learn new skills and have novel experiences, which is satisfying
• can be a form of recognition or reward for employees who have performed well or display interest in further development
• show that the company cares about the long-term future and well-being of its workforce

5. Internal mobility makes your organization a desirable employer

Statistic #5: “Three of the top five factors that drive people to pursue new jobs reflect their desire to stretch, grow, and develop new skills.” – LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report

Recommendations:

To attract high performers, especially Gen Z talent and Millennials, offering growth and development opportunities is no longer optional — it’s imperative. That’s because these generations are more likely to leave when their needs and expectations aren’t met.

This will also help create a positive brand image, one of a company that believes in growth, continuous learning, and investing in its workforce.

How Nestor’s talent marketplace can help with internal mobility

One of the best ways to reap the benefits of internal mobility is to use an (internal) talent marketplace like the one Nestor launched at Unleash America 2023.

This type of platform brings together all learning and development opportunities in one place and seamlessly matches them with the profiles of every employee.

Through powerful algorithms, employees’ skills and interests are matched with the best-fit development opportunities and open roles existing in their organization thus facilitating internal mobility for each individual.

Learn more about Nestor’s Talent and Opportunity Marketplace and how it can help you derive the full benefits of internal mobility and unlock the hidden potential of your people.