{"id":4487,"date":"2019-04-25T15:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/?p=4487"},"modified":"2025-03-26T11:52:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T10:52:01","slug":"internal-employee-transfers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/internal-employee-transfers","title":{"rendered":"How internal employee transfers will motivate your team but challenge your managers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How do you keep employees motivated and engaged in the workplace?<\/strong> There are several strategies, one of which is talent mobility<\/strong>. Generally speaking, talent mobility is the practice of using internal talent to fill positions within your company. However, talent mobility goes far beyond that. “Unlike succession, which is typically a top-down approach, talent mobility takes into account the interests and aspirations of employees<\/strong><\/a>,” affirms Ben Eubanks<\/strong>, Principal Analyst at Lighthouse Research and Advisory<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that in mind, talent mobility isn’t only an effective way to tackle disengagement, but also a useful tool to empower employees<\/a>.<\/span> <\/span>Below we’ll explore the benefits and challenges offered by internal employee transfers, and look at a few cases that show how to effectively encourage talent mobility at work.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why you should encourage internal employee transfers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A boost in productivity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Encouraging employees to develop new skills that fit their interests is an excellent strategy to boost your company’s productivity. “Whether you are promoting an existing employee or coordinating their lateral move \u2014 internal role transfers are a powerful way to build up your talent pipeline, drive engagement and reduce turnovers<\/strong><\/a>,” argues Jeni Fahy<\/strong>, a contributing author at Sapling. According to Gallup, employees with opportunities for continuous development are twice as likely to remain at their current company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Daniel Sonsino<\/strong>, Vice President of talent management at Polycom, adds that “Hiring internally also increases engagement. And folks tend to refer to others more frequently when their own career has grown within the organization.” Keeping employees engaged is the best thing you can do to boost productivity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultural fit and smooth transitions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Familiarity with the company’s corporate culture and overall environment is one of the most important aspects of internal hiring. “When you promote people internally, one of the biggest advantages is that they already know how to work in the environment<\/strong><\/a>,” says Roger Ahfeld<\/strong>, Vice President of Tedeschi Food Shops. In fact, this trait affects both internal and external hiring. According to Ahfeld, “cultural fit is the most important factor when you are considering hiring somebody externally.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry Nash<\/strong>, Head of Recruiting at EY, also highlights the role that cultural fit plays in his company’s hiring process. Internal candidates “have a strong knowledge of our culture, processes and methodologies, and have many relations throughout the organization,” says Nash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, Daniel Sonsino states that internal hires not only retain organizational knowledge, but also progress faster than external hires in their new roles. This is important when it comes to measuring the success of internal vs. external hiring. In fact, recent research has concluded that “between 40% and 60% of external hires aren’t successful, compared to only 25% of internal hires<\/strong><\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduced costs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the cultural fit, internal hires are cheaper than external hires. According to research by Professor Matthew Bidwell<\/strong> from the University of Pennsylvania, investment banking companies pay 18% to 20% more for external hires than for people moving internally. Likewise, the Saratoga Institute has concluded that “the average cost of finding and hiring someone<\/a> from outside the company is 1.7 times more than internal hiring<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering all of the above, internal hiring has become a well-established pillar of the recruiting process. In fact, a recent survey carried out by LinkedIn reported that 28% of new hires are internal<\/a>. Along those lines, Laura Handric, a staff writer at Fit Small Business, says that 30% is the average proportion of internal hires in top companies. However, she also says that this percentage maybe higher for international companies. “Many international companies target an even higher internal recruitment goal \u2014 as much as 55% or more<\/a>,” Laura points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 challenges of internal hiring<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Internal hiring helps with employee engagement, productivity and smooth transitions while saving your company money in the process. However, the following are some challenges that managers may face when hiring internally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Lack of fresh ideas and stagnation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With an internal hire, you could stymie the flow of fresh ideas to your team. As noted by award-winning writer Lisa McQuerrey<\/strong>, internal recruitment can open the door to stagnation. “If everyone operates on the policy of ‘That’s the way we’ve always done things,’ you run the risk of maintaining a status quo that doesn’t allow for new ideas or direction<\/strong><\/a>. This can put you at a competitive disadvantage,” argues McQuerrey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Missing out on a larger pool of candidates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Internal hiring is a good way to optimize the recruitment process. However, a limited search can hurt the odds of finding a better fit for the role you want to fill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Friction among your employees<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Unless you have a solid talent mobility policy in place, sometimes an internal hire can provoke tension among employees. As Lisa McQuerrey states, “if you run a small operation and promote one person over another, it can create discord in the workplace that affects everyone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Inadequate context<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some of the most successful companies use both internal and external hiring as part of their recruiting strategy. Considering only internal candidates may be counterproductive, especially if there are good reasons to bring in someone from outside. According to business writer Eric Krell<\/strong>, hiring externally is probably a better option in the following circumstances:<\/p>\n\n\n\n