Turn Talent Acquisition Into an Internal Mobility Powerhouse

As a talent acquisition executive, I have daily conversations with senior leaders from across industries about the state of the global talent acquisition. The recurring theme of these discussions is this: the talent acquisition landscape is uncertain.

Organizations are taking a wait-and-see approach, and that kind of uncertainty doesn’t support decision-making very well. But where hiring is happening, it’s becoming more purposeful and strategic.

There is a clear shift from “just go hire” toward smarter talent acquisition, emphasizing long-term fit and performance. Companies are focusing on quality over quantity. They know they can be more selective, so they're prioritizing the right skill sets, potential, and organizational fit (not just resumes and job titles).

The rising priority of internal mobility

One of the biggest trends I’m seeing is a growing emphasis on internal mobility and skills-based hiring. Leaders are looking inwardly, assessing the current talent and development needs. This means building internal pipelines, investing in reskilling and upskilling, and looking at potential (not just credentials).

I’m hearing more about internal mobility because it touches on retention, agility, innovation, and cost-efficiency. There’s plenty of discussion about hiring freezes, reductions in force, and slowdowns, but at the same time, there are talent shortages and skill gaps that haven’t gone away. It’s a mixed bag.

That’s why companies are starting to approach talent needs through a more holistic lens. I always say, you need a strategic workforce plan. That’s table stakes. If you’re hiring blindly, that’s a red flag. It really begins with getting all your key stakeholders together and asking:

• Who do we have?
• How do we develop them?
• Who do we need?
• Where are the gaps?

If you’re not hiring externally right now, it’s a prime opportunity to turn inward. Look at internal mobility. Look at reskilling. Ask how you can help your current people grow and stay with the organization.

The case for looking within

Employee retention and engagement are huge priorities right now, and internal mobility plays a critical role in both. I always go back to some compelling data—LinkedIn found that employees at companies with high internal mobility stay 60% longer than those at companies with low mobility. That’s significant.

Internal mobility also reduces hiring costs and time-to-fill, while improving agility. When I talk with companies about how they’re meeting talent needs, I often hear about the 4B approach: Build, Borrow, Buy, or Bot. That’s what organizations are weighing. Do we develop the skill internally? Do we borrow it from elsewhere in the company or through gig work? Do we buy it via recruitment? Or do we automate?

What effective internal mobility looks like

If your organization has suddenly realized  the need to move talent around quickly, start by asking:

• Are we aligned?
• Is leadership on the same page?
• Do we have a culture that supports internal movement?

At i4cp, we’ve done a lot of research on this. I often reference our co-founder Kevin Oakes’ article in the Harvard Business Review about talent hoarding, which is one of the biggest barriers to internal mobility.

I’ve been at companies where it was easier to find a job externally than internally (our own research found that 39% of HR professionals say this is true). That’s sad—because the organization has spent time and money bringing someone in, only to lose them because they don’t see opportunity.

To work, internal mobility must be part of talent reviews, talent planning, and workforce strategy—not just something that happens during recruiting. I always say: Swim upstream. Don’t just think about mobility when you’re trying to fill a role. Think about it early and often.

Look under your own roof first. And for those focused on budgets: hiring externally costs 1.5 to 2 times more than promoting internally. I’ve been using that stat for years, and it holds up.

Rethinking talent acquisition’s role

Let’s be honest, TA teams have taken a hit. In times of retraction, they’re often the first to go. But the work doesn’t go away. I think of TA professionals as talent scouts, and that doesn’t mean just external talent. It includes internal too.

In an organization I formerly worked with, recruiters spent a ridiculous amount of time sourcing candidates—only to realize that 60% of the people they were looking for were already in the ATS. We were spending money on job boards and marketing, and these candidates were already under our nose.

TA can play a powerful role in internal mobility by connecting people to opportunities, speeding up movement, and helping the business shift talent faster. Some companies have internal recruiters, some have talent marketplaces or matching engines—tools such as Workday can help match employees to open roles. Others are running internal career fairs. There’s no one way to do it.

How to get started—even with a spreadsheet

If you lack a system or a big budget, that’s okay. I just spoke with a leader who’s running their entire talent mobility program in Excel. You don’t need a fancy platform to get started. You can literally have a conversation around a spreadsheet.

It’s about identifying skills, asking what’s next, and being intentional. Start with a pilot. Test and learn. Bring your employees along for the ride—they’ll appreciate it. And remember: you don’t need to tackle everything at once. Start small and build momentum.

But you do need the culture. I’ve seen beautifully designed programs fall apart because managers weren’t aligned. That alignment must go beyond the executive team—it includes front-line managers who are hiring and trading talent. And it begins with “our” talent instead of “my” or “your” talent.

Measuring success and knowing what good looks like

Finally, measure the impact. Know what the KPIs and OKRs are. Are you trying to reduce time-to-fill overall? Increase internal hires? Shorten internal average time-to-hire? Boost retention? Define success early, so you know whether you're moving in the right direction.

Metrics matter, but they need context; i4cp polls show internal fill rates swing wildly:

• Some hover around 35-40% — financial services, consumer goods.
• Others are hitting 65%+ — especially in tech and executive roles.

Time-to-hire tells a story, too:

• Internal roles: often 10–15 days faster than external.

But here’s the nuance: internal mobility rates shouldn’t be viewed in isolation. If your company is scaling rapidly, more external hiring makes sense. If you’re in a talent-stable environment, you may expect more internal movement.

Benchmarking is helpful — but only when paired with an understanding of the organization’s strategy, context, and goals.

The real opportunity is to use data not just to measure against others, but to uncover what matters most in your own context. Teams are exploring and choosing to expand measurement in the following areas:

• Offer acceptance rates (internal vs. external) — What patterns are emerging?
• Time to productivity — Are internal hires ramping faster?
• Cost of vacancy — What’s the downstream impact of a delay?
• Candidate sentiment — How did internal candidates feel, especially the ones who didn’t get the role?

When I talk to leaders about getting started, I say: you just need alignment, intention, and action. Don’t wait for the perfect tool. Just start.

Final Thoughts: Moving the Strategy Forward

Whether you're running lean or leading at scale, internal mobility can’t be a side project — it must be built into how the organization hires, develops, and retains talent.

For smaller teams:

• Audit the last 10 roles filled: how many were filled internally? Why or why not?
• Use a simple tracker to spot movement, gaps, or friction points.
• Ask one internal candidate who didn’t get the role: what did they hope for, and what did they take away?

You don’t need a platform to create movement. You just need to start.

For enterprise organizations:

• Does your tech ecosystem enable visibility into skills, not just job titles?
• Can employees see pathways that aren’t just upward?
• Are you tracking the informal moves—stretch assignments, project work—that often shape careers?

The future of internal mobility goes beyond improved systems—it requires clearer talent signals, proactive engagement, earlier outreach, and the mindset that career growth begins from within. The most important step? Start, test, experiment, learn, and evolve.