Why Internal Mobility Fails and How Science Can Fix It
Despite the buzz around internal mobility, most organizations still struggle to make it work. In a recent podcast, Lucy Beaumont spoke about how taking a scientific, skills-based approach can break barriers and build a more agile, resilient workforce.
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Skills: one word, many meanings
One of the first hurdles to tackling internal mobility is a surprisingly basic one: language. In my conversations with HR leaders across industries, it’s clear we often talk past each other when we talk about “skills.” I like to use a skills tree metaphor that brings clarity and structure.
At the top are perishable skills—think technical proficiencies that evolve rapidly, like coding languages or software expertise. These are your leaves, changing with the seasons. Then come the semi-durable skills, your trunk—core functional abilities that shift more slowly over time, like project management or financial acumen. And finally, the durable skills—your roots. These are human-centric skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and resilience. They’re the foundation of long-term employability and internal adaptability.
Understanding and categorizing skills this way helps organizations design better mobility strategies and career paths grounded in what really matters long term.
Three common mobility barriers
While most leaders recognize the value of internal mobility, implementation continues to fall short. As talent shortages grow, hiring costs escalate, and future talent needs constantly evolve, taking a holistic view of talent acquisition, skills development and talent management with consistency across processes and data can really help drive change.
From our research and experience at SHL, we’ve found three primary barriers that organizations struggle with:
- Lack of stakeholder buy-in: Line managers fear losing top performers. Talent teams work in silos. Until organizations adopt an enterprise-wide mindset around talent sharing, mobility will remain a good idea that never scales.
- Data deficit: Hiring teams often have rich, structured data from hiring but once someone is onboarded, their data falls into a black hole. Without objective, consistent data on employees' current skills and potential, making informed mobility decisions is guesswork.
- Technology gaps: While talent acquisition tools have matured, talent management tech hasn’t caught up—especially at scale. Many tools focus on top talent or senior roles, but scalable, AI-assisted platforms are needed to assess fit and potential across the entire workforce, create talent profiles and design development plans.
Listen to the full Podcast:
Build, buy, borrow—but with intelligence
We hear a lot about the “build, buy, borrow” strategy for workforce planning. The missing ingredient? Talent intelligence.
One organization I worked with had a framework with thirty different definitions of ‘communication’ which makes it almost impossible for mobility to work as there’s no consistency. Many organizations have created these accidental barriers and employees are left lost or demotivated as they don’t have the insights to fulfil their potential and see where their skills can take them—and organizations cannot easily see where talent can easily be redeployed successfully.
To truly get ahead, organizations need a scientific approach to understanding, measuring, and mapping skills across the entire talent ecosystem, both internally and externally. At SHL, we’ve developed evidence-based models that bring consistency and clarity to skill frameworks. For example, our research has identified 96 discrete, non-overlapping human skills that matter at work. That might sound granular, but in practice, it brings much-needed simplicity and coherence. Using objective, valid assessments and AI, we can not only assess current skills but also identify potential and simulate career paths at scale.
When organizations can trust their skills data, they can better balance investments in hiring, upskilling, or redeploying talent—and create a much more resilient organization in the process.
Ultimately, internal mobility isn’t just about filling vacancies, it’s about scenario planning, building agility, and organizational strength. As roles evolve and disruption accelerates, the ability to pivot quickly and intelligently will define success.
Want to see how scientific talent intelligence can power internal mobility at scale? Explore our Talent Mobility Solutions to discover how SHL can help you build a future-ready workforce.
