Philosophy & Guiding Principles
Internal mobility enables employees to contribute fully by facilitating movement within the organization. Equal access should apply to all permanent employees — from general staff through senior leadership. No leader has the power to block a transfer unilaterally.
This simplified 3-step model acts as the backbone for any internal movement — from lateral transfers to secondments to special projects. It covers standard and edge cases alike.
Business First
Movement is applicable when it serves the company's best interest and sustains our star or performing talents. Business need anchors every mobility decision.
No Enforcement or Blockage
Qualified employees should never feel forced or blocked. No leader from a releasing department may reject a lateral move — People Business Partners guard this principle.
Check and Balances
Every leader is expected to see internal movement as a business owner, not a department protector. The goal is to retain and grow people across the whole organization.
Five Guiding Principles
- Movement is applicable to reasons connected to the company's best interest and the sustainability of our star or performing talents.
- Business need — not personal preference — drives the decision to open or close a mobility opportunity.
- All mobility decisions need proper records at each stage — job profile, decision minutes, communications, and database updates.
- The Mobility Officer (MO) is responsible for ensuring documentation completeness before any step proceeds.
- Qualified employees should not feel enforced or blocked when moving into a position where they can contribute more.
- People Business Partners are specifically tasked with guarding this — ensuring no direct leader rejects a team member's intent to explore opportunities.
- Every movement should result in suitable placement of internal sourcing.
- Every later effort — onboarding, shadowing, goal-setting — should support the employee's effectiveness in the new role at the shortest time possible.
- Every leader is expected to see internal movement cases as business owners — not department protectors.
- No leader from the releasing department is authorized to reject the lateral movement of their own team member.
- For specialist roles or complex cases, a flexible case-by-case approach is recommended. If not covered in policy, take the most conservative course of action.
The 3-Step Model at a Glance
Raise
Identify need, create position + talent profiles, advertise the opportunity
Match
Screen, test, calibrate candidates, extend the internal offer
Realize
Announce, transition, onboard, and shadow the moving employee
Roles & Responsibilities
Clarity of ownership at every level ensures the process runs openly and fairly. Each stakeholder plays a distinct role — and has obligations they cannot delegate.
- Identify future resourcing and skill needs to inform mobility opportunities, documented in validated manpower planning (MPP)
- Actively collaborate with Talent Acquisition and the Mobility Officer to ensure mobility is operated effectively, openly, and transparently
- Approve urgent or critical mobility decisions not triggered by the standard MPP cycle
- Promote mobility awareness through regular partnering with employees and the leadership body
- Create and maintain all mobility forms, movement databases, and calibration meeting minutes
- Inform related parties for updating org charts, employee records, and databases after every movement
- Coordinate and communicate with leaders, employees, and TA to process movement in a timely manner
- Assist annual surveys, policy reviews, and implementation reports to top management
- Reflect on and take full responsibility for your own career development
- Discuss your interest and motivation for mobility with your direct manager — ideally in monthly 1-1 career conversations
- Apply to opportunities and follow the internal mobility process or as directed by the Mobility Officer
- By accepting an offer, you agree to take full responsibility for performance in the first 3–6 months. Underperformance will be followed by disciplinary action.
- Ensure team members are fully aware of mobility opportunities as a growth option — ideally during monthly 1-1s
- Help advocate your team member — notify relevant top leaders of their interest
- Cooperate with the Mobility Officer throughout the entire process
- If the move is critical to the area, implement succession planning and knowledge transfer — max 12 months transition period
- Compile all appraisal and career plan documents and share with the receiving leader
- Actively cooperate with the Mobility Officer for a smooth and timely transfer
- Ensure working tools are ready: office space, laptop, monitors, equipment
- Outline training opportunities during the induction period
- Set clear accountability habits throughout the first 3–6 months
- Introduce the incoming employee to the rest of the team
- Discuss probationary expectations and/or goal-setting for the performance cycle
Types of Internal Movement
Different situations call for different mechanisms. Understanding which type applies determines the correct process, timeline, and documentation required.
🔄 Permanent Movement
⏱ Temporary Movement
🎯 Other Part-Time Movement
Comparison Matrix
| Movement Type | Role → Role | Project | Permanent | Temporary | Full-time | Part-time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lateral Transfer | ✓ | – | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| Secondment | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Special Projects / Gigs | – | ✓ | – | ✓ | – | ✓ |
| Job Rotation | ✓ | – | – | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Job Swaps | ✓ | – | – | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Mentorship & Networking | – | – | – | – | – | ✓ |
Best Timing for Formal Mobility
Ideal Window
Movement proposals should be reviewed back-to-back with appraisal calibration. Formal mobility ideally happens at the beginning of every performance cycle to avoid mid-cycle disruption.
Urgent Exceptions
In urgent situations, movement can happen anytime within a cycle. However, lateral transfers to different legal entities should happen yearly to avoid social security and tax complications.
Interim Arrangement
For urgent cross-entity moves, record the talent as on secondment and formalize the permanent transfer at the beginning of the next year.
Step 1 — Raise
The supply-and-demand step: making position and talent information available for review and decision-making. Led jointly by the direct leader and Mobility Officer (MO). Two outputs are required before proceeding to Match.
Output 1: Position Profile (Demand)
All job details are clear and posted — available for qualified employees to view and apply.
Output 2: Talent Profile (Supply)
All relevant information about the potential talent is compiled and ready for committee review.
Position Profile — How it's Built
Business need is identified — ideally from MPP, or due to urgent need (sudden vacancy, talent pool resignation). Urgent cases require CEO acknowledgment.
Direct leader + MO fill the opportunity form: position title, grade, scope, job family, competencies required, growth opportunities, and rewards/benefits.
A designated approver reviews and approves the position profile before it becomes visible. See the Quality Control tab for the full approver matrix.
Position profile is posted on the internal Talent Marketplace, or shared confidentially via People Business Partner for sensitive vacancies.
Talent Profile — How it's Built
Employee is informed of opportunities — ideally by their direct leader during 1-1 career conversations or through the internal Talent Marketplace.
Employee discusses intent with direct leader and informs PBP. In confidential cases, MO proactively searches internally using performance and personality data.
MO collects all relevant employment data. MO is responsible for collecting any missing data — UCAT/EPP assessments if the candidate hasn't completed them.
MO validates completeness before sending to TA for matching. Incomplete profiles cannot proceed — data validity is a prerequisite for the Match step.
Data Required for Talent Profile
📁 Basic Data (from People Ops)
- General profile — tenure, current grade, position, team, department
- Current salary & unique compensation package
- Benefits status — remaining leave days, WFA days, unique benefits
📊 Competency & Performance Data
- Cognitive skills — UCAT assessment (or equivalent)
- Behavioral tendency — EPP personality profile (or equivalent)
- Grade-fit report — leader's report + latest appraisal data
- Leadership quality — stakeholder endorsement or confidence letter
- Latest performance data — most recent appraisal results
- Engagement level — pulse or engagement survey data
Eligibility Criteria
Talent Pool Status
High performing and/or high potential individuals identified through 9-box or 12-box talent mapping — combining proven performance with engagement data. Desire matters as much as results.
Time to Contribution
Minimum 6 months in role (one appraisal cycle) or 12 months for performance consistency evidence. In urgent situations, a 360-competency assessment can substitute.
Seniority / Grade
Current career grade acts as the minimum indicator that required competency levels are met for the receiving role.
Step 2 — Match
The process of reviewing matchability between the position profile and talent profiles. Led by the Talent Acquisition (TA) team. A successful match results in an internal movement offer accepted without enforcement.
TA team screens all applications against basic position qualifications and the talent profile. MO assists in identifying internal talent pool candidates.
Candidate is assessed on motivation, competency, and fit. Internal talent follows a lighter assessment path than external candidates — see table below.
Internal Mobility Committee reviews all profiles and test results. Discusses matchability, risk, transition plan, buddy assignment, start date, and final comp package.
Employee is offered the role with all details. No enforcement — all applicants may reject, delay, or raise concerns freely. No movement without willing acceptance.
Internal vs External Assessment Path
| Assessment Area | Internal Talent Pool | External Talent Pool |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Skills | Yes — during interview (hypothetical questions) | Yes — during interview (hypothetical questions) |
| Technical Competency | Only if from a different job family — via Work Assignment | Yes — during probation (aside from CV screening) |
| Behavioral Competency | Yes — during interview (behavioral questions) | Yes — during interview (behavioral questions) |
| Job-fit | Only if from a different job family — via interview | Yes — during interview and probation |
| Team-fit | Yes — during interview | Yes — during interview and probation |
| Leadership-fit | Yes — during interview | Yes — during interview and probation |
| Cultural-fit | Not required (already embedded in org culture) | Yes — during interview and probation |
Calibration Checklist
Matchability Level
Does the talent profile align with the position profile? This discussion drives the yes/no decision for movement.
Risk Assessment
Identify and plan for gaps — unfulfilled employee expectations or unmet position requirements. Define mitigation actions.
Support Assignment
Assign a buddy, mentor, or coach to support the employee through their first performance cycle and/or onwards.
Transition Plan
Define knowledge transfer steps to protect the releasing department during the handover period.
Onboarding Plan
Outline the onboarding agenda to ensure successful integration at the receiving department.
Final Terms
Agree on starting date, position title, grade, reporting line, and any changes to compensation and benefits.
Step 3 — Realization
The final step — preparing for a smooth transition for the releasing team and successful adaptation for the moving employee. Led jointly by the direct leader and Mobility Officer.
MO informs: (1) releasing + receiving leaders first, (2) People Dept for database updates, (3) all employees via intranet, newsletter, or town hall.
Employee + releasing leader co-create a transition list. General release: 4-week period. Critical roles: succession planning, up to 12 months.
Receiving leader arranges logistics, delivers induction, introduces to team, clarifies coach/buddy, establishes accountability habits, sets 6-month goals.
A senior employee partners with the new arrival for 6-month effectiveness. New contract issued only after the 3–6 month expectations are met.
✓ Do
- Release employee within 4 weeks in standard cases
- Issue a temporary work assignment (secondment/job rotation) before the new contract
- Issue new employment contract only after the 3-month mark is passed
- For rare-find roles, create a Process Manual for knowledge continuity
- Communicate changes to title, grade, team, and comp to relevant People teams
✗ Don't
- Issue a new employment contract before the 3-month mark
- Allow a leader to block or delay transition beyond 12 months without CEO sign-off
- Announce movement to all staff before releasing and receiving leaders are informed
- Skip the onboarding plan — it directly impacts 6-month job effectiveness
- Enforce any movement — all offers must be voluntarily accepted
Process Summary — All Steps
| Track | Process | PIC | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position Profile | Identify | Direct Leader | Business need for talent movement is identified |
| Create | DL + MO | Proposed position profile is available for review | |
| Approve | DL + MO | Designated approver has approved the position profile | |
| Open | DL + MO | Position profile is posted and accessible to the relevant talent pool | |
| Talent Profile | Explore | Employee | Self-service process of accessing opportunities |
| Apply / Search | Employee | Proactively show intent / search for potential talent | |
| Assess | MO | Collect all relevant data about the applicant | |
| Compile | MO | All information compiled and ready for matching | |
| Match | Screen | TA Team | Filtered candidates fulfill all basic requirements |
| Test | TA + DL | Candidates evaluated fairly, consistently — limiting biases | |
| Calibrate | Mobility Committee | Decide on most suitable placement by matching roles with talent profiles | |
| Offer | TA Team | Employee accepts the offer without enforcement | |
| Realization | Announce | MO | Movement is known by everyone in the company |
| Transition | Employee + Releasing DL | Preserve relationships and knowledge in the releasing department | |
| Onboard | Receiving DL | Incoming employee gets all information to become a valuable team member | |
| Shadow | Receiving DL | Incoming employee is effective at the job within 6 months |
Special Cases
Redeployment
Movement during or after probation — not because the person is a wrong fit, but because they may fit another position better. Follows the full 3-step process.
High Performer Preference
A star talent wants to explore an opportunity, or the company creates one for them. Screen and test may be skipped if the position is newly created.
LPIP Implication
A well-behaving employee fails to deliver results — company explores whether an existing opportunity is a better fit. Talent profile steps are streamlined.
Retaining Action
Company searches for an opportunity for a resigning employee, whether currently vacant or to be created. Screen and test may be skipped for new roles.
Quality Control
Two governance bodies control the quality of internal mobility decisions — the designated opportunity approvers who sign off on position profiles, and the Internal Mobility Committee who calibrate talent matches.
4.1 — Opportunity Approvers
Before any position profile is posted internally, it must be approved by the designated approver for that function. The table below uses common functional groupings — adapt to your organization's actual structure.
| Function / Team Area | Minimum Approver Level |
|---|---|
| Sales & Revenue (Field / Enterprise) | VP of Sales or higher |
| Sales & Revenue (Partnerships / Channels) | Head of Partnerships or higher |
| Customer Success & Account Management | Director of Customer Success or higher |
| Marketing (Brand, Growth, Digital) | VP of Marketing or higher |
| Product & Technology | VP of Product / CTO or higher |
| Operations & Business Process | Director of Operations or higher |
| Finance & Accounting | CFO or Finance Director or higher |
| Legal, Compliance & Risk | General Counsel or Head of Legal or higher |
| People / Human Resources | VP of People or CHRO or higher |
| Strategy, Analytics & Research | Head of Strategy or higher |
| General & Administrative | COO or Department Head or higher |
| Executive / CEO Office | CEO |
4.2 — Internal Mobility Committee
The committee convenes for every calibration session. Each member brings a unique perspective — together they ensure placement decisions serve both the business and the employee.
| Committee Role | Possible Position(s) | Unique Contribution During Calibration |
|---|---|---|
| CEO Office Representative | CEO and/or CEO Office | Calibrate against other employees with similar grade across departments |
| Releasing Direct Leader | Current Direct Leader | Advocate for employee's past performance; agree on transition timing and commitment |
| Receiving Direct Leader | Future Direct Leader | Assess if qualification matches; determine risk appetite for the hire |
| Talent Acquisition | Growth Partner (career management) | Source of process information; process manager for the matching stage |
| Mobility PIC (MO) | Mobility Officer (L&G or TA, People Dept) | Process leader for the overall internal movement; ensures documentation |
| People Business Partner | VP of People or PBP | Provides insight into employee relationships, morale, or workplace context |
Reference & Key Forms
Job families, abbreviations, interactive forms, and a portal mockup for reference. Fill in the forms below and print or save as PDF.
5.1 — Job Families
Movement within the same job family requires less adjustment and speeds up matching. Adapt these to your organization's actual roles.
Analysis & Reporting
Business Intelligence, Data Analyst, Sales Performance Specialist
Teaching & Learning
Training Leader, L&D Partner, Bootcamp Designer
Digital & Growth Marketing
Digital Strategist, SEO Writer, Marketing Associate
Finance
Account Executive, Tax Specialist, Revenue Specialist
Legal & Compliance
Legal Associates, Tax Specialist, People Legal Ops
Content & Design
Content Writer, Graphic Designer, Videographer, Producer
General Administration
Admin, Support Ops, Aftersales Support
Operations & Services
Customer Success, QA Specialist, IT Support
Human Resource
TA Specialist, C&B Specialist, People Business Partner
Business & Sales
Account Manager, BD Executive, Client Success, Sales Manager
5.2 — Key Forms (Interactive)
5.3 — Internal Talent Marketplace Mockup
A UI reference for what an internal portal could look like. Click any job card to see a sample detail view.
↑ Click any job card to see a sample detail view · UI mockup reference only, not a live portal
Succession Planning
Succession planning is the process of identifying critical positions within your organization and developing action plans for individuals to grow into those roles — ensuring the right people are in the right jobs today and in the years to come.
From identifying business challenges to creating a development plan — succession planning is a structured annual cycle that runs alongside manpower planning.
Future-Ready Organization
A holistic view of current and future goals ensures you have the right people in the right roles — not just today, but in the years ahead.
Talent Retention Tool
Succession candidacy signals long-term investment in your best people — a powerful retention lever for high performers who want to see a clear future at the company.
Business Continuity
Reduces the risk of knowledge gaps and operational disruption when critical roles become suddenly vacant through resignation, promotion, or restructuring.
How It Works — 5 Steps
- Identify significant business challenges expected in the next 1–5 years. This grounds succession planning in real strategic context — not just org chart gaps.
- Step 1 is a senior management team (SMT) workshop — not a solo exercise. Strategy must drive the conversation.
- Define which roles are critical to business success AND the competencies, skills, and knowledge that define success in each role.
- Both dimensions must be explicit — the position profile and its required competency profile.
- Identify employees with high potential to grow into the critical positions.
- Use talent mapping (9-box or 12-box) combining performance data with engagement signals — see the Succession Toolkit tab for an interactive 9-box grid.
- Is this aligned with their personal career aspiration?
- Will there be any priority shift or bandwidth conflict required?
- Does the person have the capacity to grow into this role given their current commitments?
- Define which competencies need to be developed and the gap from current state to readiness.
- Define how the organization will actively support the individual to fill those gaps within a defined timeline.
- See the Succession Toolkit tab for interactive Tools 4 & 5 — fill the gap analysis and push gaps directly into the development plan.
When & Who
Annual Rhythm
Assessment should be done yearly, ideally right before or alongside manpower planning (MPP). Keeps succession aligned with the business cycle.
SMT Workshop (Step 1)
Identifying future business challenges and critical positions is an SMT workshop — a strategic conversation that cannot be delegated to HR alone.
Process Owner
The SMT team owns the process. L&D and/or People Business Partners support timely execution of each individual development plan.
Leader Requirements
For succession planning to be credible, the leaders who execute it must already possess these capabilities.
Clear Functional Career Framework
Must understand grade expectations across levels in their department and accurately assess grade-fit in their team.
Position Requirements Definition
Must define technical and behavioral requirements for each role — both when hiring and when planning development activities.
Reliable Manpower Planning
Must translate annual plans into graded manpower needs across time horizons — with proven accuracy and documented outcomes.
Coaching & Development Skills
Must know how to develop people through coaching — meaningfully closing the gap between where a hi-po is today and where the role requires them to be.
After the Plan — Post-Approval Steps
1-1 conversation with each star employee upon CEO approval of position and names. Keep confidential and direct.
Acceptance followed by a signed letter: the plan, commitment period, sweeteners (bonus/leave), and cancellation implications.
L&D team and PBP actively support the employee's development plan, nudging timely execution against the readiness timeline.
Succession candidacy is not a promise of promotion. Make this explicit in all communications and in the signed letter.
Succession Planning Toolkit
Six interactive tools to run a structured, credible succession planning cycle. Tools 4 and 5 are connected — fill in the gap analysis and push gaps directly into the development plan with one click.
🗺 Tool 1 — Critical Position Mapper
Score roles by Business Impact if Vacant × Difficulty to Replace. Prioritize the highest scores first.
| Position | Department | Impact if Vacant (1–5) | Difficulty to Replace (1–5) | Score | Status |
|---|
📊 Tool 2 — 9-Box Talent Map
Map your team by Performance (rows, top = high) and Potential (columns, right = high). Primary succession candidates live in the top-right.
📋 Tool 3 — Successor Profile Sheet
Complete one per hi-po candidate. Serves as the foundation for the development plan.
📐 Tool 4 — Competency Gap Analysis
Fill in competency, required level, and current level. Any row with a gap will be pushed to Tool 5 when you click Push Gaps → Tool 5.
| Competency | Type | Required (1–5) | Current (1–5) | Gap |
|---|
📅 Tool 5 — Successor Development Plan
Gaps from Tool 4 populate here automatically. Fill in the activity, format, support needed, and target date for each.
Or .
✉️ Tool 6 — Candidacy Commitment Letter Outline
Reference structure for the formal letter shared with the succession candidate upon offer acceptance.