Internal career development opportunities are increasingly recognized as one of the most valuable benefits for employees. In fact, 62% of Learning and Development (L&D) professionals state that they are prioritizing internal mobility in 2024.
Moreover, according to data from LinkedIn, individuals who transition to new roles within their current company are 3.5 times more likely to be actively engaged.
Keeping this in mind, what makes internal career opportunities so special, and what specific benefits do they offer for both employees and employers?
How does internal career mobility look?
Reasons for changing roles within a company can differ. Sometimes, it’s because an employee wants a change, while other times, it’s because their previous position no longer exists, and they’re offered a new one instead.
Additionally, the movement can be one of these types:
- Horizontal movement involves transitioning from one employee role to another at the same level. This allows employees to gain new skills and broaden their professional network.
- Vertical movement refers to being promoted to a higher position within the organization.
- Project assignments entail participating in specific projects or tasks aimed at developing new skills and fostering collaboration across different departments.
- Role swapping involves exchanging roles with other employees to gain insights into different aspects of the business and enhance overall understanding.
Kilo Health, for example, has experienced 53 cases of horizontal internal careers (11% of people who change careers internally) over 2023. These role changes were both due to the reason that some people wanted to try new roles and others because of internal restructuring processes where certain roles became redundant.
Ieva Brukstute, Head of Recruitment at Kilo Health, outlines the process of internal career changes in her company:
“We have an informal policy for internal candidates, which mandates that they have to be working in our company for a minimum of three months (the probation period), preferably around six months. This timeframe allows the employee to gain adequate experience in their current role to make an informed decision about pursuing a new opportunity.
Once the decision is made, the employee can apply through our internal career website. The recruitment team will then schedule a meeting to discuss the application. Before formally applying, HR recommends the employee have an initial conversation with their direct manager. Our management encourages internal career development, so confidentiality is typically not required. However, if needed, employees can participate in the recruitment process confidentially.
To prevent internal competition, their salary remains the same when an employee transitions to a new position with unchanged responsibilities.”
Benefits for employees
As mentioned earlier, some employees view internal career opportunities as one of the primary benefits when seeking employment. The prospect of being able to switch careers, learn new skills, and avoid being confined to the same position for ten years, as was previously the norm, can be quite reassuring.
In fact, today, it’s estimated that people can have up to 12 different jobs in their lifetime.
Brukstute points out 4 main benefits for employees:
- Learning new things — Employees get to learn different skills by joining new teams and working on different projects.
- Achieving career goals — Changing roles helps employees work towards what they want to do in their careers.
- Getting promoted internally — If there aren’t many chances to move up in their current team, employees can still get promoted to higher positions in other teams if they have the right skills and potential.
- Skipping the newbie stage — When employees switch teams, they don’t have to go through all the new-hire training again. They can start contributing right away.
Santa Zemaite, a People Partner at Kilo Health, adds another benefit:
- Job satisfaction — when a person can feel noticed, and appreciated, their involvement and job satisfaction grow.
Benefits for employers
“The primary benefit for the company of an internal career is retaining the employee within the organization. Additionally, internal career opportunities reflect the employer’s positive attitude towards employees, significantly impacting the company’s image and reputation,” explains Ilona Bernotaite, the Chief People Officer at Kilo Health.
Hence, she emphasizes the leading 3 benefits:
- Retaining employees — Employers can retain and maintain strong relationships with high-performing employees.
- Cost savings — Recruiting and onboarding new employees incur costs.
- Image and reputation — Supporting internal mobility and retaining employees in various positions demonstrates a positive attitude and enhances the organization’s reputation as trustworthy.
“When bringing an internal person into a role, you know their strengths and weaknesses, and you can anticipate risks, rather than hiring someone externally. Moreover, as people grow internally, we retain knowledge within the organization because people don’t leave, they teach others, and pass it on to internal personnel,” concludes Zemaite.
About Kilo Health
Kilo Health is a digital health and wellness company with more than 6,5 million customers worldwide. Since 2021, it has been listed as the second fastest-growing company in Europe on the Financial Times FT 1,000 and the second fastest-growing company in Central Europe on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 list.
Currently, the company has 500+ experts and working hubs across 5 European cities. Kilo Health’s portfolio contains over 30 innovative digital health products in chronic disease management, mental health improvement, and healthy habit change.
Contact:
Juste Petraviciute
Senior Reputation Manager
juste.petraviciute@kilo.health
