By Diane Newell
This article looks at the role of talent mobility in addressing retention challenges and bridging skill shortages. It emphasises how leadership coaching serves as a catalyst for encouraging talent mobility, empowering leaders to support employees’ career aspirations while creating a culture of engagement, collaboration, and loyalty.
A new report from ManpowerGroup’s[i] Global Talent Barometer highlights growing mobility in the workforce, with 35% of workers across 16 countries—rising to 47% of young professionals—planning to change jobs within the next six months.
Europe’s workforce are no more settled[ii], 50% of the workforce report daily work-related stress, and one-third of employees doubt their career growth prospects. In the UK, the Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2025 report highlights that 48% of workers are unhappy, citing a lack of career progression as the main reason.
Talent mobility—the practice of aligning employee skills and career ambitions with organisational opportunities—has emerged as a critical strategy for tackling skill shortages and improving retention.
The benefits and barriers of talent mobility
Talent mobility strengthens organisations by retaining knowledge and skills, building networks that support collaboration, and saving on recruitment costs. Employees who feel their growth aligns with organisational goals exhibit higher engagement and loyalty, often foregoing short-term gains for long-term opportunities with their organisation.
But mobility initiatives are not without risk. Promoting employees from within may limit diversity, as external hires often bring fresh perspectives, experience, and ideas that help organisations avoid groupthink. And without robust systems in place, talent mobility can slip into a “patronage” culture, where opportunities are determined by personal connections rather than merit, stifling innovation and creativity.
Organisations face 3 key barriers to establishing successful talent mobility:
- Relationships with line managers and leaders – Few organisations explicitly reward leaders for their efforts to develop talent. The focus on immediate results often discourages investment in long-term development, leaving employees feeling unsupported in their career aspirations.
- Lack of confidence and skill in line managers – Coaching employees about their potential, aspirations, and motivations requires time, confidence, and skills. Many managers lack the capabilities and time to have meaningful conversations about career development.
- Underestimating the risks of external hires – Organisations often turn to external hires as a quick fix for talent gaps. However, external hires come with hidden costs, including onboarding challenges and cultural misalignment risks. Without proper onboarding, these hires are more likely to fail, resulting in wasted resources and lost opportunities for internal mobility.
Underlying all these barriers is the organisation’s culture, the assumptions it holds about talent development and the relationship between employees and employer.
A healthy relationship between individuals and the organisation is one where both parties recognise their role in each other’s success today and in the future. An organisation focused solely on its own long-term talent needs misses the opportunity to create true engagement.
On the other hand a “job for life” can feel as much like a prison as a blessing, potentially leading to missed opportunities and underutilised talent. Only when an organisation commits to development that aligns both with its priorities and employees’ needs and motivations can it realise the potential of talent mobility and earn authentic commitment and deeper engagement.
Such a culture requires both the organisation and individuals to take responsibility for development, and for supporting a healthy performance culture. This culture demands clarity from the organisation and its leaders about their needs and expectations, while ensuring that leaders possess the skills and invest time in coaching and mentoring individuals to clarify their talents, potential, and motivations.
Overcoming the barriers and boosting talent mobility
For effective talent mobility, organisations must create an environment where employees feel supported in their growth while aligning their development with organisational goals. One of the most powerful contributions to talent mobility is building a coaching and mentoring strategy with policies and resources that deliver against the organisation’s purpose and priorities. Coaching and mentoring have a key role to play in nurturing talent and enabling employees to progress.
Here are six steps organisations can take in 2025 to improve talent mobility:
- Address the barriers. Equip managers with the skills to have meaningful conversations that empower employees, so they see a clear career pathway.
- Build systems for mobility. Provide systems and structures that allow talent mobility, such as establishing robust internal recruitment teams and accessible job posting platforms to ensure employees can easily explore opportunities within the organisation.
- Simplify talent processes. Avoid overly complex talent development systems. Keep frameworks lean and practical to ensure leaders can focus on supporting employees rather than navigating burdensome procedures.
- Support transitions. Invest in onboarding, transition coaching, and mentoring to set both internal and external hires up for success. External hires at senior levels need additional support to navigate organisational culture effectively, particularly in the crucial first 6 months.
- Engage with leavers. Maintain connections with former employees, who can serve as ambassadors, references, or even re-join the organisation when the right opportunities arise.
- Create a healthy developmental culture. Promote an “adult-adult” relationship with employees by balancing organisational priorities with individual aspirations. Demonstrate a genuine commitment to their potential, even if their path eventually leads outside the organisation.
By taking these steps, companies can cultivate an agile, resilient workforce where talent mobility is not only encouraged but embedded in the culture.
Diane Newell
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