With two-thirds of workers believing they need to leave their employer to advance their careers, organisations may be overlooking talent already within their workforce.
In this Onrec Q&A, Lucy Beaumont, SVP of Product and Design at SHL, discusses why internal mobility is stalling, how skills visibility can change hiring decisions, and what employers should prioritise to make career development more meaningful.
Why do so many employees feel internal progression is unrealistic?
Lucy Beaumont: Mostly because they cannot see a route forward where they are. Ambition is not the issue. More than four in five workers would retrain to take on a more senior role, and 84% want their employer to show them which internal roles match their skills and experience. What they lack is visibility and access.
Only 35% have discussed other internal opportunities with their manager in recent months, while 54% say their employer favours external hiring over reskilling or promoting existing employees. If people are not having conversations about where they can go next and senior roles keep going to outside hires, the job market starts to look like the only career ladder available.
“Your next-generation talent is probably already on your payroll. The question is whether you can see it.”
Lucy Beaumont, SVP of Product and Design, SHL
Why do employers struggle to recognise skills already in the workforce?
Most organisations still see people through their job title. A title tells you what someone was hired to do, but not necessarily what they have learned since or the problems they solve every week.
While 83% of workers believe their managers understand some of their skills beyond their current role, only 42% say those skills are fully recognised. In the UK, that falls to 36%. Among workers who feel their skills are underused, 41.5% say their role does not give them the opportunity to use them. Nearly one in five say their manager is not aware of their skills.
Managers are often asked to make talent decisions from instinct and memory rather than objective data. Employers need a trusted view of skills across the organisation, especially as work is redesigned around AI.
Are employers relying too heavily on external recruitment?
In many cases, yes. The default response to a skills shortage has long been to recruit externally, even though 54% of workers say their employer favours external hiring over reskilling or promotion. Without a reliable view of skills, reskilling potential and skill adjacency, organisations risk recruiting for capabilities they already employ while their existing people leave to find opportunities they cannot see internally.
External hiring will always have its place, but it should be a deliberate choice made after employers have looked inside first.
What does the research reveal about appetite for development?
Employees are ready to grow and prove what they can do. Eighty-nine per cent would take a fair skills assessment to document their strengths, including 87% in the UK. The most common reason given by people who would not take one is that there is no incentive.
While many employers are investing in learning, development needs to connect to opportunity. Forty-three per cent of workers say their manager frequently encourages them to build skills, and 42% are receiving AI skills training, but only 35% have discussed other internal roles recently. Learning on its own does not guarantee mobility.
How can employers identify transferable skills as AI changes work?
Look beyond the job title. Validated assessment can measure underlying capabilities such as reskilling potential and behavioural strengths, which can say more about performance in a changing role than a historic job description.
AI can help spot adjacent skills and possible moves at scale, but it should not make the decision. Talent decisions need transparent, objective evidence and human judgement. SHL’s research across nearly one million assessments suggests only around 30% of the workforce is fully AI-ready, but the people with the potential to close that gap are often already in the organisation.
What should HR directors prioritise?
- Make skills visible. Build an objective, trusted view of what people can do beyond job titles.
- Turn visibility into opportunity. Show employees which roles and projects match their skills and what they need to build next. Before an external search begins, look inside first.
- Turn managers into sponsors. Give them skills data, make mobility part of career conversations and reward them for helping people move into bigger roles.
The payoff goes beyond retention. Nearly four in five workers say the promise of career advancement makes them more fulfilled and engaged.
