This Much I Know | Voices

The Benefits of Internal Talent: Skills, knowledge, career, retention

by Simon Kent | Oct 15, 2025

Learning and Development

Irmgard Naudin ten Cate, EY Global Talent Attraction & Acquisition Leader explains how and why their company looks inward for future talent.

Companies often overlook their internal talent

Many companies tend to focus on hiring externally because it’s what they’ve always done, or they think it will bring fresh ideas and innovation. This can mean missing out on talented individuals and valuable ideas from people who already understand the business and culture.

Our EY Mobility Reimagined survey found that, in 2025, only 52% of employers say it’s easy to find the required global talent to meet business needs. As employers face skills shortages and a competitive labour market, it’s a great time now more than ever before to look inwards for candidates and to offer reskilling opportunities to those who are already valued.

At EY, we’ve introduced AI-powered tools like My Career Hub to help uncover internal talent and make it easier for people to move into new roles. Users create a skills profile, market their qualifications and experiences, and identify gaps where they want to build competencies. For EY, the data enables us to manage and develop our workforce to deploy skills where we need them and to meet current and future market demands.

Organisations can identify the full potential of current employees, even if managers and employees may have fixed views about their role

It starts with changing how we think. At EY, we make efforts to encourage open career conversations anytime – not just during formal reviews. This helps us understand what people want out of their careers and how we can give it to them. We also help managers look beyond job titles to see transferable skills. Programs like NextGen Leadership and our Recruiter Academy support this, and we help our people to match people’s skills with new opportunities. 

only 52% of employers say it’s easy to find the required global talent to meet business needs

Instead of static roles, organisations can try offering new challenges or encouraging new experiences like rotations and secondments across teams, functions and even geographies to bring out the full potential of employees. An EY example is Mobility4U, our global mobility program where participants can work across cultures and borders. Eighty-four percent of assignees report a positive impact on their careers over the long-term, and those who have taken an assignment have a 24% higher promotion rate.

Learning and development can support internal recruitment

Traditional L&D often focuses on climbing the ladder in one area. At EY, we support sideways moves and cross-team growth. Our learning programs are tied to real roles and career paths, helping people build in-demand skills that lead to new opportunities. We also offer mentoring and stretch assignments to help people grow in different directions. 

 

Offering a broad range of learning options at various levels is also helpful to encourage a culture of continuous learning.

EY Badges is a micro-credentialling program open to all EY employees and there are more than 275 badges to choose from – including AI, blockchain and machine learning. Since launching the program in 2017, EY people have earned more than 700,000 EY Badges.

It’s not just about providing learning and mentorship opportunities but about shaping a culture where people are supported to carve out time for personalised growth activities. At EY, we have something called Thrive Time, dedicated time for individuals to pursue activities that are meaningful to them. For instance, they might participate in community events through EY Ripples (our global corporate responsibility program), mentoring or whatever gives them inspiration and energy.

There is measurable return on investment from prioritising internal recruitment

One talent benchmarking report found that time to fill a role now takes an average of 54 days and even longer for executive positions. External hiring can be resource intensive and costly, whereas internal hires happen faster, tend to settle in more quickly, cost less and stay longer. Having that deep, institutional knowledge that gets internal hires up to speed faster is an immeasurable quality. This goes for our alumni, too. We have more than one million alumni around the world, many of whom come back to us – familiar with our business and our culture.

the number one reason people leave an organisation is because of lack of career growth

At EY, we’ve seen that supporting internal mobility boosts engagement and performance. Inclusive hiring – especially for returners – not only strengthens our reputation as an employer of choice, but also helps people feel a sense of belonging, knowing their skills and contributions are valued. The impact is measurable: even a 1% reduction in attrition can lead to $228 million in savings, underscoring the business case for investing in internal talent and retention.

HR can address barriers to internal recruitment both through leader training and rethinking organisational structure

Leaders need to support internal moves, and the organisation needs to make it easy. People also need to be able to demonstrate and market their skills. At EY, we’ve made internal mobility part of our talent strategy. We post roles transparently and encourage movement across teams and countries. We also help managers spot potential, not just performance.

Culture plays a big part in setting leadership expectations and behaviours, role modelling, active career coaching and more. You want people to feel inspired and encouraged to grow.

Last year, we introduced a refreshed employee value proposition, ‘Shape your future with confidence,’ which is about empowerment, as well as how EY’s legacy and scale can give people the confidence to succeed across our globally-connected teams. This promise is shaped by the three things EY people told us matter most: building skills for the future, placing a greater focus on personal fulfilment and being part of an inclusive culture.

The impact on employee retention

When people see a future at their company, they’re more likely to stay. In fact, the number one reason people leave an organisation is because of lack of career growth. Internal hiring creates a ripple effect – it encourages others to explore what more the organisation has to offer and envision their own path forward.

At EY, we use the term Career Agility to describe how our people are empowered to use their skills to move around the organisation. It’s a commitment to support people to explore and experience a personalised career path and development opportunities that matter to them.

This Career Agility focus – especially for returners and internal movers – helps people feel valued and supported, which ultimately leads to stronger loyalty and long-term growth. It’s not just about the day-to-day job they’re doing but the opportunity to build a career with the personal fulfilment and professional development that can help them grow and thrive. That could mean working with different clients or teams, taking on a new role, or pursuing opportunities with a different business function or even in a different city or country.

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