Internal mobility: the cheapest senior hire you already have
External senior hires fail at the highest rate of any kind of hiring. The candidate two desks over is a better bet, and you already know how they show up on a Tuesday.
Sara Mendez, Co-founderMarch 4, 20266 min read
External senior hires fail at the highest rate of any kind of hiring — somewhere between 40 and 60 percent depending on whose data you trust. Internal moves succeed at twice the rate. The math is uncomfortable for retained-search firms but unambiguous for everyone else.
Why internal moves work
- The candidate already understands the company's actual operating culture, not the version on the careers page.
- You already have months of evidence about how they show up under pressure.
- Onboarding compresses from 6 months to 6 weeks.
- The political graph is intact. They know who to ask for what.
Why companies still skip them
Mostly because hiring managers want a fresh slate and recruiters get measured on external fills. Both incentives are misaligned with the company's actual interest. Reorienting them requires the CHRO to push back, which is uncomfortable. Do it anyway.
