There is no single type of internal mobility. Horizontal, vertical, geographical, suffered, voluntary... The theme of mobility is rich and can be seen as a multiple entry table. There is not just one mobility policy to be put in place, but different policies to be implemented depending on the company, the context and the issue at stake.
There are different types of internal mobility, depending on the path taken by the employee from one position to another.
You should therefore consider what kind of mobility you want to encourage, but also how much emphasis you should give to your internal mobility policy. These decisions may vary, among other things, according to the size and structure of your company and its strategic objectives.
There are several types of mobility, and the challenges and support arrangements are not the same for each of them.
The types of mobility we will see may, in addition, overlap with each other, which makes their implementation and support even more complex.
Transversal or horizontal mobility is characterised by a change of job at the same hierarchical level.
For example, an employee moves from a position as Human Resources Manager in one group entity to an identical position as Human Resources Manager in another group company. Another example: an employee moves from a Communication Manager position to a Marketing Manager position. This employee is still a manager (same hierarchical level), but in a different position.
This is a promotion. It can be within the own team or in another part of the company. It may be accompanied by a salary increase.
For example, an HR manager can become an HR director.
If a legal manager becomes HR director, the mobility is both horizontal (from lawyer to HR) and vertical (from manager to director).
An employee may wish to move closer to a company location. They may wish to move to another city or country to gain international experience. This may be at a job level equivalent to the position they are currently in, but also as part of a promotion.
