Latest / The Internal Move Podcast with Fexingo: Lateral Roles, Internal Transfers, and Staying at Your Company / Why Your Best Colleagues Leave First
Transcript
- Lucas: There’s a pervasive myth in corporate America that if you’re good at your job, you’re safe. We hear this all the time from listeners who are terrified to make a move because they believe their current manager will fight to keep them. But the data tells a different story, especially as we look at the labor landscape in late September twenty twenty-six. Luna: Right, and it’s not just about being liked by your boss. It’s about the economics of replacement cost. Lucas: Exactly. When a company needs to cut costs or restructure, the people who are most easily replaceable are often the ones who stay. The high performers, the ones with external offers or strong networks, are the first to walk. And ironically, they’re also the ones most likely to successfully transfer laterally within the firm if they choose to stay, yet they rarely do. Luna: So the people who have the most options are the least likely to exercise an internal option? Lucas: Precisely. Let’s look at a specific pattern we see in large tech and financial services firms. When a division gets downsized, the median employee often stays out of fear. The top ten percent of performers, however, calculate their net present value very quickly. They realize that their brand equity is highest right now, while they still hold a title that signals competence. Luna: It’s like selling a house right before the market crashes, except you’re selling your reputation while it’s still hot. Lucas: That’s a perfect analogy. And here is the concrete detail I want you to remember: companies often mistake silence for loyalty. If you aren’t actively complaining, managers assume you are committed. But silence is often just a sign that you’ve already mentally checked out or are waiting for the right moment to jump. Luna: So the invisible tax we talked about last week? It’s actually a premium on staying too long. Lucas: It is. And this brings us to the core tension of internal mobility. Most people think of transferring as a way to save a relationship with their employer. Like, 'I don’t love my manager, so I’ll move to Marketing.' But for high performers, a lateral move is often a trap. You lose your institutional leverage without gaining new skills. Luna: Because you’re starting over in a new department with a fresh set of politics, but no new resume bullets. Lucas: Exactly. You reset your clock. If you were two years into a three-year vesting schedule in Engineering, and you move to Product Management, you might get reset. Or worse, you carry your tenure but lose the specialized skill depth that made you valuable in the first place. Luna: So you end up with less seniority and less specialization. Lucas: You end up with neither. And this is where the 'if it was worth it' question comes in. If you’re a high performer, your best move isn’t usually an internal transfer. It’s an external pivot. You take your brand equity to a competitor or a startup, get a significant bump in title or compensation, and then come back if you really want to. Luna: Which feels risky, but is statistically safer than stagnating in a role where your value is depreciating. Lucas: Let’s pause for a second here. This conversation is only possible because our listeners support us directly. If you found value in today’s breakdown of retention bias and labor market dynamics, consider supporting the show. Honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us keep these episodes ad-free and in-depth. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference in how deep we can go into these topics without rushing. Lucas: Thanks. Now, let’s get back to the mechanics of why this happens. Why do managers encourage internal transfers instead of letting people leave? It’s not always malice. It’s often laziness. Hiring externally is expensive and risky. Transferring someone internally is cheap and predictable. Luna: So the company benefits from keeping you, even if you’re bored, because the alternative is a vacancy. Lucas: Yes. And this creates a subtle form of captivity. You’re not trapped by contract, but by inertia. The friction of leaving is higher than the friction of staying. For a high performer, that friction is exactly what they need to overcome to grow. If they don’t, they become part of the 'core'—the stable, unchanging mass of employees who maintain the status quo. Luna: And the status quo doesn’t reward ambition. It rewards predictability. Lucas: Spot on. So, what should a listener do if they feel stuck? First, audit your skill stack. Are you accumulating skills that are portable across the industry, or are you learning processes that only exist in your current company? If it’s the latter, you’re building a golden cage. Luna: Golden cage. I like that. It sounds pretty but you can’t fly. Lucas: Exactly. Second, talk to people outside your company. Not to poach yourself, but to calibrate your market value. You need to know what your 'walk-away' number is. Without that number, you’re negotiating blind against your employer’s budget constraints. Luna: Because they don’t care about your ceiling. They care about the floor. Lucas: They care about the floor. They pay you enough to keep you quiet, not enough to make you rich. That’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s the baseline assumption for any career strategy in twenty twenty-six. Luna: So internal transfers should only happen for skill acquisition, not for comfort. Lucas: Only for skill acquisition. If you’re moving to escape a bad boss, you’re running away, not running toward something better. And running away leaves scars. Running toward builds muscle. Luna: Muscle memory is harder to break than office politics. Lucas: It is. And here’s a final thought on the 'why'. High performers often leave because they hit a ceiling of impact. In a large organization, your ability to change things diminishes the longer you stay. You become a maintainer, not a creator. And creators get bored. Luna: So the solution isn’t to find a bigger room. It’s to build your own room. Lucas: Sometimes. Or to join a smaller team where your impact is magnified. That’s the other side of the coin. Staying at a giant corporation is fine if you’re optimizing for stability. But if you’re optimizing for growth, you need volatility. Luna: Volatility is just another word for opportunity. Lucas: It is. And that’s why the best careers look jagged on paper. They look like a series of jumps, not a smooth climb. The smooth climbers are often climbing the wrong ladder. Luna: Or they’re climbing a ladder that’s leaning against the wrong wall. Lucas: Or both. So, as we wrap up, I want to leave you with this question: What is the one skill you could learn in the next six months that would make you irrelevant in your current company but invaluable elsewhere? Luna: If you can answer that, you’ve already planned your exit strategy. Lucas: Exactly. Find that skill. Build it quietly. And then decide if you want to use it here, or somewhere else. The choice is yours, but don’t let inertia make it for you. Luna: Inertia is the silent killer of potential. Lucas: Stay sharp, everyone.