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The best candidate for your next role is probably already in your building. 👀
65–70% of open roles at Axis Bank get filled internally. "Better prospects" dropped from the number one exit reason to fifth or sixth. Not because they hired better — because they stopped making employees look outside to find growth.
📌 In This Edition We Cover
🏦 How Axis Bank built a talent marketplace that changed attrition
🏗️ Why your pipeline is already decided before a role opens
📊 The data case for internal hiring
✅ What HR should build
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1️⃣ The Axis Bank Story
Rajkamal Vempati, Group Head of HR at Axis Bank, saw "better prospects" top exit interview results for four years straight. Employees could not imagine a better career inside the bank than outside it.
Their response: Project Thrive — an internal talent marketplace where every open role is posted and anyone can apply, at their grade or above.
🎯 65–70% of open roles now filled internally
📉 "Better prospects" dropped from #1 exit reason to fifth or sixth
🔁 25–30% cross-functional movement across business units
⏱️ Minimum tenure to apply cut from 2–3 years to 16 months
The philosophy: "We shouldn't be deciding careers for people — they should."
2️⃣ The Pipeline Problem Nobody Is Solving in Time
Only 5% of Canadian hiring managers have the headcount and skills to complete high-priority projects — with 57% reporting active skills gaps, according to Robert Half Canada's 2026 survey of 1,500 hiring managers.
The problem: the pipeline is not built when a role opens. It is built years earlier — through who gets hired, what experiences they have, and who gets moved across the organisation. By the time you are filling a senior role, the decisions that shape that pipeline already happened.
3️⃣ What the Data Says
HR Executive's October 2026 analysis makes the case: internal hires ramp faster because context already exists, and organisations with strong internal mobility programmes consistently see lower attrition than those that default to external hiring.
CEPR's 2026 research adds another layer: productive firms are better at spotting and deploying internal talent — meaning internal mobility is both a cause and an indicator of organisational effectiveness.
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4️⃣ What HR Should Build
📋 Create visibility — every open role should be visible internally before or alongside external posting
🔁 Reduce the tenure barrier — Axis moved from 2–3 years to 16 months. What is yours?
🏗️ Connect your talent programmes — internship, development, mobility, and succession cannot be separate conversations
📊 Track internal fill rate as a KPI — Axis Bank's 70% is a benchmark worth knowing
🧠 Assess for potential, not readiness — your next CHRO is a mid-career HRBP right now
You cannot recruit your way out of a structural talent challenge. The organisations figuring this out now will have a meaningful edge by 2028.
🎉 What's Coming Up!
TSOW HR Meetup in Indore | November 21 — Shared stories, practical frameworks, and insights you can take back to your team right away. Save your spot!
TSOW HR Meetup in Gurugram | November 21 — Peer-driven discussions built for HR leaders who think in solutions. Get your seat while spots last.
TSOW HR Meetup in Ahmedabad | November 21 — Good rooms, honest people, and conversations that make Monday feel lighter. Join the Meetup
TSOW HR Meetup in Bangalore | November 21 — Smaller room, bigger conversations — the kind that stick with you after. Reserve your spot!
💬What percentage of your open roles get filled internally? Drop it in #general-q&a — our leaders are ready to answer. 🙌
The TSOW HR Pulse lands every Tuesday. Got something to share? You know where to find us.
