# Team move playbook

> A playbook for someone who moves to another team or department: a welcome, introductions from their new manager and a check-in after three weeks.

Category: Onboarding and playbooks

Canonical: https://shuffl.ai/templates/team-move-playbook

## When to use it

Someone moving teams knows the company but not their new team’s people, tools or habits. Treating the move as a small onboarding helps them settle faster.

This playbook starts the day they join their new team. Their new manager introduces them, and HR checks in after three weeks.

## Welcome to your new team, person moving

To the person moving, on the day they join.

```text
**Welcome to your new team, {{hire}}**

A new team means new people, tools and ways of working. Take the first week to meet people and ask how things are done here.

- [ ] Hold a first one-to-one with {{manager}}
- [ ] Join your new team’s channels
```

## Welcome person moving to the team

To their manager, on the day they join.

```text
**Welcome {{hire}} to the team**

- [ ] Introduce them to the team
- [ ] Share what the team is working on this quarter
```

## Ask person moving how the move is going

To their manager, 14 days after the day they join.

```text
**Ask {{hire}} how the move is going**
```

## Checking in

To the person moving, 21 days after the day they join.

```text
**How is the new team going, {{hire}}?**

If anything about your work, tools or who to ask is unclear, say so and a named person from HR will follow up with you directly.
```

## How to adapt it

- Shuffl fills in {{hire}} and {{manager}} for each person. Replace them by hand if you send the message yourself.
- Start it from a group for each department, so a move in People starts it.
- Let their old manager hand over in writing what they were working on.

## A new team is a fresh start

- **75%** chance of staying two years for employees who made an internal move, against 56% (LinkedIn) [linkedin-talent-connect-2022]
- **70%** of the variance in engagement across teams comes from the manager (Gallup estimate) [gallup-great-managers]
- **42%** of US employees who quit say their employer could have kept them (Gallup, 2024) [gallup-preventable-turnover]

## What the research says

Internal moves keep people. LinkedIn found that employees who made an internal move had a 75% chance of staying at their company after two years, compared with 56% for those who hadn’t.[linkedin-talent-connect-2022] Its review of 32 million LinkedIn profiles found little difference in retention between people who moved to a more senior role and those who moved sideways.[linkedin-career-pathing]

A move still comes with a learning curve. In Wharton research on a US investment bank’s personnel data from 2003 to 2009, external hires got significantly lower performance ratings in their first two years than internal staff promoted into similar jobs. But people promoted and moved to another group at the same time performed no better than external hires.[wharton-external-hires]

The new manager matters most. Gallup estimates that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in engagement across teams.[gallup-great-managers] In Gallup’s study of people who quit, 42% said their manager or organization could have prevented it, and 45% said no manager or other leader had proactively discussed their job satisfaction, performance or future with them.[gallup-preventable-turnover]

## Common mistakes

- Treating the move as an admin change. Someone new to a team still needs introductions, context and a plan for the first week.
- Skipping the handover. Ask the old manager to write down what the person was working on and who picks it up.
- Letting the old team keep pulling them back. Agree a date after which old work goes to someone else.
- Leaving the first one-to-one with the new manager for later. Agree expectations and early goals in the first week.
- Adding a probation period out of habit. There is no legal requirement for one in the UK,[acas-probation] so decide whether a trial period suits the move and agree its terms in writing.
- Assuming it went well because no one complained. 36% of people who quit talked to no one before deciding to leave,[gallup-preventable-turnover] so check in after a few weeks and ask what is still unclear.

## Common questions

**How do you onboard an internal transfer?**
Treat it as a short onboarding. The person knows the company but not the new team’s people, tools or habits, so plan introductions, a first one-to-one with the new manager, a written handover from the old team and a check-in after a few weeks.

**Should an internal transfer have a probation period?**
It’s a choice, not a rule. In the UK, Acas says there is no legal requirement to have a probation period. If you use a trial period for a move, agree in writing how long it lasts, how it will be reviewed and what happens if it doesn’t work out.

**Do sideways moves help retention?**
LinkedIn’s data suggests they do. It found little difference in retention between people who moved to a more senior role and people who moved sideways, and people who made an internal move were more likely to still be at the company two years later.

## Sources (read 2026-10-13)

- [linkedin-talent-connect-2022] LinkedIn, “Making internal mobility and career development easier for talent professionals” (October 26, 2022): https://news.linkedin.com/2022/october/talent-connect-2022
- [linkedin-career-pathing] LinkedIn Learning, “How Career Pathing Leads to Employee Retention” (No date stated; read October 2026): https://business.linkedin.com/learn/resources/career-development/career-pathing-employee-retention
- [wharton-external-hires] Knowledge at Wharton, “Why External Hires Get Paid More, and Perform Worse, than Internal Staff” (March 28, 2012): https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-external-hires-get-paid-more-and-perform-worse-than-internal-staff/
- [gallup-great-managers] Gallup, “Why Great Managers Are So Rare” (March 2014, updated February 2026): https://www.gallup.com/workplace/231593/why-great-managers-rare.aspx
- [gallup-preventable-turnover] Gallup, “42% of Employee Turnover Is Preventable but Often Ignored” (July 9, 2024 (updated February 16, 2026)): https://www.gallup.com/workplace/646538/employee-turnover-preventable-yet-often-ignored.aspx
- [acas-probation] Acas, “What probation is – Probation periods” (Last updated 7 October 2026): https://www.acas.org.uk/probation-periods

## In Shuffl

Use in Shuffl: [New playbook](https://shuffl.ai/app/playbooks/all?create=1&template=team-move). Opens a new playbook with these steps and timings. Each person’s steps wait for your approval before they send.

Guide: [Playbooks for other moments](https://shuffl.ai/docs/playbooks#templates)

## Related terms

- [Onboarding](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/onboarding)
- [Employee retention rate](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/employee-retention-rate)
- [One-on-one meeting](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/one-on-one-meeting)

All templates: https://shuffl.ai/templates

Agent documentation index: https://shuffl.ai/llms.txt