Events

Talent Hoarding Virtual Research Roundtable
March 1, 2022 | 12:00-1:00pm (ET)

During this CAHRS research roundtable session, Professor JR Keller will present – and participants will have a chance to discuss – his ongoing research on talent hoarding. Talent hoarding refers to managers’ propensity to dissuade or otherwise prevent their subordinates from pursuing other jobs within the firm (and sometimes at other firms). Talent hoarding can be overt (i.e., refusing to grant a subordinate permission to apply for certain jobs) or much more subtle (i.e., by inferring that an employee just isn’t quite ready for a new role even when another manager may be willing to take a chance on them). Whichever form talent hoarding takes, it often has negative consequences for the organization; in fact, a recent survey indicates that 3 out of 4 large organizations view hoarding as a serious HR issue. This is in part because it so prevalent, with half of managers in another survey admitting to hoarding talent.

Professor Keller’s research provide a powerful counterargument to one of the primary rationales underlying talent hoarding. Managers hoard talent primarily because they are concerned with their ability to replace a good subordinate. But Professor Keller’s work shows that managers who facilitate internal mobility by securing promotions for their subordinates actually attract more, better, and more functionally diverse internal candidates for their open jobs. Thus, letting people go means better people to replace them.

We strongly prefer that participants be on camera during the session to allow for more engaging interaction.  If for some reason after you sign up for the roundtable, something comes up last minute (especially while many of us are working from home), it would be great to get even a last minute e-mail advising us that you cannot attend as we sometimes have a waiting list.