Report: Human Capital at Work: The Value of Experience | McKinsey Global Institute

This new 104-page study looks at longitudinal data to trace the career trajectories of approximately four million workers across the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and India. While the report contains far too many insights to summarize, a few I found interesting within the context of “talent shortages” reported by many firms are: 1) The average person in the data set changed roles every two to four years. 2) However, over 80 percent of these role moves involved someone moving from one employer to another. And, even far fewer moves involved people being promoted into more senior roles or branching into different specializations within their existing organizations. This high level of external movement holds true across all cohorts. These insights underscore the vast opportunity organizations have to tap into their internal talent marketplace to meet the organizations’ talent needs while supporting employees’ career development. Page 65 begins a section on practices leaders and managers can employ to enable internal talent movement. A few recommendations center on identifying “hidden talent,”—those workers in an organization that desire to take on new opportunities and have the potential to be successful in a role or work opportunity, but whose experience or credentials don’t precisely match the requirements. Leaders that are able to uncover this hidden talent segment will unlock a source of competitive advantage for their organizations. For more on “hidden talent,” check out this 74-page report by Harvard Business School, Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent.