Publications

January 2025
Technical Note

Skills-First Talent Management: Hiring

By: Boris Groysberg, Tom Quinn, Robin Abrahams and Katherine Connolly Baden

The first in a series of notes on how organizations manage skills-first talent-management chains, covering recruiting: the process of creating a job description, publicizing the job and attracting applicants, and assessing candidates. Other notes in this series include... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Jobs and Positions

May 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Background Note

Managing Talent Pipelines in the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr, Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman and Carl Kreitzberg

In the face of a rapidly-changing economy, organizations that wish to compete in the future of work must develop strategies for acquiring, retaining, and developing talent for their organizations. This primer reviews the major trends shaping jobs, workplaces, and... View Details

Keywords: Future Of Work; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Demographics; Labor; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Supply Chain

30 Nov 2010
News

Chasing star talent

13 May 2021
Blog Post

HBS Got Talent

In January 2020, I (Lori Ossip, MBA 2021) alongside MBA 2020 grads Russell Citron, Melanie Sperling, and Billy Tabrizi were working on a new charity event: HBS Got Talent, a massive talent show with live... View Details

February 2025
Module Note

Managing Work Arrangements: Technology and Talent Access

By: Christopher Stanton

Research Summary

Talent and Ownership on Corporate Boards

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

This research, with co-author Emilie Feldman, examines the performance of firms whose boards include directors with sizeable ownership stakes and relatively low levels of business experience. In contrast to theories that predict a strong... View Details

April 2025
Technical Note

Skills-First Talent Management: Engagement and Retention

By: Boris Groysberg, Nicole Zelazko, Robin Abrahams and Katherine Connolly Baden

The third in a series, this note describes the significance of employee engagement and retention, explores the relationship between these two pillars and skills-first talent management, and covers the major drivers of engagement and retention. The other two notes are:... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; United States

24 May 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Digital Labor Markets and Global Talent Flows

Keywords: by John Horton, William R. Kerr, and Christopher Stanton

Web

Hire Talent

Hire Talent Hire Talent Work With Us to Meet Your Hiring Goals Discover HBS talent, engage and recruit current students and alumni, view... View Details

20 Mar 2013
News

Leveraging Female Talent

31 Aug 2021
News

How the Pandemic Changed Talent Management

Awards

Axiom Business Book Award Gold Medal in the Operations Management category

By: Boris Groysberg

Won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award Gold Medal in the Operations Management category for Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance (Princeton University Press, 2010). View Details

11 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Non-competes Push Talent Away

disturbed that nobody had mentioned the non-compete before he accepted the job, Marx signed willingly, assuming such documents were commonplace. “It's clear that that inventors are leaving states that enforce non-competes for states that don't." Fast-forward a few... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

August 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Braintrust: The Blockchain-Powered Talent Network

By: Christopher Stanton, Joseph B. Fuller and George Gonzalez

A San Francisco startup seeks to disrupt the freelancing industry through its user-owned talent network powered by the cryptocurrency, BTRST. View Details

Keywords: Freelancers; Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Social and Collaborative Networks; Talent and Talent Management; Consulting Industry; Technology Industry; United States

October 2019
Article

Returns to Talent and the Finance Wage Premium

By: Boris Vallée and Claire Célérier

To study the role of talent in finance workers' pay, we exploit a special feature of the French higher education system. Wage returns to talent have been significantly higher and have risen faster in finance since the 1980s than in other sectors. Both wage returns to... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; Finance; Compensation and Benefits; Wages; Banking Industry

Find at Harvard

Read Now

March 2000 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Microsoft: Competing on Talent (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Wozny

Describes the evolution of Microsoft's human-resource philosophies, policies, and practices and how they used as a core of the company's competitive advantage. In particular, the focus is on how Microsoft tried to retain its ability to recruit, develop, motivate, and... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Retention; Recruitment; Competitive Advantage; Motivation and Incentives; Business Startups; Talent and Talent Management

01 May 2014
News

Talent Show

Article

Navigating Talent Hot Spots

By: William R. Kerr

Innovation clusters like San Francisco and Boston have long had an outsize impact on the global economy, and their influence keeps growing. In 2017, for instance, America’s ten largest tech hubs accounted for 58% of U.S. patents. Globally, cities such as Tokyo, Paris,... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Innovation and Invention; Urban Scope; Industry Clusters; Innovation and Management