With unemployment at near historic lows in the United States, employers report that their single greatest challenge is recruiting and retaining talent. The answer for many companies is to throw money at the problem: Bonuses, incentive pay, and out-of-cycle salary increases are often seen as motivators that will entice greater effort and loyalty out of workers. [...]

For John Bracaglia, his academic and professional careers have been driven by two themes: “machine learning and behavioral economics,” he says. “The two work together. Machine learning is about how computers understand information, while behavioral economics is about how people understand information.” [...]

When it’s on-campus recruiting time, employers feel compelled to create presentations to talk about their mission and purpose. To talk about challenges and opportunities. To talk about functions and roles. [...]

The recruiting process among companies and candidates can resemble a two-way talent competition in which all parties serve simultaneously as contestants and judges: just as candidates strive to present themselves in the best possible light, companies eager to attract and retain the best talent want to assert their most attractive qualities to discriminating job seekers. [...]