Talent Hoarding in Organizations

TL;DR

This paper provides empirical evidence that managers in organizations hoard talented workers to improve team performance metrics, which negatively impacts internal mobility and talent distribution.

Contribution

It is the first study to empirically document talent hoarding behavior and its effects within organizations using personnel data and surveys.

Findings

Three-fourths of managers report talent hoarding.

Talent hoarding is linked to performance incentives and team size.

Hoarding reduces internal job applications and affects talent allocation.

Abstract

Most organizations rely on managers to identify talented workers. However, managers who are evaluated on team performance have an incentive to hoard workers. This study provides the first empirical evidence of talent hoarding using personnel records and survey evidence from a large firm. Talent hoarding is self-reported by three-fourths of managers, is detectable in manager ratings of worker talent, and occurs more frequently under stronger hoarding incentives, proxied by performance-related pay, team size, and talent visibility. Using quasi-random exposure to talent hoarding, I show that hoarding deters internal job applications, inhibiting career progression and altering talent allocation in the firm.