Reading the Stars: Determining Human Capital's Value in the Hiring Process

Keywords

star status, employee mobility, firm tenure

Abstract

Star employees are highly sought after by competitors and thus more likely to move from one company to another. However, not all the factors related to stardom are as mobile as the stars themselves. We argue that while simply possessing star status leads to increased movement, differences in the attributions of human capital and value appropriation will also influence a star's movement to competing firms. To test this, we analyzed the careers of 695 security analysts over a 10-year period. We found that while stars are more likely to move to competing firms than nonstars, the difference in movement between stars and nonstars decreases as the status of their current firm and their tenure increases.

Original Publication Citation

"Reading the Stars: Determining Human Captial's Value in the Competitive Hiring Process", Human Resource Management, Volume 57, 2018.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2018

Publisher

Human Resource Management

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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