Reference

Belik & Knudsen (in review) Where is Wally? Identification and Retention of Valuable Complementary Human Capital

What

Can computational network analysis be used to identify which employees in a team or organization that it is most crucial to retain in the firm?

Abstract

Retaining valuable complementary human capital is a priority for firms. We propose that by analyzing a team’s informal organizational network, firms can determine the value destruction potential of each complementary employee if they were to depart, and use this to identify the employees that they should retain. Combining insights from strategic human capital and social network analysis, we develop and test hypotheses about how network structure moderates the negative performance consequences of the most influential employees’ departure. Results indicate that network density is key to determining the negative performance impacts of the departure of influential employees from a team of complementary human capital. Our proposed approach can also be valuable to managers who want to assess and retain a network of valuable complementary human capital.

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