Can building talent translate into concrete results for firms? How can firms make that happen? To explore these questions, the McKinsey Global Institute convened a virtual launch event on the themes of a new report from MGI and McKinsey’s People & Organizational Performance practice, Performance through people: Transforming human capital into competitive advantage.
The session began with an overview of the report findings with report authors Anu Madgavkar and Bill Schaninger, followed by a fireside chat between Olivia White and Kausik Rajgopal, PayPal’s Executive Vice-President of People & Sourcing, and a panel discussion with:
- Gina Jardine, Chief Human Resources Officer, CRH
- Jeff Cava, McKinsey Senior External Advisor, Former CHRO, Starwood, Wendy's, Nike, and Senior HR officer, Walt Disney
- Prithwiraj Choudhury, Lumry Family Associate Professor, Harvard Business School
The MGI report looked at 1,800 firms across sectors and found that companies that develop human capital and manage it well have a performance edge over sector peers when it comes to earnings consistency, resilience in times of crisis, and employee retention. These are critical advantages, particularly today. A set of these human capital builders excels at both people and performance—and the presentation covered some of their winning organizational practices.
Questions discussed during the virtual event include:
- Does developing people–building their skills, engaging them and helping them grow—link to performance and value creation for companies?
- How can companies broaden their upskilling and reskilling efforts to meet future of work needs? Should companies be focused on degrees, or skills, or even potential to learn when hiring?
- What role does “purpose” play in people development and how can companies create a coherent and consistent purpose that appeals to all employees across roles?
- Why should companies invest in training and coaching if people leave?
- How is productivity faring in the hybrid workplace? And how should companies be thinking about mentoring and coaching in this new form of work?
For more on this topic, please watch the virtual event recording and read our reports, Performance through people: Transforming human capital into competitive advantage and Human capital at work: The value of experience.