A Better Way to Manage Internal Talent Markets.

This article examines whether letting employees choose their internal assignments boosts performance or simply improves morale. A large organizational study comparing manager-directed placements with preference-based matches found that manager-led assignments generated far higher predicted productivity, whereas employee-chosen roles greatly increased personal satisfaction despite poorer skill alignment. The discrepancy arose largely because workers often lacked accurate information about their strengths, organizational needs, or the true demands of each role. To balance productivity with engagement, the authors propose hybrid internal-talent systems that combine better information, targeted incentives, and coordinated decision-making to align worker preferences with company priorities. INSET: "If We Don't Provide These Opportunities Internally, We Risk....