The Challenge
Our partner was Oliver Wyman, the global management consulting firm. Their objective was to develop a new framework that helped to explain the behavioural forces behind individuals' employment decisions, and in particular what factors beyond financial reward shape people's decisions to enter the labour market and choose particular careers.
The Approach
Working with the Oliver Wyman team, we conducted a literature review, examining the academic literature on labour market decision-making. We then applied the lessons from the review of the literature to tens of real world case studies, including examples of how nation states and large firms have adopted new approaches to attract and retain employees in specific sectors. We then developed a model for explaining labour market decisions. And a practical framework for applying this model to different contexts.
The Result
The framework overturns conventional thinking on labour market decision-making, which tends to over-emphasise the importance of 'extrinsic' rewards, like pay. The framework then brings in the two factors which are usually forgotten, namely the importance of intrinsic motivations (the meaning and purpose we derive from a role); and cultural values (the set of implicit societal rules and guidelines that open up and shut down career paths) in explaining why people choose particular careers.
Read the report here: https://www.oliverwyman.com/content/dam/oliver-wyman/v2/publications/2021/jan/Money_Matters.pdf
"The CogCo team is world class. They bring extensive and deep experience in the behavior science discipline, and perhaps even more importantly, bring a rare practical sense in solving even the most complex of behavior science problems. Its a pleasure and a privilege to work with the team." - Abhishek Sharma, Partner, Oliver Wyman
