Integrating utility analysis and workforce strategy research: suggestions for future work

Abstract Firms ask their employees to perform a wide variety of tasks, often with daunting time constraints. Research on the firm-level impact of these behaviors – including work in utility analysis (UA) and star employees - has a long and fruitful history, rich with managerial implications. In this paper I comment on research by Joo et al. (2022), who advanced the literature on UA and star employees by highlighting the effects of variance in workforce performance on important firm-level outcomes among 824,924 employees, pooled across 206 samples. In my view this literature can be substantially enhanced by incorporating important moderating and mediating variables that have been identified in the HR strategy literature. In addition, this work can also be improved by developing a better understanding of the causal processes through which star employees’ performance helps to execute strategy, and through the development of better workforce analytics. Advancing this line of research will likely require both qualitative and quantitative research as well as extensive case studies on the identification and implementation of effective workforce strategies.