JPMorgan's new head of talent transformation suggests a rise in 'Moneyball' promotions
Last month, we noted that JPMorgan hired Matt Brandt as its head of HR data analytics, suggesting an increased focus on using data to influence hiring and promotion strategy. The bank has made another hire to reinforce that notion.
Allison Horn has joined JPMorgan as an MD and its head of talent transformation. She spent the last 26 years at technology consultancy Accenture, where she was an MD and held a number of roles, including chief learning officer and chief talent officer.
In an interview with FedScoop earlier this year, Horn said that leveraging real-time performance data is "super critical." She said it can influence both "work redesign and how we might shift people from job to job." Horn also said that data analysis makes it easier to distinguish intermediates from experts from masters for specific skills.
What data the bank will be using is shrouded in mystery. The bank has a proprietary tracking system called WADU, but there are debates as to the extent of how much it actually monitors. Data-driven (i.e. 'Moneyball') hires and promotions may be more common in the back office and technology, where aspects like lines of code or commits are more easily measured. Relationships-based roles more common in the front office are presumably less susceptible, unless a rainmaker leaves and needs to be recreated in the aggregate, perhaps.
Horn also criticized the idea of a yearly survey being used to assess employee satisfaction and engagement. One such survey by JPMorgan was leaked in June, showing that scores for health, wellbeing, work-life balance and internal career opportunities had all fallen. A memo from the bank suggested that the bank's return to office influenced the decline in health and wellbeing scores. It seems unlikely that any data will convince Jamie Dimon to pivot on the policy, however.
Horn isn't the only Accenture alum to join JPMorgan recently. Last month, the bank hired Deirdre Busby as an MD; she was formerly Accenture's applied intelligence global talent head, but joined from generative AI platform ServiceNow, where she was a senior director for global talent development.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: Telegram: @AlexMcMurray, Signal: @AlexMcMurrayEFC.88 Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libellous (in which case it won’t.)
