Google Unseats McKinsey in Battle for Human Capital
Every now and then you read an article that stays with you for years. It is usually because a thought in the article was so novel and intriguing that it changed the way you approached an important part of your life. That article for me was written by WSJ journalist Rich Karlgaard in the summer of 2004. In it he detailed an impromptu discussion he had with Bill Gates on a cross country plane flight. Rich details the experience:
"Out of nowhere, (Bill) told me that he had recently figured out who his competition was. It was not Apple, Lotus or IBM. He waited a couple of beats. "It's Goldman Sachs."To many this "Battle for IQ" is old news, but at the time this was a big "Aha" moment for me. It made sense. Goldman does not directly compete with Microsoft in software development, but clearly they draw from the same pool of human capital. For years firms like Goldman, McKinsey and Microsoft have managed to attract the best and the brightest, building themselves into veritable brain trusts. However, every now and then a new company comes out of nowhere to attract more of the top notch talent. Below is the results of the latest survey -- courtesy of Universum and Fortune -- that ranks employers by the percentage of MBA students who rank the company in their top 5 most desired places to work (click to enlarge):"Is this a scoop? Is Microsoft getting into investment banking?"
"No," he said. "I mean the competition for talent. It's all about IQ. You win with IQ. Our only competition for IQ is the top investment banks."
Famed consulting shop McKinsey & Company had enjoyed a 12 year reign at the top only to be unseated this year by Google. Yes, Google leads Goldman by almost 50% and is ahead of Microsoft by 300%. So what can we take from this? Well, for starters companies that attract and retain the best and the brightest are winning what may very well be the most important game: the "Battle for IQ." But, perhaps more importantly, in the battle for human capital, no one stays on top forever.
1 comment:
I was absentmindedly reading this blogpost and thinking "wow, this sounds like something ryan would write" when I realized that I was reading your blog. You've told me about Bill Gates' comments several times and I have always thought of Goldman as the world leader in the hiring of the smartest minds becausse of your comments.
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