Our webinar this week “How Top Employers like P&G Are Redefining Job Quality,” brought together Bala Purushothaman, CHRO of Procter & Gamble; Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Managing Director of The Emes Project and the Schultz Family Foundation; Matt Sigelman, President of the Burning Glass Institute; and CHRO Association CEO Tim Bartl. Our speakers focused on one question: which employers actually help workers move ahead—and how?
The conversation drew its findings from a new “Where You Work Matters List,” an independent ranking of 1,750 major U.S. employers. The list was developed by the Schultz Family Foundation and the Burning Glass Institute, in partnership with Harvard Business School’s Managing the Future of Work Project.
WATCH THE FULL WEBINAR HERE
Why it matters: Most employer rankings lean on surveys, reputation or company-submitted information. But this list looks at what happens to workers after they join a company, measuring pay, mobility and retention role by role. That gives CHROs a more useful view of whether career opportunities are showing up in actual jobs, not just in workforce messaging.
The secret of “talent math,” Sigelman says is about giving “employers a clear picture of what ‘good’ looks like for each role,” he said. “That insight can help companies strengthen career pathways and design jobs that create greater opportunity.”
By the numbers: The list looked at 1,750 major U.S. employers based on worker outcomes across more than 12 million workers and nearly 55,000 occupations. 350 received Platinum recognition. Burning Glass also tracked roughly 65 million career histories, about 40% of the U.S. workforce, to see which employees moved ahead and who got stuck.
Inside the framework: The list separates opportunity into three categories.
Why P&G stands out: P&G is one of just 22 companies rated platinum across all three categories (early-career, growth, and stability). Of 78 P&G occupations assessed, 31 earned platinum or gold on all three, including non-degree roles like logistics and warehouse work.
Attract and develop talent: Purushothaman explained P&G’s talent philosophy—hire at entry level, put people in stretch roles early, have “talent councils" run by line leaders, identify new development opportunities, and make managers coaches. In fact, 27 of P&G's top 30 leaders started at entry level.
Personalization at scale: “The company’s goal is for every employee to feel the company has been uniquely designed for them to be at their best,” said Purushothaman. He called it “personalization at scale.”
A few recommended talent strategies:
The AI angle: “As AI reshapes the labor market, the companies best positioned to thrive will be those that have built strong, sustainable talent pipelines,” said Chandrasekaran. Harvard and P&G’s joint “Cybernetic Teammate” study found that the strongest cohort was teams using AI; individuals with AI beat teams without it. This is also known as the “One + AI effect.”
Purushothaman said P&G is focused on organizing around business outcomes, re-engineering core workflows, and building “T-shaped” talent (that focuses on depth and breadth).
CHRO takeaway: Design career opportunities at each job level. The ultimate test is whether employees are gaining skills, increasing earnings, moving into better roles and staying because the work supports growth.
