Retaining top talent is a challenge many organizations face. Employees often leave when they feel limited by internal opportunities. For Booz Allen Hamilton—an advanced technology company known for delivering innovative, mission-critical solutions—addressing this issue became a top priority. At the same time, they needed to ensure their teams had the right skills to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving technology landscape.
In a recent What Works podcast episode, Jim Hemgen, head of learning at Booz Allen, shared how his team tackled these challenges. Through a strategic partnership with Workera, they built a scalable framework for skills intelligence, career mobility, and continuous learning that is helping their workforce support both government and commercial clients with cutting-edge AI solutions.
Let’s explore the key challenges they faced and the solutions that transformed their workforce.
Retention: The Risk of Losing Top Talent
Booz Allen’s internal research revealed a staggering insight: 60% of employees who couldn’t find new opportunities internally left the organization within a year.
For a company focused on empowering clients with next-generation technology, this attrition posed a significant risk. Jim’s team knew they needed to create a system that provided employees with meaningful career pathways within the organization.
However, they faced another challenge: cultural resistance. Managers were hesitant to release their top performers, fearing disruption to their teams. Booz Allen overcame this by gaining leadership support and sharing success stories to demonstrate how internal mobility could benefit both employees and teams.
The results spoke for themselves: lower attrition, improved internal hiring, and a more engaged workforce.
Skills Visibility: Turning the Unknown into Data
Even with career opportunities in place, Booz Allen faced another challenge—skills visibility. For a company with over 35,000 professionals delivering technical solutions across AI, cybersecurity, and quantum computing, leaders needed a clear picture of who had the skills required for key projects.
"It wasn’t enough for someone to say, ‘I’m an expert in Python,’" Jim explained. "We had to assess programming skills and compare them against a benchmark."
Workera’s AI-powered skills assessments helped provide the solution. Employees can complete assessments across key domains like AI and data science. Booz Allen created a digital badge program that integrated into Booz Allen’s talent management system. This gave managers real-time visibility into employee capabilities and expertise.
As a result, staffing became more efficient, with leaders able to quickly identify the right talent for critical projects.
Personalized Learning: A Future-Ready Approach
As one of the largest providers of AI services to the federal government, Booz Allen needed to continuously upskill its workforce to stay competitive. Workera’s platform helps deliver hyper-personalized learning journeys, tailored to each employee’s role, goals, and existing skills.
A targeted learning approach accelerated development and made filling skills gaps more effective. "Imagine the power of having skills intelligence about your teams," Jim shared. "I can naturally see where the gaps are and set effective goals."
These skill insights allow Booz Allen to remain agile and innovative, equipping their workforce to deliver secure and mission-driven solutions to clients.
The Results: Delivering on Innovation
Booz Allen’s investment in skills intelligence produced measurable improvements. Employee surveys showed increased scores in key areas such as:
- Professional development support
- Access to new experiences
- Opportunities to build relevant skills
Additionally, Booz Allen reduced bench time (employees waiting for new assignments) and saw higher internal hiring rates—clear evidence that their skills-first strategy was driving success.
Lessons for Learning Leaders
Jim Hemgen’s experience provides valuable insights for organizations facing similar challenges. Investing in skills intelligence, verified assessments, and personalized learning can improve retention, engagement, and performance while positioning the workforce for long-term growth.
Curious about how Booz Allen Hamilton tackled these challenges and transformed its workforce?
Discover how Jim Hemgen and his team created an AI-ready organization with the help of Workera.
See how Workera can benchmark capabilities, close skill gaps, and upskill your teams for success.
