On-the-job experience and career outcomes

Using English football as a study, in teams' first year after relegation, the appearance rates of incumbent players in relegated teams increased by 12 per cent relative to the non-relegated players, giving them more on-field or on-the-job experience. Such increased on-the-job experience yielded long-run benefits.

While delegating the best assignment to the currently most experienced employee may be optimal in the short run, it is not in the firm's best interest in the long run. Less-experienced younger employees have to be groomed to shadow the experienced ones so that their performance can be enhanced.