Framing the usefulness of eHRM in talent management: A case study of talent identification in a professional services firm

Abstract

As talent management evolves from intuitive to evidencebased decision-making, the role of electronic Human Resource Management (eHRM) to gather, distribute, and analyze data becomes more critical. However, surprisingly few academic studies investigate the role of technology in talent management. Drawing on a qualitative case study of talent management in a large professional services firm, this paper critically examines how eHRM information technologies are framed as useful within talent identification discourses. The findings reveal two distinct but interrelated sets of processes employed to identify talent and suggest that the perceived usefulness and centrality of eHRM are influenced by how stakeholders shape their understanding of effective talent management. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Keywords: talent management, electronic Human Resource Management (eHRM), discourse analysis, talent identification, qualitative case study Résumé Au fur et à mesure que la prise de décision informée par les faits remplace la prise de décision basée sur l'intuition en gestion des talents, le rôle que la gestion électronique des ressources humaines (GERH) joue dans l'assemblage, la distribution et l'analyse des données devient de plus en plus crucial. Curieusement, il existe peu de travaux scientifiques consacrés au rôle de la technologie dans la gestion des talents. Dans cet article, nous nous appuyons sur une étude qualitative de cas de la gestion des talents dans une grande firme de services professionnels pour examiner, de façon critique, la manière dont on présente l'utilité des technologies de l'information en GERH dans les discours portant sur le recensement des talents. Les résultats mettent en évi-dence deux ensembles de procédés interconnectés utilisés pour recenser les talents. Ils suggèrent aussi que l'utilité perçue et la centralité de la GERH sont influencées par la manière dont les parties prenantes construisent leur compréhension de la gestion efficace des talents.

Competing institutional logics in talent management: talent identification at the HQ and a subsidiary

“…Collings, 2014;Collings et al, 2018;Gallardo-Gallardo & Thunnissen, 2016;Sonnenberg et al, 2014;Thunnissen et al, 2013), sensitivity to the potentially conflicting interests of the different internal actors, at different levels, is largely neglected in empirical TM research (Huang & Tansley, 2012;Iles et al, 2010). One exception here is Wiblen (2016), who showed how organizational actors drew upon different understandings when identifying talents. Two different talent identification discourses were therefore present at the studied organization.…”

Role of HRM in Talent Retention With Evidence

“…For the MTN group to maintain a diverse and sustainable pool of talent which will meet the strategic goals of the firm, the group has over the years committed resources towards the training and capacity building of its staff. An integrated approach, that is strategically aligned is used in MTN during the process of talent identification as suggested by Wiblen, (2016). It is reported that the group committed about R383 million for development of talent and skills for its staff.…”

Managing critical success factors for IS implementation: A stakeholder engagement and control perspective

“…Egorova et al () indicated three different perspectives of stakeholders—strategic, tactical, and operational—as possessing different conditions for success. In addition to the perception, the idiosyncratic style of use by different stakeholders can often diminish various value‐producing characteristics of an IS (Wiblen, ; Arjomandy, ; Bondarouk, Schilling, & Ruël, ). These aspects related to post‐implementation success can be sufficiently addressed through a proper stakeholder engagement.…”