Re-conceptualising talent management and development within the context of the low paid

Abstract

Those working in organisations have choices to make not only associated with the goods and services they produce but also their wider social and economic impact. The number of employees in low skilled/low paid jobs and the high proportion of companies adopting business strategies based on low-specification goods and services are a concern for many developed and developing economies.Addressing this problem is not traditionally the concern of Human Resource Development however we argue that through exploring the role that a wider, more balanced approach to Sustainable Talent Management and Development (S-TMD) may play within the context of the low skilled in the UK provides a crucial link to enhancing an organisation's performance and responsibility to society. At the heart of this approach lies a shift to appreciate the collective endeavour of work practices, an enhanced role for stakeholders and identification of, and participation in skills eco-systems to support sustainable development. The paper identifies the opportunity for S-TMD to move from a predominantly individualist, managerial and unitarist understanding to one grounded in the value of tacit and embedded development processes undertaken to reflect a pluralist, multi-voiced approach to understanding of a skills eco-system.

Talent management of skilled migrants: propositions and an agenda for future research

“…This has direct implications on whether skilled migrants are considered talents or not. Exclusive TM focuses on people who belong to a select, exclusive group of people considered to be talents (Mäkelä, Björkman, & Ehrnrooth, 2010;Scullion et al, 2010;Thunnissen et al, 2013); while the more inclusive approach to TM considers talent as something that all employees possess and which should be nurtured in all (Devins & Gold, 2014;De Vos & Dries, 2013;Lewis & Heckman, 2006). Fundamentally all the human capital in an organization is included in this perception of talent, where talent can be supported and developed in all employees (Meyers et al, 2013).…”

“…In short, multi-level, international comparative research is required in order to build a repository of factors impacting on the TM of skilled migrants internationally. Finally, while the focus of this paper is on the TM of skilled migrants, further research could consider if similar propositions could apply across other overlooked or neglected workforce categories when it comes to TM practices, such as 'B players' (Malik & Singh, 2014) and the low-paid (Devins & Gold, 2014).…”

“…There are other workforce categories (e.g. the low-paid, Devins & Gold, 2014;'B players' , Malik & Singh, 2014) which have also been neglected in TM strategies and practices. Focusing on the TM of skilled migrants, this paper advances a series of propositions that recognize how skilled migrants can be valuable resources for organizations.…”

The Persistence of Working Poor Families in a Changing U.S. Job Market

“…However, the results of the study showed that training had no significant effect on household expenditures due to limitations in the training (i.e., low participation rates and the short duration of training). Devins and Gold (2014) conceptualized an approach to sustainable talent management and development to improve opportunities for low-wage workers in the U.K. Sectors of the British economy that produce low specification goods and services minimize labor costs and wages, underutilize skilled workers, and rely on the lowskilled, low-wage labor market for workers. These conditions are exacerbated by the polarization of jobs into high-skill and low-skill occupations (Autor, 2010).…”

Exploring talenting: talent management as a collective endeavour

“…Some writers such as Devins and Gold (2014) " for an appreciation of the collective endeavour of work practices which moves attention to the performance of work which usually requires conjoint action (Spillane 2006) based on varying degrees of dependence, interdependence and mutuality between at least two people. Referring to this as Sustainable Talent Management and Development, they argue that such dependencies have to be concerned with how talent is used and how this use ( an interaction between people.…”