The development of a talent management framework for the private sector

Abstract

Orientation: Talent management is a strategic priority especially for profit-generating organisations in the private sector. Limited research has been conducted on the theoretical development of talent management. The need for talent management is also triggered by a need to align and integrate people management practices with those of the organisation in order to achieve strategic execution and operational excellence.Research purpose: The primary aim of the study was to develop a talent management framework for the private sector. The research proposed to conduct an in-depth exploration of talent management practices in key and leading organisations already in the mature stages of talent management implementation in South Africa.Motivation of the study: There is a need for the development of best practices in talent management – where talent management strategy is designed to deliver corporate and human resource management strategies. The formal talent management initiative would be linked to the human resources management function and will flow vertically from the corporate strategy-making process.Research approach, design and method: The modernist qualitative research approach was applied to the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews (18 persons were interviewed in total). Analytical induction method was instrumental in facilitating the overall data analysis, while constructivist grounded theory assisted with the operationalisation of the data analysis.Main findings: The study has mapped out key dimensions which are essential for the implementation of talent management. The dimensions of talent management are attraction, sourcing and recruitment, deployment and transitioning, growth and development, performance management, talent reviews, rewarding and recognising, engagement and retention. With each of the above-mentioned dimensions, the activities that are to be carried out to achieve the outcome of each dimension are specified.Practical and managerial implications: Role clarifications pertaining to talent management responsibilities and accountabilities are still unclear in most instances. Early identification of key role players and articulation of duties will lead to ownership and clear accountabilities for the successful implementation of talent management.Contribution/value add: The study brought to light critical factors for organisations in the private sector to consider for the successful implementation of an integrated, holistic and comprehensive talent management framework. The proposed framework guides talent management practices within companies in the private sector by highlighting activities to be carried out to achieve outcomes per talent management dimension.

Academic talent: Perceived challenges to talent management in the South African higher education sector

“…From participant 1 as mentioned above, this is exactly as noted in the literature that different generations have different generational needs and preferences concerning their career life stages (Van Zyl et al, 2017). Despite all the participants' feedback, participant 1 could not indicate any single factor and cited difficulties in coming up with factors because job advertisements do not include salaries and at the same time, no research has been carried out by the institution to find out why potential employees would want to join the institution.…”

“…Since then, the topic of talent management has gained significant attention globally in both practice and theory. This represents a paradigm shift from traditional HR-related sources of competitive advantage (Miller, Burke, & Glick, 1998) and strategic HR management (Huselid, Jackson, & Schuler, 1997) to management of talent relevant to today's changing competitive business environment (Van Zyl, Mathafena, & Ras, 2017).…”

Development of Framework for Talent Management in the Global Context

“…By highlighting talent identification as one of the talent management practices, some scholars have pointed out that talent management is primarily concerned with employees who add value to the organization. Those employees who are identified by the organizations as talent are those who possess the potential to have a significant influence on organizational success (McDonnell & Collings, 2011, Arris et al, 2013, Van et al, 2017, Bolander et al, 2017. Talent Management requires a change in mindset to focus on potential outputs.…”

“…Despite the growing popularity of talent management and over a decade of debate and hype, the concept of talent management remains unclear (Nijs et al, 2014;Van et al, 2017). The research conducted by Arris, Cascio and Paauwe (2013).…”

Talent Management: A Systematic Review

“…In the current business environment, there is a high demand for talented employees in organizations (Cappelli, 2008). Although most of the organizations apply the practices of talent management there are a lot of mysterious issues that need to be cleared (Van Zyl et al, 2017). The business environment has gone through many changes in different aspects such as the nature of work and the new forms of work (Bozionelos and Wang, 2006), which come from new knowledge innovation, new skills and increasing competition between firms (Garrow and Hirsh, 2008).…”