Talent management: Current theories and future research directions

Talent management (TM) is relatively new and has a great potential for research. Various multinational companies and governments of different countries have shown their interest in the field of TM. At present TM is considered as a combination of three aspects; (1) TM is often used simply as a new term for common HR practices (old wine in new bottles), (2) it can allude to succession-planning practices, or (3) it can refer more generically to the management of talented employees. Also, there is a controversy as to whether TM should evolve around the talent management of all the employees of a country or is it managing talent of just the talented employees. The aim of this article is to provide the framework and paraphernalia for future research on TM.

Different authors have devised different definitions of TM, most of these definitions define TM as identification of a pool of individuals best suited for a sustainable functioning of an organisation, identification of a pool of talented individuals best suited for top key positions of an organisation. TM is an offshoot of the Human Resource (HR) department. TM simplifies the work of the HR department by allowing them to best utilise the human resources by gauging their abilities and qualities along scientific lines. The concept of Global Talent Management (GTM) prospects upon managing the human resources on a global scale by linking HR departments of different organisations. It is quite heartening that majority of the interested parties of TM are multinational organisations due to the high potential of GTM. GTM enables the smooth expatriation of talent across organisations. In conclusion, TM theories have been driven by the assumption that maximizing the talents of employees is a source of sustained competitive advantage.

The authors also discussed of the need to work on the skill development of organisation’s own employees so as to let them secure key positions of the managers. The purpose of internal promotions is to keep a balance between the policies of the imported managers and a company’s existing policies. Together the imported managers and company’s workers can sustain the progress of an organisation and also maintain the culture and working environment of that organisation. The grooming of a worker can also provide him the opportunity to migrate to another organisation for a better package, thus maintaining a sense of competition instilled in the workers.

For devising a strategy for a proper research, going through previous research papers is fundamental. Before doing a research on TM and related issues some of the important research papers should be studied as an appetiser. The recommended research papers include; ‘‘Balancing individual and organizational goals in global talent management: A mutual-benefits perspective’’ by Farndale, Pai, Sparrow and Scullion, ‘‘Institutional and corporate drivers of global talent management: Evidence from the Arab Gulf region’’ by Sidani and Al Ariss, ‘‘Talent management in China and India: A comparison of management perceptions and human resource practices’’ by Cooke, Saini and Wang, ‘‘Talent management and career development: What it takes to get promoted,’’ by Claussen, Grohsjean, Luger, and Probst, ‘‘Talent management and expatriation: Bridging two streams of research and practice’’ by Cerdin and Brewster, ‘‘Integrating global mobility and global talent management: Exploring the challenges and strategic opportunities’’ by David Collings ‘‘Generational challenges to talent management: A framework for talent retention based on the psychological-contract perspective,’’ by Festing and Scha¨fer, ‘‘The role of talentperception incongruence in effective talent management’’ by Sonnenberg, Zijderveld, and Brinks and finally ‘‘From talent management to talent optimization’’ by William Schiemann.

As a further research topic the relationship and impact of gender disparity, racial disparity, lower cadre of employees not rising to the managerial positions, fewer promotions in the technology innovation sector and immigrant employees with TM should be assessed and discussed. For establishing a theory; evaluation reports, data retrieved via assessment centres, or from observation/participation are very important. This can provide qualitative data which can be used gather statistical values. The quality of the data collected should be maintained any doubtful data should be discarded.

Social media is going to play a leading role in finding and utilising talent as Toleo and Linkedin are already doing this job. Working environment and dynamics are evolving. In this evolving environment it is the need of the hour to focus on GTM and takeout the maximum out of the workers. The requirement of talent changes at every specific time, place and situation. The term CEO can also become Chief Talent Officer as it is the job of the executives to place the individuals in positions according to their talent and capabilities.

Also, there are some questions that need to answered by the researchers such as future development of talent management, who are/are not considered to be ‘‘talent’’ by the organization, linkages between global diversity management and TM, barriers to TM in the present and future, roles HRM managers and organizational leaders might play in global TM, what theoretical bridges exist (if any) between expatriation and TM and the role of stakeholders such as corporate leaders, governments, NGOs, universities, and international institutions in shaping TM.