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Six Principles of
Effective Global Talent
Management
WINTER 2012 VOL.53 NO.2
REPRINT NUMBER 53212
Günter K. Stahl, Ingmar Björkman, Elaine Farndale, Shad S.
Morris, Jaap Paauwe, Philip Stiles, Jonathan Trevor
and Patrick Wright
Please note that gray areas reflect artwork that has been
intentionally removed. The substantive content of the ar-
ticle appears as originally published.
COURTESY OF SIEMENS
ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES facing companies all over the world is building and
sustaining a strong talent pipeline. Not only do businesses need to adjust to shifting demographics
and work force preferences, but they must also build new capabilities and revitalize their organiza-
tions — all while investing in new technologies, globalizing their operations and contending with
new competitors. What do companies operating in numerous markets need to do to attract and de-
velop the very best employees so they can be competitive globally? To learn how leading multinational
companies are facing up to the talent test, we examined both qualitative and quantitative data at lead-
ing companies from a wide range of industries all over the world. (See “About the Research,” p. 26.)
The range of talent management issues facing multinational companies today is extremely
broad. Companies must recruit and select talented people, develop them, manage their perfor-
mance, compensate and reward them and try to retain the strongest performers. Although every
organization must pay attention to each of
these areas, our research convinced us that
competitive advantage in talent management
doesn’t just come from identifying key activi-
ties (for example, recruiting and training) and
then implementing “best practices.” Rather, we
found that successful companies adhere to six
key principles: (1) alignment with strategy, (2)
internal consistency, (3) cultural embedded-
ness, (4) management involvement, (5) a
balance of global and local needs and (6) em-
ployer branding through differentiation.
How Companies Define Talent
We use the term “talent management” broadly,
recognizing that there is considerable debate
within companies about what constitutes “tal-
THE LEADING
QUESTION
What steps
can global
companies
take to ensure
that they
recruit, de-
velop and
deploy the
right people?
FINDINGS
Don’t just mimic the
practices of other
top-performing
companies.
Align talent man-
agement practices
with your strategy
and values.
Make sure your tal-
ent management
practices are consis-
tent with one
another.
Internal consistency in talent management practices — in
other words, the way a company's talent management
practices fit with each other — is key, as companies such
as Siemens recognize.
Following talent management best practices can only take you
so far. Top-performing companies subscribe to a set of principles
that are consistent with their strategy and culture.
BY GÜNTER K. STAHL, INGMAR BJÖRKMAN, ELAINE FARNDALE, SHAD S. MORRIS,
JAAP PAAUWE, PHILIP STILES, JONATHAN TREVOR AND PATRICK WRIGHT
Six Principles of Effective
Global Talent Management
LEVERAGING YOUR TALENT: TALENT MANAGEMENT
WINTER 2012 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 25
26 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW WINTER 2012 SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU
LEVERAGING YOUR TALENT: TALENT MANAGEMENT
ent” and how it should be managed.
1
(See “The
Talent Management Wheel.”)
Since the 1998 publication of McKinsey’s “ War
for Talent” study,
2
many managers have considered
talent management synonymous with human capi-
tal management. Among the companies we studied,
there were two distinct views on how best to evalu-
ate and manage talent. One group assumed that
some employees had more “value” or “potential”
than others, and that, as a result, companies should
focus the lion’s share of corporate attention and re-
sources on them; the second group had a more
inclusive view, believing that too much emphasis
on the top players could damage morale and hurt
opportunities to achieve broader gains.
The differentiated approach. Although the practice
of sorting employees based on their performance and
potential has generated criticism,
3
many companies
in our study placed heavy emphasis on high-potential
employees. Companies favoring this approach fo-
cused most of the rewards, incentives and attention
on their top talent (“A players”); gave less recog nition,
financial rewards and development attention to the
bulk of the other employ ees (“B players”); and worked
aggressively to weed out employees who didn’t meet
performance expectations and were deemed to have
little potential (“C players”).
4
This approach has
been popularized by General Electric’s “vitality
curve,” which differentiates between the top 20%,
the middle 70% and the bottom 10%. The actual
definition of “high potential” tends to vary from
company to company, but many factor in the em-
ployee’s cultural fit and values. Novartis, the Swiss
pharmaceutical company, for example, looks at
whether someone displays the key values and behav-
iors the company wants in its future leaders.
The percentage of employees included in the
high-potential group also differs across companies.
For example, Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer
products company, puts 15% of employees from
each management level in its high-potential cate-
gory each year, expecting that they will move to the
next management level within five years. Other
companies are more selective. Infosys, a global
technology services company headquartered in
Bangalore, India, limits the high-potential pool to
less than 3% of the total work force in an effort to
manage expectations and limit potential frustra-
tion, productivity loss and harmful attrition.
The inclusive approach. Some companies prefer
a more inclusive approach and attempt to address
the needs of employees at all levels of the organi-
zation.
5
For example, when asked how Shell defined
talent, Shell’s new head of talent management re-
plied, “I don’t have a definition yet. However, I can
assure you that my definition will make it possible
for any individual employed by Shell at any level to
have the potential to be considered talent.” Under
an inclusive approach, talent management tactics
used for different groups are based on an assess-
ment of how best to leverage the value that each
group of employees can bring to the company.
6
The two philosophies of talent management are
not mutually exclusive — many of the companies
we studied use a combination of both. Depending
on the specific talent pool (such as senior executive,
technical expert and early career high-potential),
there will usually be different career paths and de-
velopment strategies. A hybrid approach allows for
differentiation, and it skirts the controversial issue
of whether some employee groups are intrinsically
more valuable than others.
What We Found
As we looked at the array of talent management
practices in the 18 companies we studied, we asked
interviewees why they thought their company’s in-
dividual practices were effective and valuable. Their
responses helped us to formulate six core princi-
ples. We recognize that adopting a set of principles
rather than best practices challenges current think-
ing. But best practices are only “best” in the context
for which they were designed. The principles, on
the other hand, have broad application.
Principle 1: Alignment With Strategy
Corporate strategy is the natural starting point for
thinking about talent management. Given the com-
pany’s strategy, what kind of talent do we need? For
example, GE’s growth strategy is based on five pillars:
technological leadership, services acceleration, en-
during customer relationships, resource allocation
and globalization. But GE’s top management under-
stands that implementing these initiatives may have
ABOUT THE
RESEARCH
This paper is based on a
multiyear collaborative re-
search project on global
talent management prac-
tices and principles by an
international team of re-
searchers from INSEAD,
Cornell, Cambridge and
Tilburg universities. The
research looked at 33
multinational corporations,
headquartered in 11 coun-
tries, and examined 18
companies in depth. We
selected the case compa-
nies based on their superior
business performance and
reputations as employers,
as defined through Fortune
listings and equivalent
rankings (e.g., the “Best
Companies for Leadership”
by the Hay Group and Chief
Executive magazine).
The case study inter-
views were semi-structured,
covering questions about
the business context, talent
management practices and
HR function. We interviewed
HR professionals and man-
agers and also a sample of
executives and line manag-
ers in an effort to understand
the ways companies source,
attract, select, develop,
promote and move high-
potential employees through
the organization. A second
stage of research consisted
of a Web-based survey of
20 companies. The survey
contained items on six key
talent management practice
areas (staffing, training and
development, appraisal,
rewards, employee rela-
tions, and leadership and
succession) and the HR
delivery mechanisms
(including the use and ef-
fectiveness of outsourcing,
shared services, Web-based
HR, off-shoring and on-
shoring). Ultimately, we
received a total of 263
complete surveys from
the Americas, Asia-Pacific,
Europe, the Middle East
and Africa.
SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU WINTER 2012 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 27
less to do with strategic planning than with attract-
ing, recruiting, developing and deploying the right
people to drive the effort. According to CEO Jeffrey
Immelt, the company’s talent management system is
its most powerful implementation tool.
7
For instance,
to support a renewed focus on technological leader-
ship and innovation, GE began targeting technology
skills as a key development requirement during its
annual organizational and individual review process,
which GE calls Session C. In all business segments, a
full block of time was allocated to a review of the
business’s engineering pipeline, the organizational
structure of its engineering function and an evalua-
tion of the potential of engineering talent. In response
to Immelt’s concern that technology-oriented man-
agers were underrepresented in GE’s senior
management ranks, the Session C reviews moved
more engineers into GE’s senior executive band. Tal-
ent management practices also helped to drive and
implement GE’s other strategic priorities (for exam-
ple, establishing a more diverse and internationally
experienced management cadre).
In a similar vein, a recent survey of chief human
resource officers of large multinationals highlighted
another approach to aligning talent management
with the business strategy. One HR director wrote:
We have integrated our talent management pro-
cesses with the business planning process. As each
major business area discusses and sets their
three-year business goals, they will also be setting
their three-year human capital goals and em-
bedding those human capital goals within their
business plan. Achievement of these goals will be
tracked through our management processes.
8
Strategic flexibility is important, and organiza-
tions must be able to adapt to changing business
conditions and revamp their talent approach when
necessary. For example, Oracle, the hardware and
software systems company, found that its objective
goal-setting and performance appraisal process was
no longer adequate. Management wanted to add
some nonfinancial and behavior-based measures
to encourage people to focus on team targets, lead-
ership goals and governance. This necessitated a
significant overhaul of Oracle’s existing perfor-
mance management systems, investment in line
management capability and overall changes to the
mind-set of line managers and employees.
Principle 2: Internal Consistency
Implementing practices in isolation may not work
and can actually be counter productive. The principle
of internal consistency refers to the way the compa-
ny’s talent management practices fit with each other.
Our study shows that consistency is crucial. For ex-
ample, if an organization invests significantly in
developing and training high-potential individuals,
it should emphasize employee retention, competi-
tive compensation and career management. It also
should empower employees to contribute to the or-
ganization and reward them for initiative.
Such combinations of practices will lead to a
whole that is more than the sum of its parts. There
should also be continuity over time. As one manager
at Siemens remarked, “What gives Siemens the edge
is the monitoring of consistency between systems:
the processes and the metrics must make sense to-
gether.” For example, one Siemens division has tied
everything related to talent management together in
such a way that internal consistency among the vari-
ous HR elements is virtually guaranteed. The
division recruits 10 to 12 graduates per year, assigns
the new hires to a learning campus (a network for
THE TALENT MANAGEMENT WHEEL
The Talent Management Wheel divides the important elements of talent
management into two: talent management practices (shown in the outer
ring) and guiding principles (the inner ring). The six guiding principles apply
equally to each of the individual talent management practices.
Compensation
and Rewards
Talent
Definition
Development
and Training
Performance
Management
Retention
Recruitment
and Selection
Talent Review
Internal
Consistency
Management
Involvement
Employer
Branding
Through
Differentiation
Balancing
Global and
Local Needs
Cultural
Embeddedness
Alignment
With Strategy
Talent Management
Practices
Guiding Principles
SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU28 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW WINTER 2012
LEVERAGING YOUR TALENT: TALENT MANAGEMENT
top new graduates within the division) and assesses
them at the development center. Later, the desig-
nated employees go through a leadership quality
analysis and review procedure, including feedback
and performance appraisal, and become part of the
mentoring program led by top managers. The whole
process is continuously monitored through reviews
and linked to the company’s reward systems.
BAE Systems, the defense and security company,
places a similar emphasis on consistency. From the
time prospective managers arrive at the company, or
upon their designation as a member of the leadership
cadre, they are continuously tracked for development
purposes. Drawing upon data from 360-degree ap-
praisals, behavioral performance feedback and
executive evaluations of their input to the business
planning process, managers participate in leadership
development programs that target the specific needs
revealed by the leadership assessments.
The emphasis on consistency is also paramount
at IBM, which works hard to assure that its people
management systems are consistent across its sub-
sidiaries. To achieve this alignment, IBM combines
qualitative and quantitative data collected quarterly
to ensure that its practices are consistently intro-
duced and implemented. The company also conducts
an HR customer satisfaction survey twice a year to
learn how employees are responding to the programs
and to detect areas of employee dissatisfaction.
Principle 3: Cultural Embeddedness
Many successful companies consider their corporate
culture as a source of sustainable competitive advan-
tage. They make deliberate efforts to integrate their
stated core values and business principles into talent
management processes such as hiring methods, leader-
ship development activities, performance management
systems, and compensation and benefits programs.
9
For example, whereas companies have traditionally fo-
cused on job-related skills and experience to select
people, some multinationals we studied have expanded
their selection criteria to include cultural fit. These
companies assess applicants’ personalities and values to
determine whether they will be compatible with the
corporate culture; the assumption is that formal quali-
fications are not always the best predictors of
performance and retention, and that skills are easier to
develop than personality traits, attitudes and values.
10
IKEA, the Sweden-based furniture retailer, for ex-
ample, selects applicants using tools that focus on
values and cultural fit. Its standard questionnaire
downplays skills, experience or academic credentials
and instead explores the job applicants’ values and
beliefs, which become the basis for screening, inter-
viewing, and training and development. Later, when
employees apply internally for leadership positions,
the main focus is once again on values in an effort to
ensure consistency. IBM likewise subscribes to a
strong values-based approach to HR. Not only does
IBM hire and promote based on values; it regularly
engages employees to ensure that employee values
are consistent throughout the company. It does this
through “ValuesJam”
11
sessions and regular em-
ployee health index surveys. The jam sessions provide
time to debate and consider the fundamentals of the
values in an effort to make sure that they are not per-
ceived as being imposed from the top.
We found that a strong emphasis on cultural fit
and values was common among successful global
companies. In evaluating entry-level job applica-
tions, Infosys is willing to trade off some immediate
skill requirements for a specific job in favor of good
cultural fit, the right attitude and what it refers to as
“learnability.” In addition to evaluating the appli-
cant’s college record, Infosys puts applicants through
an analytical and aptitude test, followed by an exten-
sive interview to assess cultural fit and compatibility
with the company’s values.
Rather than selecting employees for attitude and
cultural fit, a more common approach to promoting
the organization’s core values and behavioral stan-
dards is through secondary socialization and training.
Standardized induction programs, often accompa-
nied by individualized coaching or mentoring
activities, were widely used among the companies that
we studied. We found that leading companies used
training and development not only to improve em-
ployee skills and knowledge but also to manage and
reinforce culture. For example, Samsung, the Korea-
based semiconductor and mobile phone maker, has
specifically geared its training program to provide its
employees worldwide with background on the com-
pany’s philosophy, values, management principles
and employee ethics, regardless of where the employ-
ees are located. Management’s goal is not to freeze the
existing culture but to have an effective means of sup-
The furniture retailer IKEA
selects applicants using
tools that focus on values
and cultural fit.
SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU WINTER 2012 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 29
porting change. Several years ago, Samsung’s top
management came to realize that in order to become a
design-driven company, it needed to let go of its tradi-
tional, hierarchical culture and embrace a culture that
promotes creativity, empowerment and open com-
munication. By encouraging young designers and
managers to challenge their superiors and share their
ideas more freely, it hopes to make the transition.
In addition to inculcating core values into young
leaders, successful companies often make focused ef-
forts to adapt their talent management practices to the
needs of a changing work force.
12
Consider the grow-
ing interest in healthy work-life balance. As the
number of employees seeking balance between their
personal and professional lives has increased, more
companies have begun to offer flexible working ar-
rangements in an effort to attract the best talent and
retain high-potential employees. For example, Accen-
ture, the consulting and technology services firm, has
a work-life balance program that was initially aimed
at the career challenges faced by women, but it has
since made it available to men as well; among other
things, the program features flextime, job sharing,
telecommuting and “flybacks” for people working
away from their home location.
13
The program has al-
lowed Accenture to significantly reduce its turnover
rate among women while also increasing its number
of female partners. Internal surveys show that team
productivity, job satisfaction and personal motivation
among women have improved substantially. Although
the number of companies offering such programs is
still relatively small, the ranks are growing.
Consistent with an increased emphasis on val-
ues, some companies have introduced what might
be called “values-based” performance management
systems: They assess high-potential employees not
only according to what they achieve but also on
how they reflect or exemplify shared values. BT, the
British telecommunications giant, has imple-
mented a performance management system that
looks at employees on two dimensions: the extent
to which they achieve their individual performance
objectives, and the values and behaviors they dis-
played to deliver the results. The combined ratings
influence a manager’s variable pay. Other compa-
nies, too, are realizing the importance of balancing
financial success with goals such as sustainability,
compliance or social responsibility.
Principle 4: Management
Involvement
Successful companies know that the talent manage-
ment process needs to have broad ownership — not
just by HR, but by managers at all levels, including
the CEO. Senior leaders need to be actively involved
in the talent management process and make recruit-
ment, succession planning, leadership development
and retention of key employees their top priorities.
They must be willing to devote a significant amount
of their time to these activities. A.G. Lafley, former
CEO of Procter & Gamble, claims he used to spend
one-third to one-half of his time developing talent.
He was convinced that “[n]othing I do will have a
more enduring impact on P&G’s long-term success
than helping to develop other leaders.”
14
However, that level of executive commitment is
rare. In a recent survey of chief human resource offi-
cers at U.S. Fortune 200 companies, one respondent
lamented that the most difficult aspect of the role was
creating a true sense of ownership among the se-
nior leaders regarding their roles as “chief talent
officer”; recognizing that having the right people
in critical leadership roles is not an HR thing or
responsibility, but rather, it is a business impera-
tive and must be truly owned by the leaders of
the respective businesses/functions…. Creating
this type of mindset around leadership and tal-
ent is the biggest challenge I face.
15
One of the most potent tools companies can use
to develop leaders is to involve line managers. It
means getting them to play a key role in the recruit-
ment of talent and then making them accountable
for developing the skills and knowledge of their em-
ployees. Unilever, for example, believes in recruiting
only the very best people. To make this happen, top-
level managers must make time for interviews, even
in the face of all their other responsibilities. Line
managers can contribute by acting as coaches or
mentors, providing job-shadowing opportunities
and encouraging talented employees to move around
within the organization for career development.
The responsibility for talent development extends
beyond managers. Employees need to play an active
part themselves by seeking out challenging assign-
ments, cross-functional projects and new positions.
30 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW WINTER 2012
LEVERAGING YOUR TALENT: TALENT MANAGEMENT
SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU
However, our survey finds that job rotations across
functions or business units are not very common. Al-
though HR managers in our survey saw value in job
rotations and new assignments for career develop-
ment, many companies lack the ability to implement
them. A possible explanation is the tendency of man-
agers to focus on the interests of their own units
rather than the whole organization;
16
this narrowness
may hinder talent mobility and undermine the effec-
tiveness of job rotation as a career development tool.
A McKinsey study found that more than 50% of
CEOs, business unit leaders and HR executives inter-
viewed believed that insular thinking and a lack of
collaboration prevented their talent management
programs from delivering business value.
17
Principle 5: Balance of Global
and Local Needs
For organizations operating in multiple countries, cul-
tures and institutional environments, talent
management is complicated. Companies need to figure
out how to respond to local demands while maintain-
ing a coherent HR strategy and management
approach.
18
Among the companies we studied, there
was no single strategy. For example, Oracle emphasized
global integration, with a high degree of centralization
and little local discretion. Matsushita, meanwhile, fo-
cused on responsiveness to local conditions and
allowed local operations to be highly autonomous.
A company’s decision about how much local con-
trol to allow depends partly on the industry; for
instance, consumer products need to be more attuned
to the local market than pharmaceuticals or soft-
ware.
19
Furthermore, rather than being static, a
company’s position may evolve over time in response
to internal and external pressures. Our study suggests
that many companies are moving toward greater inte-
gration and global standards while simultaneously
continuing to experience pressure to adapt and make
decisions at local levels. For example, Rolls Royce has
global standards for process excellence, suppor ted by
a global set of shared values and a global talent pool
approach for senior executives and high potentials. At
the same time, it has to comply with local institutional
demands and build local talent pools. Clearly, the
challenge for most companies is to be both global and
local at the same time. Companies need a global tem-
plate for talent management to ensure consistency but
need to allow local subsidiaries to adapt that template
to their specific circumstances.
20
Most companies in our sample have introduced
global performance standards, supported by global
leadership competency profiles and standardized
performance appraisal tools and processes. Activities
that are seen as less directly linked with the overall
strategy of the corporation and/or where local insti-
tutional and cultural considerations are viewed as
crucial (for example, training and compensation of
local staff) continue to be more at the discretion of
local management. At IBM, for example, foreign
subsidiaries have no choice about whether to use the
performance management system; it is used world-
wide with only minor adaptations. But subsidiaries
may develop other policies and practices to address
local conditions and cultural norms.
While locally adapted approaches create oppor-
tunities for diverse talent pools, they limit a
company’s ability to build on its global learning in
hiring, assessing, developing and retaining top
global talent. This requires more integration across
business units. One company in our study didn’t
coordinate hiring and development efforts across
its different divisions, so even though it had diverse
talent pools, it wasn’t able to take advantage of
cross-learning opportunities. Shell, on the other
hand, has come to embrace HR policy replication
across divisions over innovation. Companies that
find a balance between global standardization and
integration and local implementation have the best
of both worlds. They can align their talent manage-
ment practices with both local and global needs,
resulting in a deep, diverse talent pool.
Principle 6: Employer Branding
Through Differentiation
Attracting talent means marketing the corporation
to people who will fulfill its talent requirements. In
order to attract employees with the right skills and
attitudes, companies need to find ways to differenti-
ate themselves from their competitors.
21
P&G, for
example, was in one year able to attract about
600,000 applicants worldwide — of whom it hired
about 2,700 — by emphasizing opportunities for
long-term careers and promotion from within.
The companies in our study differed considerably
in how they resolve the tension between maintaining
WINTER 2012 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 31COURTESY OF SHELL
a consistent brand identity across business units
and regions and responding to local demands.
Shell, for example, uses one global brand for HR ex-
cellence and several global practices or processes
for all its businesses. The brand highlights talent as
Shell’s top priority; each business is then able to
take that global brand and apply it locally. This
means that rather than having all branding efforts
coming from corporate headquarters, each subsid-
iary receives its own resources to build the brand in
accordance with the local market demands and the
need for differentiation.
Intel takes a different approach. It positions many
of its top-level recruiters outside the United States to
ensure that the Intel brand is promoted worldwide.
For instance, Intel has recently set up a large produc-
tion facility in Vietnam. To staff the operation, the
company sent a top-level HR manager from its Cali-
fornia corporate office to build local awareness of
Intel as an employer. “Hiring top talent, no matter
where we are, is top priority for Intel,” the manager
explained. To accomplish this, Intel has become in-
volved with local governments and universities to
advance education and computer literacy. Such in-
vestments may not pay off immediately, but they put
roots in the ground in countries that see hundreds of
foreign companies come and go each year.
Infosys has also taken significant steps to in-
crease its name recognition, improve its brand
attraction and fill its talent pipeline by combining
global branding activities with efforts in local com-
munities. For example, the company initiated a
“Catch Them Young” program in India that trains
students for a month; the students are then invited
to work for Infosys on a two-month project. In
rural areas, Infosys offers computer awareness pro-
grams in local languages to help schoolchildren
become more comfortable with high-tech equip-
ment. Although not initially directed at recruitment
and branding, the program has been an effective
strategy for enlarging the pool of IT-literate and
Infosys-devoted students in India, which may even-
tually make it easier to find talented software
engineers. Infosys’s global internship program,
called InStep, however, is central to the company’s
employee branding effort: It invites students from
top universities around the world to spend three
months at the Infosys Bangalore campus. It is part
of an ongoing effort to make the company more at-
tractive to potential candidates outside of India and
to tap into the worldwide talent pool.
One way companies are trying to get an edge on
competitors in attracting talent is by stressing their
corporate social responsibility activities. Glaxo-
SmithKline, the pharmaceutical giant, offers an
excellent case in point. The company capitalizes on
its employment brand and reputation through reg-
ular news releases and media events at key
recruitment locations. Former CEO Jean-Pierre
Garnier stressed the importance of GSK’s philan-
thropic activities in increasing the attractiveness of
the company among potential recruits and provid-
ing an inspiring mission to the employees:
GSK is big in philanthropic undertakings; we
spend a lot of money with a very specific goal in
mind, such as eradicating a disease. … [O]ur
scientists, who are often very idealistic, follow
this like an adventure. It can make the difference
when they have to choose companies — they
might pick us because of the effort we make to
provide drugs to the greatest number of people
regardless of their economic status.
22
While some of the leading companies in our
study see corporate social responsibility as an inte-
gral part of their talent management and branding
activities, others consider improved brand attraction
as a welcome result of their philanthropic activities.
A Convergence of Practices
In addition to adhering to a common set of talent
management principles, leading companies follow
many of the same talent-related practices. Although
our survey showed that global corporations con-
tinue to use overall HR management systems that
align with their cultures and strategic objectives, the
companies are becoming more similar — and also
more sophisticated — in how they manage talent.
Several factors seem to be driving the convergence.
First, companies compete for the same talent pool,
especially graduates of international business schools
and top universities. Second, the trend toward greater
global integration
23
means that companies want to
standardize their approaches to talent recruitment,
development and management to ensure internal
Shell uses one global
brand for HR excellence;
each business is then
able to take that global
brand and apply it locally.
32 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW WINTER 2012 SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU
LEVERAGING YOUR TALENT: TALENT MANAGEMENT
consistency. And third, the visibility and success of
companies such as GE,
amplified by commentary by
high-profile consulting firms and business publica-
tions, have led to widespread imitation.
Yet, as we noted earlier, best practices are only
“best” when they’re applied in a given context; what
works for one company may not work in another.
Indeed, the need for alignment — internally across
practices, as well as with the strategy, culture and
external environment — has profound implica-
tions for talent management. Even with the global
convergence in terms of the practices used, compa-
nies cannot simply mimic top performers. They
need to adapt talent management practices to their
own strategy and circumstances and align them
closely with their leadership philosophy and value
system, while at the same time finding ways to dif-
ferentiate themselves from their competitors.
Multinational corporations that excel in managing
talent are likely to retain a competitive edge.
Günter K. Stahl is a professor of international manage-
ment at WU Vienna and adjunct professor of organi-
zational behavior at INSEAD. Ingmar Björkman is a
professor at Aalto University School of Economics and
Hanken School of Economics in Finland. Elaine Farndale
is an assistant professor of labor studies and employ-
ment relations at Pennsylvania State University and an
assistant professor at Tilburg University in the Nether-
lands. Shad S. Morris is an assistant professor of man-
agement and human resources at the Fisher College
of Business at Ohio State University. Jaap Paauwe is a
professor of human resources at Tilburg University and
Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Philip
Stiles is a senior lecturer at Judge Business School at the
University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Jona-
than Trevor is a lecturer in human resources and organi-
zations at the University of Cambridge. Patrick Wright is
the William J. Conaty GE Professor of Strategic HR at
Cornell University. Comment on this article at http://
sloanreview.mit.edu/x/53212, or contact the authors
at smrfeedback@mit.edu.
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Reprint 53212.
Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012.
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