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Mind the gap: line managers as effective or non‐effective talent spotters
Abstract
Due to the centrality of line managers’ role in the talent identification process, this qualitative study aims to determine what effective and non‐effective talent spotters do differently from one another in relation with an ‘ideal’ talent identification model offered by the literature. A double‐blind design was applied to the sample designated by the Corporate Talent Management Director of a Latin American multinational firm. 20 senior and middle managers, some effective and some others non‐effective, who work in different countries, participated in the study. Findings show that effective talent spotters perform three key stages of the talent identification model and they do it extremely well: differentiation of potential from performance, matching process and design of developmental challenges. The clear differentiation of potential from performance constitutes the crucial stage since a fuzzy differentiation taints the following stages. Not only is it necessary to perform these key stages but they should be executed in line with the principles of the talent management literature. Recommendations for practice, including specific guidelines for Talent Managers are proposed.
... In specific areas such as training and education [17] (p. [1][2][3][4], extensive use of digital resources is observed, with implications for the organizational environment [13] (p. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. In this dynamic landscape, the talent management process emerges as a continuous and pivotal endeavor that caters to an organization's requirements, playing a crucial role in enhancing overall business performance and maintaining competitiveness [33] (p. ...
... 123-138). However, it's worth noting that talent identification, despite its critical importance, lacks sufficient resources to attain perfection as a science [4] (p. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42], necessitating ongoing efforts to address existing challenges. ...
... [41] (p. 482-501) concluded that the main factors influencing the progress of digitalization include size, work 4 organization, workforce structure, and human resource management configuration. They emphasized the size of companies as the most determinant and consistent factor in the progress of digitalization. ...
As companies increasingly undergo digital transformation, the role of talent management pro-cesses becomes pivotal in enhancing overall organizational performance. The research addresses the significance of talent management in corporate digital transformation, examining whether variations in the digitalization of these processes can be attributed to company size. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire, collecting responses from 202 organizations across diverse sectors. Findings reveal disparities in digitalization throughout the talent man-agement process, with pronounced presence in the attracting, selecting, and rewarding phases, but diminishing in deployment and development, further declining in planning. A positive cor-relation between company size and adoption of specific digital platforms was observed. Larger enterprises exhibit greater utilization of digital platforms in talent deployment and development. Moreover, corporate communication tools are consistently utilized in the rewarding phase, irre-spective of company size. These findings offer practical insights for organizations to optimize their digitalization strategies based on their scale, thereby contributing to more effective and tailored digitalization endeavors. The uniqueness of this research lies in its exploration of the in-fluence of company size on the digitalization of talent management processes and its potential to explain variations across different stages of these processes.
... In spite of its relevance and the poor performance of line managers in the process, talent spotters' attributes have been scarcely explored in empirical studies (Blanco & Golik, 2021). To our knowledge, García-Carbonell et al, (2015) analysed how the ability to identify talent in senior teams is conditioned by their cognitive abilities and values, and Golik and Blanco (2022) examined line managers' tendency to be homophilic in the TI process. ...
... Thus, this study aims to address the required attributes in talent spotters, from their own words, to carry out an effective TI process and, to answer the call for more empirical studies on this field, taking into account the role of line managers (Gallardo-Gallardo & Thunnissen, 2016;Blanco & Golik, 2021). In practical terms, the importance granted by participants to the different attributes will allow us to propose some guidelines for the selection and training Gerencia, Año 29 No. 105. ...
... The TI process involves the identification of the performance and the potential of employees to deploy their skills and talents in a way that contributes to the improvement of corporate outcomes and the company's competitive position (Collings & Mellahi, 2009). Determining how the organization defines and assesses employees' potential constitutes a strategic decision that has a substantial impact on other talent management processes, and on corporate results (Blanco & Golik, 2021). Although a wide range of tools are used to identify potential, empirical studies reveal the pre-eminence of direct supervisors' recommendations and performance appraisals as main sources of identification. ...
Identification is a key step in the organizational talent management process. Even though evaluating potential through an objective approach, integrating multiple methods, is recommended, many organizations rely upon line manager nominations as their main sources of identification. Given their central role, this study analyses the line managers’ attributes required to carry out an effective talent identification process. This qualitative study was drawn upon social cognition (social psychology framework) and talent identification literature with a sample of 20 managers, belonging to a multinational of Argentine origin, who described their experiences and requirements as talent spotters through semi-structured interviews. Results suggest that observation skills, listening and communication skills, cognitive skills, intuition, empathy, identification as part of the managerial role, low aversion to risk, vocation, predisposition to learn, resilience, and commitment are important attributes in the identification process. The present study provides a map of the talent spotter´s attributes that are necessary to assess employees´ potential.
... have with employees (Blanco and Golik 2021; Cooke et al., 2014:226; Blass and Maxwell 2012:256). However, little is known about how LMs are involved in TM. ...
... -talent identification (e.g. Blanco and Golik 2021;Kotlyar 2018;García-Carbonell et al., 2015), and how they mediate talent performance (e.g. Kravariti et al., 2022). ...
... Studies that have been conducted do not provide a holistic understanding of the topic, mainly due to, (1) their focus on LMs' involvement in HRM decentralisation , and (2) their focus on a single TM practice (e.g. talent identification) which limits our insight on whether the extent of involvement is the same across TM practices or varies from one practice to another (Blanco and Golik 2021). Excluding the work of Hirsh (2015), who attempted to account for the extent of LMs' involvement in TM, prominent research lacks in examining the extent to which LMs are involved in TM (CIPD 2016;Voxted 2019;Bratton and Watson 2018). ...
Purpose - Line Managers (LMs) are a critical stakeholder in the success of talent management (TM ) activities due to the frequent and close interactions that they have with employees (Blanco and Golik 2021; Cooke et al., 2014:226; Blass and Maxwell 2012:256). However, little is known about how LMs are involved in TM. This paper aims to examine the involvement of LMs in TM at a Case Study Organisation.
Design/methodology/approach - Our findings draw on an embedded single case study using 47 in-depth semi-structured interviews with multi-stakeholders (e.g., LMs, Human Resources Department (HRD) staff, senior management, and the Staff Representative Council (SRC), Supervisors, officers). The interviews were supported by the analysis of secondary data, for example, documentation.
Findings - The study found that the Case Study Organisation managed its talent using a hybrid TM philosophy comprising an exclusive strategic position TM philosophy and an inclusive self-initiated talent development TM philosophy. Consistent with the hybrid TM philosophy, LMs initiated TM processes, proposed TM decisions, implemented TM decisions, and acquired TM expertise. In terms of coverage, LMs were more involved in TM since they performed several operational tasks (e.g., initiating TM processes and implementing TM decisions) in several TM practices such as talent acquisition and identification, talent development, performance management, and merit pay. In terms of depth, the involvement of LMs in TM was moderate because their involvement was limited to proposing decisions across TM practices. This was supported by a moderate acquisition of TM expertise as the LMs’ TM training had mixed reviews.
Limitation - The findings are limited to the Case Study Organisation as the study adopted a single case study.
Originality/value - Theoretical - We respond to calls by several scholars for an in-depth study on LMs’ involvement in TM within different national and industrial contexts (Gallardo-Gallardo and Thunnissen 2016; Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2020; Kravariti et al., 2022). We attained this by providing insight on the coverage and depth of LMs’ involvement in TM in a Case Study Organisation.
Methodology – By drawing our findings on an embedded single case study, we respond to the call by Cooke (2018:11) and Cooke et al., (2022) for in-depth human-centered qualitative research. Finally, we respond to the call by Gallardo- Gallardo et al., (2020:463) for multi-stakeholders perspectives studies on LMs’ involvement in TM.
Keywords: Line Managers (LM), Talent Management (TM), Human Resource Management (HRM), Banking, Malawi.
... Potential is not reflected solely on somebody's action and demonstrated behaviour but also on the managers' ability to perceive that those traits are indicative of potential and to nurture them into future performance (Dominick & Gabriel, 2009;Golik & Blanco, 2021). However, it is believed that some managers may not be skilful enough to comprehensively understand the definition of potential and its assessment or rely solely on their subjective judgement (Blanco & Golik, 2021). ...
... Potential is not reflected solely on somebody's action and demonstrated behaviour but also on the managers' ability to perceive that those traits are indicative of potential and to nurture them into future performance (Dominick & Gabriel, 2009;Golik & Blanco, 2021). However, it is believed that some managers may not be skilful enough to comprehensively understand the definition of potential and its assessment or rely solely on their subjective judgement (Blanco & Golik, 2021). Therefore, a more centralized approach would be needed for talent identification through the potential to overcome this challenge. ...
Although talent is considered imperative for gaining a competitive advantage, talent management programs’ effectiveness is unknown. It is believed that consensus on a strong theoretical underpinning for identifying talent and its general definition is yet to be achieved among academia and practitioners. This lack of integration and agreement on a single definition among scholars lead to more confusion which inhibits the advancement of talent management scholarship. The notion also requires renewed attention in the post-pandemic era because everything may not go back to normal as pre-pandemic. This study addresses the gap and focuses on reviewing the existing scholarship on talent definitions and its conceptualization in one place. The study also aims to present the potential implications of talent definition on talent management practices. Among the various implications discussed, it is argued that a single approach to talent definition makes the company vulnerable as it is not using the full potential of talent management. Finally, based on this in-depth review, the study will highlight potential critical research areas towards which the scholarship of talent may be extended.
... 123-138). However, it is worth noting that talent identification, despite its critical importance, lacks sufficient resources to attain perfection as a science [9] (pp. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42], necessitating ongoing efforts to address existing challenges. ...
Citation: Martínez-Morán, P.C.; Díez, F.; Solabarrieta, J.; Fernández-Rico, J.M.; Igoa-Iraola, E. Talent Management Digitalization and Company Size as a Catalyst. Systems 2024, 12, 168. Abstract: As companies increasingly undergo digital transformation, the role of talent management processes becomes pivotal in enhancing overall organizational performance. The objective of this research is to assess the extent to which greater digitalization in the talent management process is linked to company size. The research has addressed four research questions in order to explore the significance of talent management in corporate digital transformation, examining whether variations in the digitalization of these processes can be attributed to company size. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire, and collecting responses from 202 organizations across diverse sectors. The findings reveal disparities in digitalization throughout the talent management process, with pronounced presence in the attracting, selecting, and rewarding phases, but diminishing in deployment and development, and further declining in planning. A positive correlation between company size and the adoption of specific digital platforms was observed. Larger enterprises exhibit greater utilization of digital platforms in talent deployment and development. Moreover, corporate communication tools are consistently utilized in the rewarding phase, irrespective of company size. These findings offer practical insights for organizations aiming to optimize their digitalization strategies based on their scale, thereby contributing to more effective and tailored digitalization endeavours. The uniqueness of this research lies in its exploration of the influence of company size on the digitalization of talent management processes and its potential to explain variations across different stages of these processes.
This chapter delves into the evolving landscape of accountability in higher education, emphasizing the critical role of strategic talent development in student affairs. It traces the historical transformation of universities from exclusive centers of learning to pivotal institutions driving workforce development and societal progress. In response to heightened scrutiny from stakeholders, the chapter advocates for integrating talent management strategies to align institutional capabilities with external expectations. By fostering cultural alignment, leadership development, and mentoring programs, higher education institutions can navigate compliance challenges effectively, ensuring they remain adaptable, mission-driven, and committed to student success in a complex regulatory environment.
Effective identification of talent is a central element of talent management. Talk of talent often involves two distinct, yet interrelated dimensions: performance and potential. The talent management literature has however provided limited consideration both conceptually and empirically concerning the delimitation between these two dimensions. This paper looks to address this by examining how the talent construct is operationalised in practice. It considers two key research questions; what indicators of performance and potential are applied by key organisational stakeholders in discerning what talent is? What factors impact talent designation? We adopt a multilevel case study design encompassing 73 interviews with senior organisational leaders in three multinational hotel corporations. Our findings demonstrate that the dimensions of high performance and high potential were commonly spoken about when referring to talent. However, there was a substantial lack of clarity around potential with a conflation between it and performance common. Moreover, mobility emerged as a critical contextual factor in being labelled as talent or not. The paper contributes to talent management scholarship by providing a more nuanced approach in understanding how talent is enacted in practice in an underexplored empirical context.
Purpose
In line with recent trends in the human resource management literature that address talented employees and their management, the purpose of this paper is to examine the associations between talent philosophies (innate/developable and exclusive/inclusive) and the way talent is identified and assessed in the context of service organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire was administered in shipping companies located in Greece and 125 questionnaires suitable for further use were collected. Moreover, the measurement instruments of the constructs under examination were adopted from relevant studies in the literature. Finally, the data were analysed through exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis.
Findings
The findings showed that the different talent philosophies impact upon the way talent is managed (i.e. identified and assessed). Specifically it was found that managers who adopt mainly innate and exclusive talent philosophies tend to rely more on their first impressions in the identification of talent and to focus in a greater extent on their personal judgment rather than standardized procedures in talent assessment.
Originality/value
Despite the increased academic voices on exploring the concepts of talent and talent management in the context of business organisations, the field is still lacking empirical evidence. Therefore, this study contributes to the limited empirical studies on talent issues and provides evidence on the links between the dominant talent philosophies and the way talent is identified and assessed in organisations.
Talent Management (TM) is a hot topic among both practitioners and scholars, but it still has to overcome some important limitations. Studies have been overly unitarist and managerialist in their orientation, and we still know little about how local contextual factors relate to TM, especially with regards to one of the most critical aspects of any TM system, i.e. talent identification. This research, which adopted a qualitative case study including data from interviews, observations and documents, studied how talent identification unfolded in practice at both the headquarters (HQ) and a subsidiary of a large Swedish organization. By drawing on the institutional logics perspective, we suggest that the way in which organizational actors conduct their talent identification is grounded in the logic they enact and make use of. Attention is thus focused on how the cultural norms, symbols and practices of different institutional orders are incorporated into the identification of talent. Having identified competing institutional logics at the HQ and the subsidiary, we also suggest that this is a credible explanation for the discrepancy between intended and actual HR practices. The findings are in contrast with previous research, which suggests that self-interest, ad hoc approaches, and a lack of skills nested in talent identification are underlying causes of differences in how talent identification is conducted.
Purpose
Driven by a shortage of leadership capacity, companies are seeking to identify leadership talent earlier. Some companies are introducing programs to identify leadership potential among university students and then hire “high potentials” directly into management designate roles. The purpose of this paper is to explore one such early-stage leadership development program. Currently, little information is available about these initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
Case study based on interviews with 18 managers and director of HR and archival employee records.
Findings
This case study provides a detailed description of an early-stage leadership identification and development program. This program has been developed to identify leadership talent among senior university students prior to hiring and onboarding, provide support, training and development and fast-track them into leadership positions. The study provides insight into the challenges and effectiveness of an early-stage leadership program and offers some practical implications.
Originality/value
To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to document a leadership development program that identifies “high potentials” among university students for the purpose of developing them into company leaders.
Despite the growing amount of academic and practitioner literature in the field of talent management, ‘talent’ is not defined in organizations in a consistent manner. This is arguably one of the factors leading to the variable success of talent management. A way to define talent, introduced in this chapter, uses a formula comprising three components: competence, commitment, and contribution. The components are multiplicative not additive such that if one of them is small, then the overall product will also be small. Furthermore, the three components are divided into two time dimensions (present/future) to allow the inclusion of, for example, the future business needs of the organization and the notion of ‘potential’.
The deliberate identification of talent is a critical process in most organizations. Performance ratings and senior management recommendations are its main sources, revealing the importance of line managers in the process. Nevertheless, some managers do have a talent for talent spotting and little is known about their behaviours as effective talent spotters. We explore, through social cognition, as part of the social psychology framework, the practices required to execute the talent identification process (TIP). An exploratory and qualitative method was adopted for this study; 21 line managers of an Argentine holding describe their experiences as talent spotters through semi-structured interviews. Findings show that the identification process is a complex and iterative one, in which several behaviours come into play, interrelated among each other. This interaction involves talent identification and talent development behaviours, deployed in a synergetic way. The relationship building behaviours set the foundations for the identification process to bear fruit. Distinct skills are necessary at different stages of the identification process for line managers to fulfil the talent spotter role. Finally, a model of the TIP is proposed.
La identificación de potencial: análisis comparativo entre las empresas locales y multinacionales radicadas en Argentina Resumen La identificación del potencial constituye la piedra angular de la estrategia de gestión del talento. Esta implica numerosas decisiones: definir qué es talento, como está compuesto así como los métodos utilizados para identificarlo. Sin embargo, su práctica no está expandida y consolidada en gran parte de las organizaciones. La problemática en el caso argentino permanece poco explorada. El objetivo del estudio es investigar los componentes de potencial y las herramientas de identificación utilizadas por las empresas de capital argentino y las filiales de Multinacionales (MNCs) en el país. Para ello, se utilizó un cuestionario estandarizado construido a partir de los aportes de Pepermans et al. 61 nacionales y 42 MNCs. Los componentes más utilizados por ambos tipos de empresas son las habilidades de liderazgo (77,7%), las habilidades cognitivas (64,1%) y las variables de personalidad (55,3%). Las habilidades de liderazgo son el componente con mayor presencia en ambos tipos de empresas, identificándose diferencias significativas en las variables de personalidad y en el desempeño histórico. El proceso de identificación descansa, mayoritariamente en la opinión del jefe directo en ambos grupos. No obstante, el grado de validación por parte del jefe del jefe es mayor en las MNCs. Las MNCs utilizan una mayor cantidad y variedad de herramientas de identificación. En las empresas nacionales, se observa una fuerte impronta del jefe directo (82%) en el proceso de identificación, mientras que en las MNCs el uso de test de capacidades cognitivas y de inventarios de personalidad es mayor. Se observaron diferencias significativas en el uso de inventarios de personalidad y test de capacidades cognitivas (mayor en las MNCs).
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle With the recognition of the strategic role of talent in organizations comes an interest in effectively fi nding, building, and leveraging talent. This has led to a huge talent industry that provides programs and services in talent recruiting, selection, development, assessment, compensation, and retention. Talent has become the lifeblood of organizations. It is often seen as a primary reason for organizational success and failure and the key source of competitive advantage. As organizations spend more time and resources on talent, interest in identifying and developing the needed talent inside the organization has been growing. For many organizations, this means trying to determine what talent already exists in the organization and which employees have the potential to be effective in larger roles.
Purpose: An organisation’s management of talent is central to its opportunity to benefit from human capital (HC). Closer examination of the impact of strategic talent management (STM) on the psychological contract (PC) and employee organisation relationship of talented employees is imperative if STM is to achieve intended organisational performance outcomes. Conceptualising the talented-employee perception of exchange as the “talent deal” and experience of STM over time as the “talent journey”, an empirical research model is introduced. The paper aims to discuss these issue.
Design/methodology/approach: The model examines employee perceptions of STM, locating the employee response to STM within the wider SHRM-performance linkage.
Findings: The research model theorises the PC of talented employees is modified by talent identification and STM is experienced through a series of significant career events.
Research limitations/implications: Further developing theory within the emerging field of STM, the paper extends STM, SHRM and organisational behaviour literatures by considering the employee’s psychological response to STM. Empirical study considerations are presented.
Practical implications: The “talent deal” and “talent journey” illustrate the employee experience of STM, drawing management attention to the consequences of talent identification including potential risk of altered expectations.
Originality/value: Considering the employee centrally in STM, the model theorises the impact of STM on the talented employee’s PC and their relationship. Introducing the talent deal and talent journey provides a lens to examine the attitudes of talented employees relative to the broader workforce. The model frames future multi-level research of the association between the “Talent Deal” and performance outcomes.
The assessment and development of leadership potential in organizations is a critical factor in an effective talent management strategy. Given the business environment, war for talent, and greater involvement from Boards of Directors on succession planning many organizations have prioritized their high-potential identification practices over other human capital goals. Although much has been written about theories and tools in the area of high-potential assessment, there remains little independent guidance for practitioners looking to compare practices across organizational settings. This article represents a follow-up study to Church and Rotolo (2013) based on responses from 80 top leadership development companies on their high-potential and senior executive talent programs and assessment practices. The results of this more in-depth study focus on how organizations define leadership potential, content domains being assessed today, and various other design elements including degree of transparency of high-potential labels, shelf-life of assessments, talent distributions, and access to results. Attitudes toward assessments, including performance impact, are also discussed. The article concludes with summary observations and implications for industrial- organizational psychologists, consulting psychologists, and talent management professionals.
The challenges associated with managing talent in modern labor markets are a constant source of discussion among academics and practitioners, but the literature on the subject is sparse and has grown somewhat haphazardly. We provide an overview of the literature on talent management-a body of work that spans multiple disciplines-as well as a clear statement as to what defines talent management. The new themes in contemporary talent management focus on (a) the challenge of open labor markets, including issues of retention as well as the general challenge of managing uncertainty, (b) new models for moving employees across jobs within the same organization, and (c) strategic jobs for which investments in talent likely show the greatest return. We review the conceptual and practical literature on these topics, outline the evolution of talent management over time, and present new topics for future research.
Thematic analysis is widely used in qualitative psychology research, and in this article, we present a particular style of thematic analysis known as Template Analysis. We outline the technique and consider its epistemological position, then describe three case studies of research projects which employed Template Analysis to illustrate the diverse ways it can be used. Our first case study illustrates how the technique was employed in data analysis undertaken by a team of researchers in a large-scale qualitative research project. Our second example demonstrates how a qualitative study that set out to build on mainstream theory made use of the a priori themes (themes determined in advance of coding) permitted in Template Analysis. Our final case study shows how Template Analysis can be used from an interpretative phenomenological stance. We highlight the distinctive features of this style of thematic analysis, discuss the kind of research where it may be particularly appropriate, and consider possible limitations of the technique. We conclude that Template Analysis is a flexible form of thematic analysis with real utility in qualitative psychology research.
Despite the increasing academic interest, the human resource management formulation process still remains unclear. Building on human capital and talent management literatures, this study investigates how top management teams identify critical human resources. The proposed model explores how top management teams’ ability to identify core employees is conditioned by two human capital attributes of their members (cognitive skills and value orientation). The empirical analysis developed confirms the influence of human capital. Nevertheless, results only provide partial support to our hypotheses, showing that the identification of critical human resources is more complex than theoretically assumed. The estimation of the proposed model shows that, to efficiently develop this process, top management teams require the combination of rational and creative skills, as well as a collectivistic orientation. The implications of this conclusion for both academics and practitioners are discussed in the paper, as well as the limitations of the study.
Building on two studies, the current article responds to urgent calls in the literature for more empirical research on how to identify leadership potential. Based on an extensive review of the 1986–2010 literature, and applying a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, we developed a model of leadership potential consisting of four quadrants: Analytical skills (containing the factors Intellectual curiosity, Strategic insight, Decision making, and Problem solving); Learning agility (containing the factors Willingness to learn, Emotional intelligence, and Adaptability); Drive (containing the factors Results orientation, Perseverance, and Dedication); and Emergent leadership (containing the factors Motivation to lead, Self‐promotion, and Stakeholder sensitivity). Notably, the developed model steers clear from some of the typical issues that tend to hinder valid assessments of leadership potential (i.e., the confound between performance and potential, as well as that between leadership potential and successful, mature leadership). Furthermore, high consensus was found between top managers, line managers, and HR managers about the practical relevance of the proposed model. The article concludes with some specific future avenues for research and practice. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mental models are personal, internal representations of external reality that people use to interact with the world around them. They are constructed by individuals based on their unique life experiences, perceptions, and understandings of the world. Mental models are used to reason and make decisions and can be the basis of individual behaviors. They provide the mechanism through which new information is filtered and stored. Recognizing and dealing with the plurality of stakeholder's perceptions, values, and goals is currently considered a key aspect of effective natural resource management (NRM) practice. Therefore, gaining a better understanding of how mental models internally represent complex, dynamic systems and how these representations change over time will allow us to develop mechanisms to enhance effective management and use of natural resources. Realizing this potential, however, relies on developing and testing adequate tools and techniques to elicit these internal representations of the world effectively. This paper provides an interdisciplinary synthesis of the literature that has contributed to the theoretical development and practical application of the mental model construct. It explores the utility and applicability of the construct in the context of NRM and includes a review of elicitation techniques used within the field. The major theoretical and practical challenges that arise in drawing on the construct to provide a cognitive dimension to NRM are also addressed.
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a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t The ongoing confusion about the meaning of 'talent' within the world of work is hindering the establishment of widely accepted talent management theories and practices. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature on talent management by offering an in-depth review of the talent concept within the specific context of the world of work, and proposing a framework for its conceptualization. We group different theoretical approaches to talent into 'object' (i.e., talent as natural ability; talent as mastery; talent as commitment; talent as fit) versus 'subject' approaches (i.e., talent as all people; talent as some people) and identify dynamics existing within and between them, as well as implications for talent management theory and practice. Finally, we discuss different avenues for further research aimed at developing the talent—and consequently, the talent management—construct further.
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Across six different streams of the literature (i.e., HRM; I/O psychology; educational psychology; vocational psychology; positive psychology; social psychology) we identify a number of discrepancies (i.e., between practitioner and academic interest; between talent management discourse and practice), theoretical perspectives (i.e., talent as capital; talent as individual difference; talent as giftedness; talent as identity; talent as strength; and talent as the perception of talent), tensions (i.e., object–subject; inclusive–exclusive; innate–acquired; input–output; transferable–context-dependent), and assumptions (i.e., about intuition versus data; about the effects of being labeled 'talented'; about the effects of differential treatment) which we argue can serve as a basis for theory building, methodological advances, and new empirical work. With this review, we hope to join a growing group of talent management scholars pushing to make the transition from a growing into a mature field of study, characterized by widely accepted theoretical frameworks and research designs, and supported by the scholarly community.
Challenging experiences are considered important for career development, and previous studies have suggested that women have fewer o f those experiences in their jobs than men have. However, the nature and possible determinants of this gender gap in job challenge have hardly been empirically studied. In the present study, the authors examine (a) gender differences in individuals’ choice to perform challenging tasks and (b) gender differences in the allocation of challenging tasks in opposite-sex dyads. Results show that the men and women in the sample did not differ in their individual choice to perform challenging tasks, but after task allocation in opposite-sex dyads men ended up with more of the challenging tasks, whereas women ended up with more of the nonchallenging tasks. The authors discuss the possible consequences of these results for women’s career development.
Organizations today are increasingly focused on talent as a strategic asset and a competitive advantage for achieving business success. As a result, most major organizations have recognized the need for and outlined a formal process to identify and assess high-potential talent. There is, however, little agreement within or between organizations on the definition and components of the concept of potential. The existing definitions and models of potential are often narrowly focused on only a few select factors and give little attention to the broad spectrum of potential talent in an organization. This article introduces a new integrated model of potential that incorporates previous literature and current assessment practice regarding high potentials, provides a coherent structure of potential, and is reflective of a variety of different talent pools. The model provides a useful method for answering the key question—Potential for what? Three key components of potential are described by the model: (a) foundational dimensions, (b) growth dimensions, and (c) career dimensions. Implications for assisting organizations in more effectively managing their high potential talent for strategic business objectives are discussed.
(from the chapter) provide a comprehensive overview of the methodological issues encountered in cross-cultural [psychological] research / focus on data sets that are comparative in nature / most studies of this type involve data from at least 2 cultural groups, but some studies are monocultural / we see the process of conducting cross-cultural research as composed of 3 important steps / describes specific issues . . . such as quasi-experimentation / deals with the analysis of cross cultural data / reviews the main issues in the methodology and analysis of 4 common types of cross-cultural studies / encourage cross-cultural researchers to place more emphasis on methods and data analysis to improve the effectiveness of their studies / dispel the myth that methodological and statistical sophistication is an obstacle or a distraction in the research enterprise (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)
Purpose – A survey study was conducted in seven best practice organizations in the field of talent management. By cross-checking their existing high potential lists, the authors aimed to examine to which extent assessments of learning agility were able to predict being identified as a high potential or not above and beyond a baseline prediction by job performance. Furthermore, they aimed to investigate whether learning agility increased with career variety.
Design/methodology/approach – The study had a case-control design, comparing supervisor ratings of employees recently identified as high potentials (n=32) with supervisor ratings of a carefully matched control group of non-high potentials (n=31).
Findings – Learning agility (mediated by job content on-the-job learning) was found to be a better predictor of being identified as a high potential than job performance. Career variety was found to be positively associated to learning agility.
Research limitations/implications – This study's design did not allow for the demonstration of causal effects. Longitudinal studies are needed to further clarify the causality of these findings and their implications for organizational performance.
Practical implications – Organizations should do well to incorporate measures of learning agility into their high potential identification and development processes. Furthermore, they need to reflect on how HRM practices might enhance their high potentials' career variety and commitment.
Originality/value – The current study responds to urgent calls in the literature for more empirical research on the identification and development of high potentials, as well as on career variety.
Organizational talent management has been widely recognized as a key driver of firm performance. Existing theoretical and empirical work in the domain has drawn on Social Exchange Theory to suggest that talent management affects organizational performance by eliciting positive reactions such as high organizational commitment and work effort among the firm's most high performing and high potential employees (i.e., talented employees). While this work has produced valuable insights, it has largely neglected the active role talented employees may play in gaining access to and in capitalizing on talent-management practices. The present manuscript aims to close this gap by integrating the concept of proactive behavior into talent-management theorizing. To this end, the manuscript presents a new conceptual model incorporating three potential relationships between talent proactive behavior and talent management. This model points out relevant avenues for future research in the talent-management domain.
en As high‐performing employees with high potential (or superstars) are rare in the workplace, practitioners often face a performance–potential trade‐off when deciding who to promote. We use regulatory focus theory as a framework to examine whether Canadian managers (n = 58) and human resource (HR) professionals (n = 121) show a preference for performance or potential when making near‐term promotion recommendations. We show that respondents generally had a preference for performance versus potential when making their recommendations, and HR professionals versus managers accorded greater weight to potential. We discuss the implications of the relative emphasis on performance versus potential in promotion recommendations and when this may contribute to organizational inefficiencies.
Résumé
fr Comme les employés à haute performance et au potentiel élevé (ou les superstars) sont rares dans le milieu du travail, les praticiens doivent souvent faire face à un compromis entre le potentiel et la performance lorsqu'ils décident qui promouvoir. Nous utilisons la théorie de la réglementation pour déterminer si les gestionnaires canadiens (n = 58) et les professionnels en ressources humaines (RH; n = 121) favorisent la performance ou le potentiel lorsqu'ils font des recommandations de promotion à court terme. Nous montrons que les personnes interrogées préféraient généralement la performance par rapport au potentiel lors de la formulation de leurs recommandations. Nous montrons également que les professionnels en ressources humaines, comparés aux gestionnaires, accordaient une plus grande importance au potentiel. Nous discutons des implications de l'accent mis sur le rendement par rapport au potentiel dans les recommandations de promotion et des cas où cela pourrait contribuer à des carences organisationnelles.
Rev.& expanded from Case study research in education,1988.Incl.bibliographical references,index
We propose an integrated model of leadership potential, the high potential designation process, and leader success that is intended to clarify the theoretical and practical relationships among these concepts. Drawing on research in the areas of social judgment and cognition, cognitive abilities, personality, leadership development, and motivation and on practice-oriented observations and writings, we propose a process model of potential, the designation of individuals as high potential, and the antecedent and moderating variables that combine to impact success. We conclude that by using this model we can understand better the individual, social, and organizational factors that impact potential and the high potential identification process, and help develop more successful leaders and organizations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
This paper applies a social constructivist lens to understand more about the ways in which technology shapes our understanding of talent management, in particular the processes of talent identification. Specifically, it examines similarities and differences in the identification of talent across a range of business units at a large professional services firm. The findings show that while objective evaluations of talent based on data and information were possible using talent-related technology, managers had subjective and widely different understandings of what constituted talent at the organisation and how to go about identifying it. These different understandings, based on organisational context, personal attitudes, behaviours and past experiences, determined the ways in which the technology and the information it yielded was used. We conclude that the full potential of the talent-related technology and the talent identification processes were unrealised. We discuss the implications of these findings for HR and the management of talent more generally.
There is increasing recognition that identifying leadership potential is vital for long-term organizational survival. Using a sample of 166 Australian public service employees, and their 149 managers, this article empirically examines the role of general mental ability, problem-solving skill, emotional intelligence, employee engagement and career aspiration in identifying leadership potential. Both manager and employee self-ratings of leadership potential perceptions are considered as well as the presence of rater effects. Manager perceptions about problem-solving ability, engagement and aspiration predicted their ratings of employee future leadership potential. Employee self-ratings, apart from aspiration, did not. Rater effects were found. We discuss the implications of these results and suggest some strategies to more closely align managerial and employee views of leadership potential.
In this commentary, we explore what might be gained by defining potential as a more emergent and interactive entity as opposed to understanding it as something that only resides within a person. Not unlike the proverbial question about the sound a falling tree makes if no one is around to hear it, one might also ask, “What is potential that goes unrecognized or unacknowledged?” In other words, potential exists not just because of what an individual (an actor) does or does not do, but often (although not exclusively) because of someone else’s (an observer’s) capacity to perceive their actions as indicative of potential and their power to help nurture it into performance.
The term, "schema," used largely as a descriptive convenience rather than a theoretical guidepost in social psychology is examined through an analysis of its development, function, and structure. This paper articulates a model of schema development in adults by defining a schema as a representation of some stimulus domain and a set of rules or plans for processing incoming material and drawing inferences from that material. Data and impressions regarding the four stages of schema development are presented, paralleling the developmental stages that children go through in acquiring grammar and lexical concept. Since few studies have looked beyond a linear relationship between schema processing and expertise, the issue of multiple stages is identified as an area for future research efforts. (Author/CS)
We highlight important differences between twenty‐first‐century organizations as compared with those of the previous century, and offer a critical review of the basic principles, typical applications, general effectiveness, and limitations of the current staffing model. That model focuses on identifying and measuring job‐related individual characteristics to predict individual‐level job performance. We conclude that the current staffing model has reached a ceiling or plateau in terms of its ability to make accurate predictions about future performance. Evidence accumulated over more than 80 years of staffing research suggests that general mental abilities and other traditional staffing tools do a modest job of predicting performance across settings and jobs considering that, even when combined and corrected for methodological and statistical artifacts, they rarely predict more than 50% of the variance in performance. Accordingly, we argue for a change in direction in staffing research and propose an expanded view of the staffing process, including the introduction of a new construct, in situ performance, and an expanded view of staffing tools to be used to predict future in situ performance that take into account time and context. Our critical review offers a novel perspective and research agenda with the goal of guiding future research that will result in more useful, applicable, relevant, and effective knowledge for practitioners to use in organizational settings.