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The shifting boundaries of talent management

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Human Resource Management
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SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
The shifting boundaries of talent management
The effective management of talent is one of the great challenges of
our time, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that has
resulted in significant changes in how and where we work and that
are likely to endure over time across the globe (Caligiuri, De Cieri,
Minbaeva, Verbeke, & Zimmermann, 2020; Collings, Nyberg,
McMackin, & Wright, in press). In the global context, Collings, Mellahi,
and Cascio (2019) defined talent management as the (a) systematic
identification of pivotal positions that differentially contribute to an
organization's sustainable competitive advantage on a global scale,
(b) development of a talent pool of high-potential and high-performing
incumbents who reflect the global scope of the MNE to fill these
roles, and (c) establishment of a differentiated HR architecture to fill
these roles with the best available incumbents to ensure their contin-
ued commitment to the MNE.
It has been over two decades since a group of McKinsey consul-
tants (see Michaels, Handfield-Jones, & Axelrod, 2001) heralded the
War for Talent, which marked the emergence of talent management as
adistinct area of focus for organizational leaders and human resource
professionals alike. However, the earliest roots of talent management
can be traced to the 1960s and 1970s, when the need for a deeper,
more comprehensive understanding of cross-cultural issues, expatriate
management, and the effectiveness of differentiated management prac-
tices were first mentioned in the academic literature (Cascio &
Boudreau, 2016). The majority of academic interest in the topic, how-
ever, has been more recent, particularly over the past decade (Al Ariss,
Cascio, & Paauwe, 2014; Collings, Mellahi, & Cascio, 2017; Collings,
Scullion, & Vaiman, 2015; Gallardo-Gallardo, Nijs, Dries, & Gallo, 2015;
McDonnell, Collings, Mellahi, & Schuler, 2017). To a large extent, this
interest may be explained by the widening gap between job demands
and the skills available in the labor market. The phenomenon of talent
management also remains a key area of interest for practitioners, with
many struggling to deliver on the talent agenda in their own firms
(Charan, Barton, & Carey, 2018; PWC, 2019).
To be sure, the landscape has shifted significantly since the late
1990s, when McKinsey consultants began their research that led to
their conclusion of an ongoing War for Talent.However, many of
the same challenges they identified have reemerged after the
20072009 recession, including tight labor markets, more complex
talent demands in terms of global business acumen, more complex
technology and organizational structures, and increasing job mobility.
According to a recent survey conducted for the Society for Human
Resource Management's Global Mobility and Immigration Sympo-
sium (2020), 85% of respondents believe that global talent is needed
to meet business needs, 40% of HR professionals struggle to find can-
didates to staff their global teams, and 75% say foreign-born workers
drive growth and innovation. However, additional complexity comes
from four key factors that will fundamentally change the dynamics of
contemporary talent management.
It is difficult to begin any discussion on the future of talent man-
agement without considering the impact of COVID-19.
1
Although at
the time of writing (October 2020) it has been only 7 months since
the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, the impact
of the pandemic on work and employment in general has been
unprecedented in modern times (Caligiuri et al., 2020; Collings &
McMackin, 2020; Kniffin et al., 2020). There is little doubt that many
of these changes, such as reshaping world trade (Schlesinger, 2020),
will endure. The impact on talent management will be significant as
well. While a thorough review of all current and potential impacts is
beyond the scope of the current article, we highlight some examples
of how the pandemic will likely affect the context of talent manage-
ment. A first key impact is a shift in where work is done, with a signifi-
cant increase in the extent of working from home (WFH), initially as a
means of protecting employee wellbeingphysical, emotional, and
financial. For example, Bank of America's, 2020 workplace benefits
report (Bank of America, 2020) reveals that 62% of employers feel
extreme responsibility for their employees' financial wellness, up from
13% in 2013. Fully 83% of employers believe that financial wellness
tools lead to greater productivity. It looks highly likely that many
employers will reevaluate their polices on WFH long-term, resulting in
a larger percentage of employees spending at least some of their time
WFH. As a senior executive at KPMG recently noted: Companies
worldwide enabled remote workforces nearly overnight, and what
started as an extraordinary pilot is now considered permanent in
many organizations' operating models(Huffman, 2020).
From a talent perspective, this creates opportunities in terms of
more flexible working arrangements and the potential to access more
geographically diverse talent pools. Staffing firm Robert Half, for
instance, reported that 53% of senior managers hired new full-time or
temporary staff remotely during the pandemic. Of those, 75% con-
ducted remote interviews and onboarding sessions, 61% advertised
fully remote jobs, and 60% expanded their search geographically to
access a wider pool of potential talent (Robert Half, 2020). A key chal-
lenge will be creating opportunities for collaboration and connection
in spatially distributed workforces (Caligiuri et al., 2020; Kniffin
et al., 2020). Ensuring that employees who are located remotely are
not disadvantaged in selection for talent programs is another issue
organizations will need to resolve in the future. For example, Bloom,
Liang, Roberts, and Ying's (2015) research on Chinese call centers indi-
cates that those who work remotely are less likely to be selected for
promotion compared to colleagues who are based in the office.
DOI: 10.1002/hrm.22050
Hum Resour Manage. 2021;60:253257. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrm © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 253
The pandemic has also challenged organizations to reorient their
key talent-development programs (Collings & McMackin, 2020). For
example, these programs have typically emphasized face-to-face net-
working as a core element of the curriculum. This has been shelved in
the short-term as delivery shifted to a virtual format. That shift, how-
ever, has resulted in more cohorts, as programs that were traditionally
delivered regionally are now delivered on a more global basis. Other
organizations have embraced the crisis as an opportunity to use key
projects emerging from the crisis as learning opportunities for top tal-
ent (Collings & McMackin, 2020). Yet another challenge, given the
lethal threat that COVID-19 presents, is succession planning
(Cascio, 2020). If leaders get sick or become incapacitated, successors
need to be found across all aspects of operations on what is likely
short notice. This suggests that succession planning must go much
broader and deeper than the C-Suite in order to respond to possible
disruptions. So also must cross-training, particularly in manufacturing
operations (Wayland, 2020).
Current limitations on international travel also raise challenges for
talent-development programs that link international experience to
career progress for top talent (Caligiuri et al., 2020). The impact of
COVID-19 on talent management extends far beyond these few
examples and is likely to reveal itself over the coming years in ways
we cannot yet imagine.
Second, consider the current challenging political climate. In addi-
tion to tighter border controls wrought by COVID-19, which have sig-
nificantly restricted global talent flows, governments in major
economies are reevaluating their approaches towards incoming talent.
For example, a central issue in the Brexit negotiations in the UK cen-
ters on the right of EU citizens, who had enjoyed the freedom to
move and work anywhere in the EU, to continue to work in Britain.
Similarly, in the United States, the government's approach to immi-
grant workers is making it more difficult even for skilled talent to
secure the H-1B visas or green cards to work there legally
(Hackman, 2020). Such trends affect talent availability in these key
economies. One striking example of the implications of this disruption
to traditional talent management strategies is Microsoft's decision to
set up a new facility in Vancouver, Canada, to circumvent the risk and
challenges arising from relocating talent to the United States (Horak,
Farndale, Brannen, & Collings, 2017). However, such challenges also
potentially affect the willingness of foreign workers to remain in coun-
tries that make work-eligibility difficult, resulting in a potential push of
this talent out of those locations. Talent competitors from other
nations, particularly emerging economies, see demanding immigration
policies in developed nations as an opportunity to actively promote
policies to attract the talent diaspora back to their native lands. That
is a pull factor on talent mobility, with the potential to ease tight labor
markets that firms in those locations face for certain skills (Vaiman,
Sparrow, Schuler, & Collings, 2018a, 2018b). How these macro-level
trends affect talent management at the firm level will continue to
merit further study.
A third key trend is the emergence of the platform economy
2
and
the increasing attraction to employers and individuals of the gig econ-
omy. Indeed, a growing number of workers are operating outside the
traditional confines of regular, full-time employment. They may be
free agentsor e-lancers(i.e., freelancers in the digital world) who
work for themselves, or they may be employees of an organization a
firm is allied with (e.g., in a joint venture), employees of an outsourcing
or temporary-help firm, or even volunteers (Cascio &
Boudreau, 2017). Freelancers are a growing segment of the
U.S. workforce, and by some estimates now make up 35% of it
(Maurer, 2018; Pofeldt, 2016). In some industries, that percentage is
even larger. For example, 90% of the hands-on crew in an offshore
oil-exploration project work as contractors rather than employees of
the oil company (Barrett & Elgin, 2015).
This has led some to argue that we are moving beyond employ-
ment(Boudreau, Jesuthasan, & Creelman, 2015), reflecting a view
that in the future leadership will be increasingly premised on how best
to complete work rather than on how best to manage employees'
careers (Cascio & Boudreau, 2016). While this may not happen imme-
diately, the changes may not be as dramatic as suggested, and some
industries may be relatively unaffected, Boudreau and his colleagues
make a compelling case for this vision. More broadly, we are certainly
witnessing an increasing percentage of workers who are choosing to
spend at least some of their working time in the gig economy.
Although many of these individuals are operating at the lower end of
it, where precarious work is the norm and their power and choice are
limited, it is evident that there is a significant cohort of workers who
perform much higher-end gig work in areas such as engineering, infor-
mation technology, creative activities, finance, accounting, medicine,
and law. These individuals are often exceptionally skilled and offer the
potential to bring much value to employers from a talent perceptive.
Thus, there is no doubt they represent a growing segment of the
workforce that requires careful attention to talent management. How-
ever, almost all present legislation, HR systems, and talent programs
are designed based on a traditional employment model (Cascio &
Boudreau, 2016). It will also be interesting to see how the COVID-19
pandemic contributes to the growth and evolution of the platform
economy.
A final trend we point to is the continual advance in technology
and its impact on work, jobs, and careers. There is little reservation
that technology in general, and automation in particular, will have pro-
found impacts on how work gets done. Although it will make some
roles obsolete, new jobs requiring higher-level skills will continue to
emerge, especially those created by automation (Cascio &
Montealegre, 2016; World Economic Forum, 2018). According to the
McKinsey Global Institute, 30 to 40% of workers in developed coun-
tries may need to move into new occupations or upgrade their skill
sets significantly by 2030 as their job roles become automated
(Hancock, Lazaroff-Puck, & Rutherford, 2020). There is no doubt that
the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated these trends. By one esti-
mate, U.S. e-commerce penetration has achieved 10 years of growth
in just 90 days in the first quarter of 2020 (McKinsey, 2020). In a simi-
larly significant trend, the UK healthcare system held as few as 7% of
all appointment in person during the pandemic, compared to 99% in
2019 (Agrawal, Lacroix, & Reich, 2020). At the same time, however,
telemedicine is growing rapidly (Fouquet, 2020). Skilled workers in
254 VAIMAN ET AL.
short supply will become even scarcer. This is a precarious situation,
because companies that fail to address their current talent needs may
not be able to achieve their future digital aspirations. At the same
time, senior managers have a great opportunity to collaborate with
employees to create a prosperous, fulfilling future, as they work
through employee transitions.
From a talent perspective, the pandemic and wider automation
trends are likely to create questions around the relative balance
between technology and human capital in generating value. It is also
likely to add increased importance to identifying pivotal roles that add
the greatest value by increasing the number or quality of people per-
forming them. Indeed, roles that have been critical in the past may be
overtaken by technology, forcing organizations to reevaluate their tal-
ent strategies. To illustrate, the foreign affiliates of the world's multi-
national companies account for only about 9% of the global output of
manufactured goods, with a great deal of economic activity happening
within national borders or regional zones (Rees, 2020). In the newest
era of evolving global systems, however, Levinson (2020) argues that
factory production and foreign investment are less important than the
transmission of servicesbanking, engineering, information technol-
ogy, auditing, and idea production (creative activities). Companies dis-
tribute their freshest knowledge and ideas across technical centers
positioned throughout the world, and rely on licensing arrangements
and contracts with global suppliers. In this emerging global system,
information and ideas are keys because every country, company, and
individual rely more heavily on borderless knowledge. Artificial intelli-
gence and robotics have increasingly taken over such tasks as book-
keeping, clerical work, and repetitive production jobs in manufactur-
ing. In the creative economy, the most important asset is intangible. It
is the intellectual capital that resides in people (Montealegre &
Cascio, in press). When assets were physical things like coal mines,
shareholders truly owned them. But when the most vital assets are
people, there can be no true ownership. Today, therefore, the wise
management of talent is just as important as the shrewd ownership of
assets. The best that corporations can do is to create an environment
that makes the best people want to stay (Dougherty & Wilson, 2018).
It is likely that technology will disrupt entire professions significantly
(see Susskind & Susskind, 2015), and therein lies the challenge of
managing talentdomestic or globaleffectively.
There are, of course, other pressing contextual issues that are
likely to force us to significantly reframe our understanding of talent
management in the future. The papers in this special issue address
several of them.
The aim of the first paper by Elaine Farndale, Mohan Thite,
Pawan Budhwar, and Bora Kwon
3
is to explore the impact macro-level
trends in national government policy and political climates has on the
pursuit of top talent. The authors argue that firms that normally rely
on global talent poolsespecially for STEM-related skillsare cur-
rently suffering, as corporate globalization is impeded due to changes
in macro (or country)-level environments. By developing propositions
that connect the macro environment with corporate strategizing and
designing a multi-respondent, qualitative research agenda, the authors
identify evolving adaptations to the talent-sourcing efforts of firms
that help them to deal with talent shortages precipitated by de-
globalization trends. The authors also offer valuable implications both
for further research and the practice of talent management.
The next paper in this special issue, by Thomas Garavan, Michael
Morley, Christine Cross, Ron Carbery, and Colette Darcy, explores the
implementation of high-potential talent development programs in
multinational corporations through the lens of paradox theory and
adopting a micro-practice perspective. The aim of their study is to
investigate tensions that arise at the level of practice in multinational
corporations, as well as to isolate reasons for practice implementation
variations over time. Employing an inductive, mixed method study,
the authors find that over time, talent actors realize three sets of per-
formance paradoxes that relate to differences in their goals, beliefs,
and roles in high-potential development programs. Another finding is
that these actors respond to various tensions using a set of both
defensive and proactive actions. The third and final finding of this
study confirms that both the tensions and responses vary with the
implementation stage of the high-potential program.
The issue's third paper by Deirdre Snyder, Virginia Stewart, and
Catherine Shea is an empirical study of the impact the talent manage-
ment strategy aimed at boomerangemployeesthose who return to
their companies after an absencecan have on these employees them-
selves and their rehiring organizations. The authors draw on the main-
stream literature on talent management and psychological contracts
and use a sample from a professional services firm in the United States.
Snyder and colleagues find that re-entry into original organizations ben-
efits boomerangs in terms of their compensation, job satisfaction, and
overall organizational commitment, but at the same time, does not lead
to improved performance compared to employees who never left. The
authors offer important implications for a boomerang talent-
management strategy and psychological contract renegotiations.
The final paper in this special issue, authored by Tui McKeown
and Francois Pichault, challenges the assumption that independent
professionals (IPros) do not fall within the realm of conventional
talent management. The authors argue that much of the talent
management literature is focused on both traditional employees
and adopts an organizational perspective. The external workforce,
such as IPros, has been largely ignored. To rectify this omission
and advance the notion of institutional factors in the macro envi-
ronment, the article draws on interviews with IPros in two differ-
ent institutional contexts to reveal the significant role that
volition, emotional stability, internal locus of control, and self-
efficacy play in the personal talent management strategies of
IPros. The authors suggest that irrespective of institutional con-
texts, embracing a Total Talent Managementstrategy that con-
siders each individual's personal characteristics will be a win-win
situation for all involved.
We sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this special issue.
Vlad Vaiman
1
Wayne F. Cascio
2
David G. Collings
3
Brian W. Swider
4
VAIMAN ET AL.255
1
The School of Management, California Lutheran University, Thousand
Oaks, CA
2
The Business School, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO
3
The School of Business, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
4
Warrington College of Business, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Keywords
environmental uncertainty, human capital, international HRM
Correspondence
Vlad Vaiman, The school of management, California Lutheran
University School of Management, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA.
Email: vvaiman@callutheran.edu
ORCID
Vlad Vaiman https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8104-3683
David G. Collings https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1252-7080
ENDNOTES
1
The global pandemic unfolded after the closing date for submissions for
the special issue. Thus, we did not receive any submissions directly
related to the impact of the COVID-19.
2
Economic and social activity facilitated by online platforms, such as Ama-
zon, Uber, Airbnb, and so forth.
3
The paper overviews are based, in part, on abstracts provided by the
contributors.
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
Vlad Vaiman is a Professor and the Associate Dean at the School
of Management of California Lutheran University and a visiting
Professor at several premier universities around the globe. He has
published five books on managing talent in organizations and at a
country level, as well as a number of academic and practitioner-
oriented articles and book chapters on talent management and
International HRM. His work appeared in Academy of Management
Learning and Education,Human Resource Management,Interna-
tional Journal of Human Resource Management,Human Resource
Management Review,Journal of Business Ethics, and many others.
He is also a Founding Editor and the Chief Editorial Consultant of
the European Journal of International Management, and an editorial
board member of several prestigious academic journals, such as
European Management Review,Human Resource Management
Review, and Journal of Global Mobility, among others. He is a Foun-
der, an Organizer, and a Leading Chair of the EIASM Workshop
on Talent Management.
Wayne F. Cascio is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the
Business School at the University of Colorado Denver. He has
published 33 books, and more than 200 articles and book chap-
ters. He is a former president of the Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, the Chair of the Society for Human
Resource Management Foundation, and a member of the Acad-
emy of Management's Board of Governors; he currently serves as
a consulting Editor for International HR at the Journal of Interna-
tional Business Studies (JIBS) and he Chairs the SHRM Certification
Commission. He received SHRM's Losey Award for Human
Resources Research in 2010, the Distinguished Scientific Contri-
butions Award from the Society for I/O Psychology in 2013, a
Lifetime Achievement award from the World Federation of Peo-
ple Management Associations in 2016, and the Ulrich Impact
Award from the HR Division of the Academy of Management in
2020 for a career of research that ties theory to practical applica-
tions.
David G. Collings is a Professor of Human Resource Management
at Dublin City University Business School. His research interests
are in talent management, global mobility, and the future of work.
His work has been published in outlets such as the Academy of
Management Journal,Harvard Business Review,Human Relations,
Human Resource Management, and Journal of Management. A for-
mer Editor-in-Chief of Human Resource Management Journal and
Journal of World Business; he currently sits on the editorial boards
of a number of journals such as Academy of Management Review,
Journal of International Business Studies,Journal of Management,
and Journal of Management Studies.
Brian W. Swider is an Associate Professor of Management and
the Beth Ayers MaCague Faculty Fellow at the Warrington Col-
lege of Business at the University of Florida. He received his PhD
from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. His
research interests include selection interviews, employee with-
drawal and turnover, recruitment, personality, well-being, and
temporal effects in the workplace.
How to cite this article: Vaiman V, Cascio WF, Collings DG,
Swider BW. The shifting boundaries of talent management.
Hum Resour Manage. 2021;60:253257. https://doi.org/10.
1002/hrm.22050
VAIMAN ET AL.257
... This is problematic, firstly because negative applicant reactions can damage the attractiveness of organizations and can reduce the likelihood of job offers being accepted (Hausknecht et al. 2004). Secondly, in the current context of global talent shortages, organizations cannot afford to deter qualified applicants by using negatively perceived selection methods (Vaiman et al. 2021). ...
... Since the late 1980s, however, the applicant perspective and corresponding theories have gained increasing attention (Truxillo and Bauer 2011). This shift can be attributed to the much-described war for talent (Vaiman et al. 2021), as a result of which it is no longer sufficient for a selection instrument to validly predict applicants' later job performance. Instead, organizations face the challenge of implementing assessments that are both valid and well-accepted by applicants, as negative applicant reactions can deter qualified individuals from actually accepting a job offer (Harold et al. 2016;Konradt et al. 2017). ...
Article
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Although cognitive ability tests are among the best predictors of job and training performance, their acceptance among applicants is limited. However, with the current talent shortage, applicant reactions to assessments have become increasingly important. Gamification is a promising approach for improving reactions to cognitive ability tests. However, it remains unclear how findings from low-stakes studies of gamified assessments generalize to high-stakes settings. In this quasi-experimental study (N = 210), we compared reactions to a gamified cognitive test from a low-stakes simulated selection setting with experimental participants and from a high-stakes selection setting with real applicants. Test takers in both settings completed the same gamified cognitive ability test and then rated several applicant reactions variables. We found a clear effect of the test setting with real applicants showing more positive reactions to the gamified test concerning perceived fairness, test motivation, organizational attractiveness, behavioral intentions, organizational image, clarity of work activity, and enjoyment compared to participants in the low-stakes setting, whereas there were no differences for perceived job-relatedness and opportunity to perform. These findings highlight the influence of test setting on applicant reactions and underscore the importance of examining environmental factors for research on the effects of gamification in cognitive ability testing.
... Collings and Mellahi (2009) posit that talent management effectiveness is maximized through a differentiated architecture, and this perspective was further elaborated by King and Vaiman (2019), who emphasize the necessity of complementary systemic elements. While architectural similarities may exist across organizations, the underlying philosophical foundations and contextual assumptions exhibit significant organizational specificity (Vaiman et al., 2021), particularly in how they accommodate or restrict career mobility. ...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose This study aims to examine how career mobility in the hotel industry shapes individuals’ careers toward general manager roles. Design/methodology/approach In this exploratory qualitative research, the authors draw on 45 interviews with general managers from 16 countries. Using abductive reasoning and thematic analysis, the authors adopt a career mobility lens. Findings Evolving openness toward career mobility and structural transformation in the industry are catalysts for inter-brand mobility. The authors identify constraints on and enablers of inter-brand mobility. Specifically, the study findings highlight low perceived permeability in upward mobility from four-star to five-star hotels. Practical implications Organizations should adopt a talent management culture, working toward reducing constraints on inter-brand mobility. This entails changing long-held, archaic perceptions and investing in employees’ transferable skills. Originality/value The authors conceptualize and highlight a novel form of career mobility – inter-brand mobility – which differs from traditional organizational and geographical forms of mobility. Further, the authors add to the discourse on the boundaries of career mobility, theorizing the complexities of inter-brand mobility in the hospitality context.
... Extensive studies have been conducted on global talent management in recent years (such as: vaiman et al., 2021;Tyskbo, 2019;Kaliannan et al., 2023;Collings et al, 2018;Scullion et al., 2014;Tarique & Schuler, 2010), but talent management research still focuses on middle (organizational) level analysis and less attention has been paid to research at the individual level and the macro level (extra organizational) (Sparrow, 2019;Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2020) and this gap in talent management research needs more and more comprehensive attention and companies may identify high performance people or subject matter experts, but they face failure without considering extra-organizational factors such as social capital (Crane & Hartwell, 2019). ...
Article
Full-text available
This research seeks to identify the dimensions of national culture that affect talent management in Iran, and two methods of theme analysis and CoCoSo were used for data analysis. The findings show that 12 dimensions of national culture in Iran have a great impact on talent management that the dimensions of Tribalist/partisan/special-oriented, Passion for growth, Short-term Orientation, Adult Attitude and Non-Performance Orientation are in priority. The results show that every manager who works in Iranian organizations will face failure if he does not have sufficient knowledge of Iranian culture effective on talent management and does not consider all cultural aspects.
... The inherent flexibility of the work schedules has pushed the boundaries of the performance measurement and management of the performance of the individuals and teams. The talent management aspect of performance management needs a modification that addresses these new realities (Vaiman, Cascio, Collings, & Swider, 2021). • ...
Chapter
The rise of the ‘experience economy' is reshaping talent management. Employee experience can be defined as a comprehensive talent management strategy that organizations implement to ensure employees receive support necessary to thrive and succeed in their roles. By effectively managing employee experience, companies can foster a work environment that boosts both productivity and employee engagement. This chapter describes how an experience approach can enhance engagement and impact talent management process. Using the past literature and practitioner's perspective, the study proposes a practical framework that highlights the evolving expectations of the employees and the employers that can be addressed using the concept of employee experience. The reader will understand how these frameworks can be implemented to increase the effectiveness of the talent management .The application of technology in increasing the effectiveness of the process through enhancement of the employee experience is explained in line with the trend of automation of business practices across organizations.
Article
The dual effects of work connectivity behavior after-hours (WCBA) on employees’ in-role and extra-role behaviors were investigated using the framework of the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model. A two-wave cross-sectional design with a one-week interval was employed, and data were acquired from a survey of 402 Chinese employees. The results showed that WCBA positively influenced in-role and extra-role behaviors through enhanced psychological job control (β = 0.1908 and β = 0.1356, respectively), while also exerting negative effects via increased ICT anxiety (β = −0.0190 and β = −0.0434, respectively). The findings indicate that although WCBA can foster work outcomes through increased job control, it also carries the risk of undermining these benefits due to the psychological strain from ICT-related stress. Therefore, organizations should support employees in managing WCBA effectively by balancing potential productivity gains with an awareness of its psychological costs. This research uniquely provides a simultaneous investigation of both behavior types within a unified dual-pathway framework based on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model. This research also extends our knowledge of the nuanced influence of after-hours connectivity and has potential application in the optimization of the performance and welfare of employees in digitally connected work environments.
Conference Paper
This paper looks at how the COVID-19 crisis has affected jobs in the Slovak IT sector between 2013 and 2023, focusing on trends, regional differences, and remaining vacancies. Using time series analysis and ARIMA modelling, it examines employment changes over time and predicts future developments. In addition, the study conducts a regional analysis to examine differences between Slovak regions and a job vacancy analysis to uncover the need for new talent. The results show that IT employment temporarily declined during the peak of the pandemic in 2020 but quickly bounced back, largely due to telework and digitization efforts. As for regional differences, while Bratislava and other large cities have more IT employment, smaller cities struggle more with employment shortfalls. Despite the sector's resilience, vacancies remain problematic, signaling a mismatch between demand and available talent. Forecasts suggest modest employment growth in the IT sector, but uncertainty in the economy may pose a risk. The study highlights the need for targeted policies to address labor shortages and improve skills, especially in smaller cities. By analyzing the impact of crises, vacancies, and future employment trends, this research offers valuable insights for policymakers and businesses aiming to strengthen the IT workforce in Slovakia.
Chapter
Talent management is a key element of sustainable HRM, crucial for long-term organizational success. In the Visegrád Four (V4) region—Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary—talent management remains underutilized, often overshadowed by short-term HR functions. This study explores its role in fostering economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Findings highlight low investment in training, challenges in talent retention, and a lack of structured development programs. Organizations risk higher turnover, reduced innovation, and weaker resilience. Integrating talent management with sustainability goals can enhance workforce stability, diversity, and green HRM practices. Recommendations include increasing awareness, investing in training, leveraging data-driven HR strategies, and fostering cross-sector collaboration. Strengthening talent management in the V4 region is essential for competitive, sustainable growth in a dynamic global market.
Chapter
As the gig economy expands globally, organizations are increasingly engaging with a geographically dispersed and culturally diverse workforce characterized by flexibility and fluidity. This dynamic amplifies the complexities of talent management, particularly in addressing cross-cultural challenges, time zone differences, and the effective management of virtual teams operating under various leadership styles. This chapter explores strategies for managing cross-cultural teams, including overcoming communication barriers, navigating decentralized gig work structures, and leveraging technology in talent acquisition and development. It also analyzes how gig workers shape their career trajectories and how businesses adjust human resource practices to accommodate this growing sector. Best practices for managing cross-cultural virtual teams are examined, with a focus on fostering high performance, engagement, and collaboration to achieve successful outcomes for both gig workers and managing organizations.
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Orientation: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted organisations, requiring employees to adapt their work approaches.Research purpose: This study examines job-crafting strategies among South African employees during the pandemic, focusing on task, cognitive, and relational crafting, along with associated benefits and challenges.Motivation for the study: Given the pandemic’s impact on South African workplaces, this study explores how employees adapted using job-crafting techniques.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative descriptive approach within the Social Constructivism paradigm was employed. Data were gathered from 15 South African employees working remotely or in hybrid models through online interviews and analysed thematically.Main findings: Employees used task crafting to redefine roles for remote work, relational crafting to strengthen virtual connections, and cognitive crafting to maintain purpose. Despite challenges, they reported increased productivity, flexibility, and improved work-life balance.Practical/managerial implications: Recognising job crafting as a coping mechanism in hybrid work models is crucial. Organisations should foster an environment that empowers employees by aligning work with their strengths, offering autonomy, and encouraging proactive adaptation.Contribution/value-add: This study provides qualitative insights into job crafting during the pandemic, offering a unique perspective on adaptation within South African workplaces.
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This article contributes to talent management (TM) research by offering a comprehensive view of TM in the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) context. It captures and categorizes TM practices according to differences in formality and inclusivity, employee participation in TM, and market orientation. On the basis of 31 in‐depth interviews with the top managers of 27 aerospace companies in Luxembourg, we propose a typology of TM in MSMEs. We identify differences in how companies define and manage talent and propose three main types of TM, namely, “planned,” “proactive,” and “reactive.” “Planned” TM sustains organizational growth through the focus on systematically assessing needs and anticipating the future. In contrast, “proactive” TM tests different TM methods to adapt to perceived needs and build the business further. Finally, “reactive” TM focuses on filling the current skill gap to maintain the existing market.
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The impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic is unprecedented. At an organisational level, the crisis has been hugely disruptive, complex and fraught with ambiguity for leaders. The crisis is fundamentally a human one, making human resource (HR) leaders central in enabling organisations to manage through and ultimately exit the crisis successfully. We apply a paradox lens to understand the HR leadership challenges posed by the COVID‐19 crisis. We argue that how the HR function responds to the challenges of the crisis and its role in mapping the exit route from the crisis are likely to shape the trajectory of the function for decades to come. The pandemic creates an unprecedented opportunity to elevate the status of the HR function in organisations where it has struggled to gain status and to reinforce the influence of the function in those where it already enjoys legitimacy. The value of this is likely to be reflected in more sustainable performance through the alignment of people and purpose and balancing the short and long term objectives of the organisation.
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The impacts of COVID-19 on workers and workplaces across the globe have been dramatic. This broad review of prior research rooted in work and organizational psychology, and related fields, is intended to make sense of the implications for employees, teams, and work organizations. This review and preview of relevant literatures focuses on (a) emergent changes in work practices (e.g., working from home, virtual teamwork) and (b) emergent changes for workers (e.g., social distancing, stress, and unemployment). In addition, potential moderating factors (demographic characteristics, individual differences, and organizational norms) are examined given the likelihood that COVID-19 will generate disparate effects. This broad-scope overview provides an integrative approach for considering the implications of COVID-19 for work, workers, and organizations while also identifying issues for future research and insights to inform solutions.
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We show the relevance of extant international business (IB) research, and more specifically work on international human resources management (IHRM), to address COVID-19 pandemic challenges. Decision-makers in multinational enterprises have undertaken various types of actions to alleviate the impacts of the pandemic. In most cases these actions relate in some way to managing distance and to rethinking boundaries, whether at the macro- or firm-levels. Managing distance and rethinking boundaries have been the primary focus of much IB research since the IB field was established as a legitimate area of academic inquiry. The pandemic has led to increased cross-border distance problems (e.g., as the result of travel bans and reduced international mobility), and often also to new intra-firm distancing challenges imposed upon previously co-located employees. Prior IHRM research has highlighted the difficulties presented by distance, in terms of employee selection, training, support, health and safety, as well as leadership and virtual collaboration. Much of this thinking is applicable to solve pandemic-related distance challenges. The present, extreme cases of requisite physical distancing need not imply equivalent increases in psychological distance, and also offer firms some insight into the unanticipated benefits of a virtual workforce – a type of workforce that, quite possibly, will influence the ‘new normal’ of the post-COVID world. Extant IHRM research does offer actionable insight for today, but outstanding knowledge gaps remain. Looking ahead, we offer three domains for future IHRM research: managing under uncertainty, facilitating international and even global work, and redefining organizational performance.
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The link between global talent management (GTM) and multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) performance has not been theorised or empirically tested. We develop a theoretical framework for how GTM links to performance at the headquarters (HQ), subsidiary, and individual employee levels. Using the resource-based view as a frame, we highlight the routines of pivotal positions, global talent pools, and a differentiated HR architecture as central to GTM. We show that at the HQ level, an MNE’s adoption of a global, multi-domestic, or transnational strategy determines the objectives of the GTM system and significantly influences the performance of the enterprise. At the subsidiary level, the alignment between HQ intentions and subsidiary implementation of GTM routines is a key variable in our analysis. We consider the effects of these higher-level factors on individual performance through the lens of human-capital resources, focusing on how individual human capital can translate or amplify to a unit-level human-capital resource. We argue that, through the vertical fit of these higher-level factors with GTM routines at a given level, an MNE can develop an effective GTM system and expect that to translate into sustainable performance aligned with objectives set at headquarters. The paper concludes with an agenda for future research.
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In times of the “Brexit” and “America First” policies, several industrialized countries' governments are turning toward more national-oriented migration policies. Simultaneously, societal aversion to immigration is growing. Both trends are sending negative signals to highly skilled employees and making immigrants feel that they are no longer welcome. Consequently, international careers are becoming uncertain, risky, and unpredictable. This new reality in industrialized knowledge-based economies may affect firms' talent pool and the skill set available to a country. To shed light on the new environment of international human resource management, we interviewed Mary Yoko Brannen and David Collings, leading experts in the field, to explore their perspective on how the field is changing. The interviews reported here uncover fascinating insights, including the need to counteract the globalization fears in the West of the predominantly White working and lower-middle class through education. Companies may also rethink their organizational boundaries and the notion of traditional employees by using their agility to counteract the political forces harming their talent pool strategy.
Book
This book predicts the decline of today's professions and describes the people and systems that will replace them. In an Internet society, according to Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind, we will neither need nor want doctors, teachers, accountants, architects, the clergy, consultants, lawyers, and many others, to work as they did in the 20th century. The Future of the Professions explains how 'increasingly capable systems' -- from telepresence to artificial intelligence -- will bring fundamental change in the way that the 'practical expertise' of specialists is made available in society. The authors challenge the 'grand bargain' -- the arrangement that grants various monopolies to today's professionals. They argue that our current professions are antiquated, opaque and no longer affordable, and that the expertise of their best is enjoyed only by a few. In their place, they propose six new models for producing and distributing expertise in society. The book raises important practical and moral questions. In an era when machines can out-perform human beings at most tasks, what are the prospects for employment, who should own and control online expertise, and what tasks should be reserved exclusively for people? Based on the authors' in-depth research of more than ten professions, and illustrated by numerous examples from each, this is the first book to assess and question the relevance of the professions in the 21st century.
Book
Macro Talent Management: A Global Perspective on Managing Talent in Developed Markets and Macro Talent Management in Emerging and Emergent Markets: A Global Perspective (both are edited by Vlad Vaiman, Paul Sparrow, Randall Shuler, and David G. Collings) serve as a guide that orients the reader toward activities that increase their country’s global competitiveness, attractiveness, and economic development through strategic talent management. These books bring together leading experts from around the world to address such issues as cross-border flows of talent, diaspora mobility, knowledge flows, global labour markets, and policies. Bringing together research from the fields of human resource management, international business, economic geography, comparative international development, and political economy, these books offer a definitive, comprehensive treatment of the topic aimed at advance students and practitioners. See https://bit.ly/2C32Uzs and https://bit.ly/2LZVtda.