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Degree project
The Strategic side of Global Talent Management
- Thematic literature review with a conceptual reasoning
Authors: Sofie Ekelöf & Nathalie Lindberg Supervisor: Marianna Strzelecka
Examiner: Mikael Lundgren Term: VT20
Subject: Business Administration with specialization in Leadership and Management
Level: Master’s Degree Course: 4FE41E
i Abstract
Today's organizations face a global talent shortage, where they struggle to find and develop the talents needed to gain a competitive advantage in the global labor market. The war for talent has shifted from a national to a global scale, affecting organizations Human Resource Management strategies. As a result, scholars argue that the implementation of Global Talent Management (GTM) in the organization's business strategy can facilitate the work by gaining a competitive advantage. Due to globalization, organizations face rapidly changing global environments, affecting the strategies of GTM. The specific contribution from this study is to examine the relevance of the internal drivers affecting GTM, identified by Tarique and Schuler in 2010 as regiocentrism, international strategic alliances, and required competencies, for future research and practical implementations. The findings declare that although the framework from 2010 still is relevant in some aspects, globalization has led to new internal drivers being presented in current literature. New aspects as defining a talent philosophy, adopting an alternative employment arrangement and developing an attractive employer branding have been identified as important internal drivers within GTM. These drivers are described and presented in a conceptual model, developed from the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010).
ii Acknowledgments…
We would like to extend a big thank you to all those who supported us during this project and made it possible for us to conduct this result. A special thanks to our supervisor Marianna
Strzelecka who contributed with valuable opinions and guided us through this study. We would also like to thank our examiner Mikael Lundgren who provided feedback and valuable
constructive criticism during our seminars. At last, we would like to thank our student colleagues and opponents who have taken the time to read and analyze our thesis and
contributed with valuable opinions.
Thank you!
Kalmar 2020-05-19
___________________________ ___________________________
Nathalie Lindberg Sofie Ekelöf
iii Summary
Authors: Nathalie Lindberg & Sofie Ekelöf Supervisor: Marianna Strzelecka
Examiner: Mikael Lundgren
Course: Business Administration with specialization in Leadership and Management Title: The Strategic side of Global Talent Management
Research question: What is the conceptual relevance of Tarique and Schuler’s (2010) framework of GTM in the third decade of the 21st century?
Sub Question: Which aspects of GTM need to be re/conceptualized due to the changing global context of GTM?
Aim: This thesis project aims at investigating the relevance of the internal drivers identified in the GTM framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010). Further, we aim at making a conceptual contribution to the upcoming decade, by advancing Tarique and Schuler’s (2010) foundational framework with newly emerged internal drivers highlighted in current literature as having an effect on GTM.
Methodology: The secondary data have been collected through a thematic literature review, where 38 articles on GTM, published between 2010 and 2020 have been analyzed in order to answer our research questions. Conceptual reasoning takes place since we develop a conceptual model containing the internal drivers identified in the current literature.
Conclusion: We conclude that the framework of Tarique and Schuler (2010) is in some aspects still relevant to the current and upcoming globalized environment. New drivers have emerged, stressing the importance of a differentiated HR-architecture. Further, we conclude that drivers such as talent philosophy, required competencies, alternative employment arrangements and employer branding have an impact on GTM challenges with attracting, developing, and retaining.
Keywords: Global Talent management, Strategic Human Resource Management, Internal drivers, Challenges
iv Table of Content
1. Introduction ...1
1.1 Background ...1
1.2 Problem Discussion and The Research Gap ...3
1.3 Research Aim and Questions ...5
1.4 Purpose and Added Value ...5
1.5 Delimitations ...6
1.6 Disposition ...6
2. Conceptual Framework ...8
2.1 Conceptualizing Global Talent Management ...8
2.2 The framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) ...9
2.2.1 Internal Drivers ... 10
2.2.2 GTM System ... 12
2.2.3 GTM Effectiveness ... 13
3. Methodology ... 16
3.1 Conceptual Paper ... 16
3.2 Literature Review ... 16
3.3 Hybrid Approach ... 16
3.4 Developing a Conceptual Model ... 17
3.5 The Inquiry Process of Relevant Literature ... 18
3.5.1 Thematic Literature Review ... 19
3.6 Selection Criteria ... 20
3.6.1 Inclusion Criteria ... 20
3.6.2 Exclusion Criteria ... 21
3.6.3 Flowchart ... 21
3.7 Data Analysis... 22
3.8 Quality Appraisal ... 23
3.9 Overview of Selected Literature ... 23
4. Result... 24
4.1 Attracting Talent ... 24
4.1.1 Talent Philosophy ... 25
4.1.2 Identification of Key Positions and Core Employees ... 26
4.1.3 Developing a Talent Pool ... 28
4.1.4 Required Competencies in a Talent Pool ... 29
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4.1.5 Employer Branding ... 31
4.2 Developing Talent... 32
4.2.1 Measuring Intangibles ... 32
4.2.2 Succession Planning ... 34
4.2.3 Global Mindset ... 35
4.3 Retaining Talent ... 36
4.3.1 Challenges with Globalization ... 37
4.3.2 Commitment, Engagement, and Motivation... 38
4.3.3 Job Embeddedness ... 38
4.4 Developing a Differentiated HR-architecture ... 39
4.4.1 Talent Development Strategies ... 40
4.4.2 Talent Management as an Integrated Process ... 41
4.4.3 Alternative Employment Arrangements ... 42
5. Discussion of Conceptual Model ... 44
5.1 Internal Drivers ... 44
5.1.1 Regiocentrism ... 44
5.1.2 International Strategic Alliances ... 44
5.1.3 Required Competencies ... 45
5.2 GTM Systems ... 45
5.2.1 Attracting Talent ... 45
5.2.2 Developing Talent ... 48
5.2.3 Retaining Talent ... 49
5.2.4 GTM Effectiveness – HR-architecture ... 50
6. The New GTM Framework ... 53
6.1 Introducing the Conceptual Model ... 53
6.2 A Differentiated HR-architecture ... 54
6.3 Internal Drivers of GTM Challenges ... 55
6.3.1 Talent Philosophy ... 55
6.3.2 Required Competencies ... 55
6.3.3 Alternative Employment Arrangements ... 56
6.3.4 Employer Branding ... 56
7. Conclusion ... 58
7.1 Limitations... 59
7.2 Future Research and Practical Implications ... 59
7.3 Author’s Contribution ... 60
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8. References ... 61
Appendix A ... I Appendix B ... II
Addverbiation
GTM – Global Talent Management TM – Talent Management
HRM – Human Resource Management HR – Human Resource
IHRM – International Human Resource Management SHRM – Strategic Human Resource Management
List of Figures
Figure 1. GTM Framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010). Own illustration. 10 Figure 2. Flowchart presenting the inquiry process of relevant literature. Own illustration. 22 Figure 3. Summary of the themes presented in the result. Own illustration. 24 Figure 4. The new GTM framework. Own illustration. 53
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1. Introduction
In the introduction chapter, we introduce the selected research area and the reason why Global Talent Management has become a featured area for global organizations active in today's labor market. Further, we present our problem discussion, based on the existing literature, leading to our research questions. Additionally, we present the purpose of the study and explain how this research can contribute to the research field. Lastly, we display the thesis scope, delimitations, and disposition.
1.1 Background
Starting in the late 1990s, organizations worldwide faced a threat where the demand for talented employees transcended the supply, resulting in a global talent shortage (Schuler, Jackson &
Tarique, 2011; Tarique & Schuler, 2010). Consequently, acquiring talent became a great challenge for businesses. Results from one out of two McKinsey Quarterly global surveys conducted in the years 2006 and 2007 show that leaders consider finding talented people as the single most important managerial task (Guthridge, Komm & Lawson, 2008). The other survey predicts that almost half of the leaders responding expected an increasing competition for talent.
Thus, the increasingly global nature of competition for talent is likely to have a major effect on organizations. Talent shortages are considered to be a tangible risk to the growth agenda, which is evidence that the “war for talent”, originally stated by McKinsey & Company, is difficult to win (King, 2015).
Even after three decades, many organizations around the world still experience a talent shortage (ManPowerGroup, 2020). However, the war for talent has shifted from a national to a global scale, affecting organizational strategies (Farndale, Scullion & Sparrow, 2010). Literature on the field reveals that organizations have come to the realization that in order for them to gain and sustain a global competitive advantage, they have to manage their workforces effectively (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). This challenge could be decreased by Talent Management (TM), a concept focusing on promoting from within (Dobrian, 2015). Since the study by Guthridge et al. (2008) reveals the difficulty in finding the right people, the literature field on TM highlights the importance of developing and retaining talent from within the organization (Dobrian, 2015).
TM as part of the organizational strategy has emerged within the HR area, as it advocates the strategic action towards attracting, developing, and retaining key employees (King & Vaiman, 2019; Tarique & Schuler, 2010; Scullion, Collings & Caligiuri, 2010). The concept of TM has
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further evolved into Global Talent Management (GTM). In addition to the activities focused on managing talent as a resource, GTM considers global mobility and international business (King, 2015).
Literature shows that organizations differ in terms of how they define talent (Bolander, Werr &
Asplund, 2017). This is because to manage the work with TM effectively, organizations need to tailor the definition of talent to business strategy (King & Vaiman, 2019; Bolander et al., 2017). GTM is expected to have an impact on organizations’ business strategies (King &
Vaiman, 2019). The challenges of attracting, developing, and retaining employees in line with organizations' business strategies are related to the context of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) (Han, Kang, Oh, Kehoe & Lepak, 2019). The concept of SHRM, which derives from Human Resource Management (HRM), concerns the link between HRM-practices and the business strategy (Jiang & Messersmith, 2018; Delery & Roumpi, 2017). The difference between HRM and SHRM lies in the way organizations recognize their employees. HRM views employees as an “organizational resource”, whereas SHRM recognizes employees as “strategic resource” (Adil, 2015). As a result, GTM is situated as an activity to achieve successful SHRM, by managing talent as a strategic resource.
The overall aim of SHRM is to develop human capital in connection to the organizational goals (Becker & Huselid, 2006; Delery, 1998). Thus, the focus in SHRM lays in implementing HR- systems facilitating issues related to the business strategy (Becker & Huselid, 2006). The HR- system is therefore strategically developed to create a sustainable competitive advantage that indirectly generates financial advantages. The literature on SHRM shows consistent evidence that high-performance HR-systems have both a statistically and managerially significant positive effect on organizational success (Becker & Huselid, 2006; Combs, Yongmei, Hall &
Ketchen, 2006). Tarique and Schuler (2010) use the SHRM literature to argue that GTM should emphasize the management of human capital as vital to attain strategic goals. The literature reveals that a GTM strategy of attracting, developing and retaining key employees, implemented in SHRM, thus, the overall organizational strategy, can create competitive advantages (Scullion et al., 2010; Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
3 1.2 Problem Discussion and The Research Gap
The rapid changes deriving from the globalization have considerable implications for TM (Claus, 2019). The systems and forces shaping the available talent supply into and out of organizations have become increasingly fluid and complex (King & Vaiman, 2019).
Globalization brings a requirement to create new tools and methods to manage human resources (Farndale et al., 2010). Indicating that the drivers affecting GTM activities change continuously.
Additionally, globalization has created more educated, increasingly diverse, and mobile workforces (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). As a result, organizations need to upgrade their HR- activities to attract, develop, and retain talented employees on a global scale. Competition for talent will continue to be a significant challenge over time. Tarique and Schuler (2010, p. 123) argue that: “most companies worldwide, regardless of size, are confronting and/or will soon confront many GTM challenges, which if left unmet, will impact their global business strategies, both in the near term and longer term”. A shortage of international talent in many leading firms has shown to have a significant constraint when organizations seek to implement global strategies and seek to operate on a global scale (Farndale et al., 2010).
The literature declares that even though organizations invest considerable resources into human capital, many of them fail to develop a successful GTM strategy (King, 2015; Mellahi &
Collings, 2010). Further, Cappelli and Keller (2014) argue that in theory, there is a lack of how strategic jobs, talent, and the interrelation between them are conceptualized. This leads to inconsistency. On the one hand, the globalization context urges organizations to work with their GTM activities to gain competitive advantage, while on the other hand working with GTM principles adds complexity to operations and leads to major challenges (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). Thus, the work with GTM strategies should ensure that key strategic employees are attracted, retained, and deployed to best fulfill the organization's strategic priorities (Scullion et al., 2010). The issue of conceptualizing talent and strategic jobs has an impact on how effectively organizations can manage the interrelation with SHRM and GTM (Cappelli &
Keller, 2014). A paradox occurs due to the evident connection between GTM and SHRM. How organizations conceptualize and manage their talent and key positioning to gain competitive advantages depend on how they conceptualize strategic jobs, and vice versa. According to Farndale et al. (2010), this becomes more problematic in international contexts, since global organizations demand an increasingly high skill level among employees, and are becoming more specific about the qualities desirable in employees. Thus, the type of talent required in organizations is becoming even more specific.
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Collings, Mellahi, and Cascio (2019) argue that a strategic focus when establishing a GTM approach towards human capital increases the ability to cope with the rapidly changing business contexts due to globalization. The use of GTM activities can create flexibility and should enable reflection of an organization’s capacity to integrate and reconfigure internal resources (Collings et al, 2019). That said, it is not only important to investigate the drivers leading to challenges with GTM, but study them in regard to the organizational HR strategy (i.e. SHRM), making this partly an internal issue. Despite the literatures increasing attention for talent, research on GTM lacks a clear conceptualization, making GTM a key management issue (Collings et al., 2019; Anlesinya, Dartey-Baah & Amponsah-Taiwah, 2019).
In an attempt to contribute to the GTM theory, we build an argument departing from the framework on GTM, put forth by Tarique and Schuler (2010). Tarique and Schuler (2010) identified and conceptualized challenges within the field of GTM before the year of 2010. The scholars systematized knowledge about GTM by creating a framework of endogenous and exogenous drivers leading to challenges with attracting, developing, and retaining talents.
Exogenous (ie. external) drivers were identified as globalization, demographics, and demand- supply gap, while endogenous (ie. internal) drivers were identified as regiocentrism, international strategic alliances, and required competencies (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). The reason why we choose to base our thesis on the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) is because the authors are distinguished and highly regarded in the research field of GTM. Their GTM framework is well established and often used by other scholars within the same research field. We consider their framework to be a solid contribution to the field and the conceptualization of GTM. However, many scholars continue to argue that the research on GTM still lacks a clear conceptualization of the phenomenon and theoretical development (Collings et al., 2019; Anlesinya et al., 2019). Since globalization creates rapid changes, there is a need to continuously develop GTM drivers (Claus, 2019). Hence, we are going to investigate how the internal factors affecting the GTM challenges have changed during the last decade by other scholars. We decided to merely contribute to the endogenous drivers of the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) as we argue that the internal drivers and SHRM are related to each other. Thus, we focus on internal drivers such as regiocentrism, international strategic alliances, and required competencies, to investigate how global changes over the past decade have influenced the way scholars conceptualize internal drivers of GTM challenges.
5 1.3 Research Aim and Questions
This thesis project aims to make a conceptual contribution by investigating the relevance of Tarique and Schuler’s (2010) foundational framework, and advance it based on the findings from published research on GTM between the years of 2010 to 2020. Reviewing literature from the last decade provides us with secondary data published after the conceptual model by Tarique and Schuler (2010) was proposed. This implies that the relevance of our result will be intended for future researchers and practitioners studying or implementing GTM activities. Because we use a thematic approach when collecting data, but later propose a conceptual framework for the field of GTM, this study should be regarded to be a hybrid approach between a conceptual paper and a thematic literature review. By investigating whether the internal drivers affecting GTM challenges discussed in the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010), e.g. regiocentrism, international strategic alliances and required competencies, are conceptualized in current literature, it can be established how global changes over the past decade influence the way scholars conceptualizes the internal drivers within GTM.
Given the study aim, we ask:
Research Question:
What is the conceptual relevance of Tarique and Schuler’s (2010) framework of GTM for the third decade of the 21st century?
Along with our main research question, we formulated a sub-question to support answering our main research question. As the conceptualization of internal GTM drivers will be explored, we want to enhance our research by presenting a conceptualized model to logically synthesize our findings. Thus, we ask:
Sub-Question:
Which aspects of internal GTM drivers need to be re/conceptualized due to the changing global context of GTM?
1.4 Purpose and Added Value
Since the framework by Tarique and Schuler is published in the year of 2010, we argue that new drivers of GTM challenges may have arisen. Globalization creates a complex and rapidly changing environment (Claus, 2019; King & Vaiman, 2019), which may affect the work with
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GTM strategies. Giving us reason to update the conceptualization of GTM in order to enhance the existing literature of internal drivers affecting GTM activities as attracting, developing, and retaining talent. The main contribution to scientific research will be presented in a conceptual model with an updated framework of internal drivers affecting the challenges with GTM activities. In the rapidly changing global environment, it is vital that organizations maintain a sustainable competitive advantage (Anastasiu, Gavris & Maier, 2020). Our findings implicate a theoretical contribution where the conceptualization of the topic highlights internal drivers as having an impact on organizational performance, related to GTM and the organizations' talents.
The literature declares that a differentiated HR-architecture, a well-established employer branding, required competencies, defined talent philosophy, and alternative employer arrangements are vital aspects of GTM. Finally, we hope that our contribution adds value to future practitioners, by providing insights and clarity for HR professionals working with GTM strategies. However, as we do not empirically test our findings, further implications would be to examine if our conceptual model is relevant in real-life-settings.
1.5 Delimitations
The delimitation of the study is that we do not collect empirical data to answer the research questions. Instead, we chose a thematic literature review as our method to gather secondary data on GTM. Due to the fact that the concept at hand has been investigated greatly in previous empirical research, we argue that the review guiding this study can contribute to a better understanding of the contemporary internal drivers affecting GTM. Further, since we aim at synthesizing and enhancing the framework presented by Tarique and Schuler (2010), we argue that a literature review is more relevant than focusing on a specific empirical study segment.
1.6 Disposition
To clarify the arrangement and design of this master thesis, a compilation of each chapter is presented below.
In chapter one, an introduction of the topic is presented, drawing on existing literature on GTM. The urge to continuously update GTM tools and activities due to globalization leads to our research issue, from which we present our research questions and the purpose of conducting the study. Further, we describe our contribution to the research field and present the delimitations of the study.
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In chapter two, we present several conceptualizations on GTM to create a deeper understanding of the concept. Further, we describe the existing framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) from which we are basing our study. Their identified internal drivers, deriving from elements such as regiocentrism, international strategic alliances, and required competencies, will be introduced.
Chapter three include our methodological choices, where the approaches for conducting the study will be described. We describe our conceptual reasoning and present a step-by-step guideline on how relevant literature was identified using a thematic literature review.
Through our thematic literature review, we found relevant articles for our research topic from which the fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters will draw on. In chapter four, we present our findings and reveal how the analyzed articles conceptualize internal factors affecting GTM. Further, in chapter five, we discuss our findings and how globalization may have affected the conceptualization of internal drivers in current literature. In chapter six, we present the internal drivers in a conceptual model and argue for why these drivers should be included in our GTM framework.
In the final chapter, conclusions, we discuss our findings in order to respond to our research questions and the purpose of the study. Finally, we acknowledge our limitations and implications for further research within the area of GTM.
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2. Conceptual Framework
In the following chapter, we start by providing the reader with different conceptualizations of how literature defines the concept of Global Talent Management. This to create an overall understanding of the concept and to display scholars' different perspectives on the phenomenon. Further, we provide an overview of the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010), presenting their identified core internal drivers, such as regiocentrism, international strategic alliances, and required competencies. affecting the work with attracting, developing, and retaining talent.
2.1 Conceptualizing Global Talent Management
The concept of Global Talent Management (GTM) as a theoretical insight has arisen from the literature on Talent Management (TM) (King, 2015). To create an understanding of the theoretical phenomenon, a few descriptions of how the literature defines the concept will be presented below. This since the activity of managing talent means different things to different people, with researchers varying evidently in their understandings and definitions (Crowley- Henry, O´Connor & Al Ariss, 2018; Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
GTM as a concept deals with management topics existing in TM (King, 2015). However, the phenomena of GTM, as opposed to TM, also deals with global mobility, international business, Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM), and literature on organizational behavior.
The strategic management of human capital creates a direct relation to SHRM, as it facilitates the attainment of strategic goals (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). Through GTM, the human resources in an organization are managed as a strategic resource, and the HR functions, practices, and activities such as to attract, develop, and retain become vital. The area of identifying and differentiating the workforce in a talent-segment, and how to manage the human capital strategically are vital parts of GTM (King, 2015). When taken this into consideration, individuals with a high level of competency, motivation, and personality (i.e, human capital) is desired. The human capital of those individuals is supposed to be consistent with the business strategy of the organization functioning in a highly competitive and global environment (Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
A similar view of GTM as a strategic activity is described by Farndale et al. (2010), where GTM is defined as a proactive strategy of identifying, developing, and retaining high-value
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employees on an international level. The scholars describe the issue of GTM as related to the advancement from local to global levels, highlighting that the competition between employers became more generic during that shift. Global organizations are therefore in need to strategically deploy the employees within the organization (Farndale, et al., 2010).
Collings and Isichei (2018) on the other hand describe that the central idea of GTM starts with identifying core positions, identified by the business strategy. These strategic positions should contribute to sustaining a competitive advantage. Whereas other scholars present that the first step has less focus on key positions, and more on identifying the talented employees which can enhance the strategic positioning on the global market (King, 2015; Tarique & Schuler, 2010;
Farndale et al., 2010). Highlighting what organizations can do to develop individuals' competencies, knowledge, and skills, which in turn enhances the organizational performance.
In our understanding, the scholars have different approaches to the implementation of GTM, where Collings and Isichei (2018) express that it starts with the organizational strategy. While the other scholars, King, (2015), Tarique & Schuler (2010), and Farndale et al. (2010) express that the strategy of GTM starts with individuals’ knowledge and potential.
Further, Collings and Isichei (2018) present that GTM includes the work of creating a talent pool to provide the organization with high potential candidates. Additionally, and similarly to the description by Tarique and Schuler (2010), GTM is presented to involve the alignments with HR functions and departments. Collings and Isichei (2018) narrow this work, presenting it as an activity fill core positions with the best available employee, ensuring their continued commitment to the organization. Thus, facilitating the retention of talents.
The conceptualizations by King (2015), Tarique and Schuler (2010), Collings and Isichei (2018) and Farndale et al. (2010), present similarities in regard to GTM as related to organizational strategy, and all scholars express that employees should be seen as strategic resources. King (2015) and Tarique and Schuler (2010) further relates GTM to SHRM as they explicitly use the concept of SHRM to conceptualize GTM as a strategic activity.
2.2 The framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010)
Tarique and Schuler (2010) argue that the challenges of attracting, developing, and retaining talent are connected to both International Human Resource Management (IHRM) and Strategic
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Human Resource Management (SHRM). Other scholars agree that the competitive advantages deriving by relating GTM to IHRM activities, also can be achieved by SHRM activities (Becker
& Huselid, 2006; Combs et al., 2006; Lepak & Snell, 2002; Delery, 1998). The two concepts include similar activities. The main difference is that the IHRM, as opposed to SHRM, includes the stakeholders' perspectives in the activities of attracting, developing, and retaining talent to a greater extent. IHRM, thus, indicates broader issues and concerns than SHRM, due to its involvement of external interests (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). Since we merely will identify internal factors regarding GTM, we will focus on SHRM, instead of IHRM, as a concept in relation to GTM. In this chapter, we will present the internal factors identified by Tarique and Schuler (2010). These are identified as regiocentrism, international strategic alliances, and required competencies. Further, the activities in a GTM system of attracting, developing, and retaining talent will be described. As mentioned in the introduction, we will exclude the external factors of globalization, demographics, and demand-supply gap, identified by Tarique and Schuler (2010).
2.2.1 Internal Drivers
The findings by Tarique and Schuler (2010) suggest three major internal drivers affecting the GTM systems. Tarique and Schuler (2010) define these drivers as; regiocentrism, international strategic alliances, and required competencies. The model presented below is based on the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010). However, the original model created by the authors additionally involves external drivers. These drivers are removed from this model since our aim is to merely investigate whether the internal drivers are still relevant in current GTM and SHRM literature.
Fig. 1 - GTM Framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010).
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Regiocentrism refers to the state where organizations strategically focus on specific geographic regions, from which they customize and market their strategic activities in order to fulfill the need of that particular region (Tarique and Schuler, 2010). Thus, the organizations' operational strategies are formulated on the basis of that specific region, rather than on the basis of individual countries. A challenge derives, where organizations need to consider a regional workforce, thus, possessing an appropriate regional talent strategy. The findings indicate it is easier to retain talent in certain industries than in others (Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
International Strategic Alliances include the challenge of attracting and retaining top talents during a merger or acquisition process (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). This process is often aimed at filling highly ranked positions, such as CEOs and vice presidents. Such a challenge has, by some organizations, been handled by attracting and hiring employees from a competitor, in order to gain the talents defined by competing organizations. Further, the findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between a successful retention process and employee performance (Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
The third driver, Required competencies, includes general business competencies, cross- cultural competencies, and knowledge workers (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). General business competencies include skills and abilities required for most managerial jobs, such as communication skills, ability to interact with demanding customers, the ability to use sophisticated technology and motivation to perform under change, as well as to adapt during adjustments. The cross-cultural competencies include stable competencies, such as personality and characteristics and abilities that are consistent over time, for example, how individuals feel, think, and behave. Cross-cultural competencies also include dynamic competencies, such as knowledge and skills about cultural differences. These competencies are not consistent over time and can be acquired through learning and international travels. Lastly, knowledge workers, including the people who have special skills developed through extensive education and training, as well as being capable of having a significant impact on the organization's success (Tarique and Schuler, 2010).
Further, the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) suggests three major sets of HRM activities; attracting talent (recruitment and selection), retaining talent (performance management and compensation activities), and developing talent (training and career development). These major activities are viewed as the core of a GTM system. Further, the
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authors argue that adopting a strategic perspective allows the examination of how these activities fit together (Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
2.2.2 GTM System Attracting Talent
Attracting talent includes three major strategies, (1) developing HR reputation, (2) attracting employees with an interest in international work, and (3) recruiting vis-a-vis positions (i.e talent pool strategy) (Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
HR reputation refers to the shared evaluation of the organizations' HR philosophies, practices, and policies, and has become a significantly increasing aspect of building organizational capability (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). It can refer to the identification and examination of factors at an organizational (e.g size), and individual (e.g. personality) level, influencing potential applicant’s attraction to the organization. More specifically, the work involves how organizations develop a compelling recruitment brand for attracting talent from diverse populations (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). Attracting employees with an interest in international work has been defined as a possible strategy for global organizations (Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
As a response, global organizations need to understand factors affecting the attractiveness to international work, such as self-efficacy, family attachment, and marital status. The last activity, the use of a talent pool, refers to the activity of recruiting the very best people (Tarique &
Schuler, 2010). These people will be associated with the talent pool, and will in a later stage, be selected for a position. Rather than the organizations trying to hire external specific employees for specific positions. This means that organizations need to be very selective when hiring, to only gain the very best people into their talent pool.
Developing Talent
The work of developing talent is vital in GTM, as Tarique and Schuler (2010) reveal that the organizations shown to be outstanding in managing talent, make leadership development part of their culture and actively involve leaders in the process. Tarique and Schuler (2010), describe the development of talent within the context of GTM are often referred to as the development of executives with global leadership responsibilities. The work of developing talent can involve the identification of required competencies and the creation of a model to help develop the competencies needed to work effectively in a global environment. The general assumption, that
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everyone benefits equally from development activities are being challenged, as Tarique and Schuler (2010) argue that organizations should focus on identifying the employees with the necessary characteristics, and provide development activities to those specific employees being identified. Thus, Tarique and Schuler (2010) argue that organizations need to evaluate who will benefit most from different sorts of development activities, rather than believing the development process will benefit all. Additionally, it is declared that development activities may only be effective if the employees are predisposed to success to begin with.
Retaining Talent
There are two major policies when implementing the work of retaining talent, the first is to reduce repatriate turnover and the second to increase employee engagement (Tarique &
Schuler, 2010). Globalization has expanded the assignments of employees, as global positions are more integrated into the career of individuals, making it a tool for organizations when attracting, developing, and retaining talent. However, repatriate turnover is a contingent issue facing global organizations. Tarique and Schuler (2010) argue that certain factors have an impact on the employees' tendency to stay within the organization. Tarique and Schuler (2010) highlight the importance of facilitating the return of employees who have had a global mission for the company. Facilitating the return makes the employees less likely to leave the organization, due to the perceived justice and satisfaction of treatment received from the repatriation process performed by the organization. Research on employee engagement has shown increased levels of engagement in global organizations which encourage retention of employees (i.e the organization's high-valued talent), leading to improved organizational performance (Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
2.2.3 GTM Effectiveness
Handling the GTM systems of attracting, developing, and retaining talent in a successful way by using the right HRM activities, can create GTM effectiveness. The framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) declares that framing the topic of effectiveness regards utilizing and integrating appropriate HRM practices and policies that enhance overall performance. Such practices and policies are based on several criteria, both long term and short term oriented. The authors present the three criteria; improve HRs impact, competitive advantage, and talent positioning.
14 Improve HR’s Impact
Three specific challenges are studied in the field of improving HRs impact; the need for alignment, developing talent management metrics, and building talent management scorecards (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). In regard to alignment, the article reveals that HR professionals spend a great deal of time on formulating and managing traditional HR activities, for example, activities such as recruiting, training, and performance appraisals. However, the professionals often fail in systematically linking these activities to the overall strategies and directions. It is shown that HR departments often underperform in organizations where the focus and capabilities are not tightly aligned with the critical business priorities and strategies. When analyzing talent metrics, a few common mistakes, often encountered by managers, are discussed (Tarique & Schuler, 2010). These mistakes are often related to identifying, monitoring, and implementing important talent metrics that are right for the specific organization. Talent metrics can include, for example, talent brand mapping, strategic readiness of individual talent, employee satisfaction, work motivation, employee-recruit gap analysis, and employee commitment. Tarique and Schuler (2010) declare that a few studies have attempted to develop a talent-based scorecard focusing on becoming the employer of choice, by sustaining employee commitment and developing a culture that includes high performance.
Competitive Advantage
In regard to competitive advantage, Tarique and Schuler (2010) reveal that challenges within GTM in complex and global organizations are extensive, and the drivers for such challenges significant and complicated. However, complex organizations have the opportunity to gain and sustain, a global competitive advantage if creating HRM activities to meet such challenges.
This since the findings reveal that organizations that can manage to create activities to successfully meet the challenges can gain a real source of competitive advantage. The process is difficult, however, if succeeding in this topic, the activities will be hard to copy by competitors. Tarique and Schuler (2010) urge the need for activities that can create this advantage over time, thus, sustain it in the future.
Organizations should start by formulating HRM activities to develop the appropriate talent. If successful with this first step, Tarique and Schuler (2010) argue that it will facilitate the development of more appropriate HRM activities, as they are likely to come more naturally.
Additionally, developing HRM activities can, in turn, result in stronger management and HR leadership, which in turn can be even more enhanced by programs and operations which are
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specifically designed to develop and train HR managers and overall leaders (Tarique & Schuler, 2010).
Talent Positioning
Tarique and Schuler (2010) display a third result from successfully handling the challenges of GTM. This derives from having the right talent at the right place, at the right time and with the competencies and motivation needed, at all levels of the organization. Tarique and Schuler (2010) conceptualize this as talent positioning. Highlighting the importance of succeeding with the development of a “bench strength” (e.g, a number of employees and competence ready to fill vacant positions). Bench strength should be developed in all current and future positions and locations, both unanticipated and anticipated. This would lead to the result that the organization would have the needed supply of employees both at the right place and at the right time. Further, it ensures loyalty, aiding retention.
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3. Methodology
The following chapter introduces the research method and explicitly explains how we have collected and categorized relevant literature using a thematic literature review as a method, in order to enhance the model by Tarique and Schuler (2010). We argue for our hybrid approach, using both conceptual reasoning together with our literature review, in order to answer the research question and meet the purpose of the study.
3.1 Conceptual Paper
Our study aims at investigating the relevance of the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010), and to present how current literature conceptualizes Global Talent Management (GTM).
Conceptual papers seek to bridge existing theories in interesting and new ways, provide multi- level insights, and broaden the scope of our thinking (Gilson & Goldberg, 2015). Further, a conceptual paper usually focuses on developing logical and complete arguments for interrelationships between concepts, rather than testing them empirically. Our study is conceptual in the sense that we treat scholarly articles as secondary data that deals with theoretical concepts and presents empirical findings. We use those articles to identify changes in the literature related to the conceptualization of GTM that emerged after the year of 2010.
This to provide more conceptual depth to the existing theory and to examine the current conceptualization of GTM, through a theoretical perspective.
3.2 Literature Review
A literature review is made when examining previous or current published materials (Grant &
Booth, 2009). There are certain characteristics in common when conducting a literature review, in general terms it can be explained as it “[...] involves some process for identifying materials for potential inclusion— whether or not requiring a formal literature search—for selecting included materials, for synthesizing them in textual, tabular or graphical form and for making some analysis of their contribution or value.” (Grant & Booth, 2009, p. 97). Using this approach can contribute to an inquiry of identifying and enhancing previous conceptualizations, avoiding duplicates, and finding research gaps.
3.3 Hybrid Approach
As it comes to the methodological approach of this study, we deliberated which methodology and research approach should be conducted to address our research problem. Since we aim at
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enhancing and developing an already existing framework, we concluded that it is an exploratory study. Exploratory research questions are especially useful when trying to clarify the understanding of a phenomenon or problem (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016; Creswell, 2007). Further, exploratory research often commences with a broad focus of a topic but becomes narrower during the research progress (Saunders et al., 2016).
In addition, a merger of a literature review and a conceptual paper was reasonable to adopt in order to find relevant sources regarding the topic and to answer our research question. Thus, this thesis consists of a hybrid approach where we conduct the methodology of a thematic literature review to collect data. Further, to synthesis our findings, conceptual reasoning takes part in the study as we want to develop the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) based on relevant articles published during the last decade and synthesize newly emerged internal drivers of GTM.
3.4 Developing a Conceptual Model
As a result of our research, we seek to update the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) by presenting a logical and integrated conceptual model containing the same components as their framework from 2010. However, the internal factors affecting these drivers may have changed due to the rapid changes in the global context, giving us reason to investigate articles published after 2010. This to examine whether Tarique and Schulers’ model from 2010 is still relevant.
According to Gilson and Goldberg (2015), a conceptual model can provide the reader with a simple and clear description of the author’s view of how the factors are related. The conceptual model of this project aims at facilitating future research within GTM by identifying current internal drivers within the field and logically organizing them.
Given that we are developing the theoretical framework proposed by Tarique and Schuler in 2010, the principle of theory-building can be considered to ensure a solid basis for our thesis and further research. Imenda (2014, p. 186) describe the theory as “a set of interrelated propositions, concepts and definitions that present a systematic point of view of specifying relationships between variables with a view to predicting and explaining phenomena”, cited by Fox and Bayat (2007, p. 29). Theory-building refers to the process or cycle by which such propositions and concepts are generated, tested, and refined (Gioia & Pitre, 1990). Since the aim of a conceptual model is to synthesis how the concepts are interrelated, it could provide the basis for subsequent theory-building. Whetten (1989) suggests four building blocks within a theory; constructs, propositions, logic, and boundary conditions/assumptions to explain the
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questions on what, how, why, who, when, and where. According to Bhattacherjee (2012), constructs capture the “what” of theories, for example, what concepts are essential for explaining a phenomenon. Propositions capture the “how”, explaining how these concepts are related, while logic presents the “why”, (i.e, why the concepts are related). Lastly, conditions/assumptions explain the “who, when and where”, meaning it examines under what circumstances these concepts and relationships will work.
Due to our conceptual reasoning approach, the theory principles mentioned above involve our understanding of the related concepts and answer the questions of “who” and “what” in relation to our research problem. Further, conceptual reasoning needs to consider the questions about
“how” and “why” the chosen concepts are related (Gilson & Goldberg, 2015). Based on the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) and through our literature review, we conclude how other scholars whose work is published during the years 2010-2020, consider how and why the interrelation between GTM and Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is challenging. Our aim with conducting a logical model is to provide both a clear understanding of the concepts and to enhance the framework of Tarique and Schuler (2010) with internal challenges that have grown in literature over the past decade. We argue that this can lead to the creation of a solid base useful for future research, explicitly, for research conducting an empirical study, where the model can be tested in a real-life context.
3.5 The Inquiry Process of Relevant Literature
A challenge we faced in our literature review was to find and use the right articles to be able to build a logical and transparent model. Gilson and Goldberg (2015, p.128) argue that “a good conceptual piece starts with an overview of the domain and the state of the science; what do we know, where have we come from, and what are the areas yet to be examined”. In a conceptual paper, the review is not the single focus, however, the review section needs to be tightly focused toward the concepts at hand. In our case, the focus is on narratives and keywords used in the article by Tarique and Schuler (2010) when describing and explaining internal drivers within GTM.
The process of examining the literature and the logic used to form models need to be transparent and replicable (Saunders et al., 2016). Additionally, the inquiry process of how and why we collect certain literature needs to be clear to be able to evaluate the validity of the conceptual model. According to Saunders et al. (2016), this process includes distinctly explaining how the
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data is being collected and categorized to make the study replicable to others. The process of how we collected our data is further explained under the paragraphs Thematic Literature Review.
3.5.1 Thematic Literature Review
We started by gaining an overview of the concept of GTM and found several interesting sources, for example, the work of; King (2015); Mellahi and Collings (2010); Collings et al.
(2019); Farndale et al. (2010) and Tarique and Schuler (2010). After a more critical examination of the literature, we found that GTM often was related to an organization's strategy. Thus, we read articles regarding the field of SHRM, GTM, and the interrelation between them and concluded that organizations often fail with handling their talents effectively. While the reason for such failures was still relatively unknown (Mellahi & Collings, 2010), constituting an underdeveloped area within the academic field of the study. This finding led us to further examine the area in this direction. We identified the article by Tarique and Schuler (2010) as relevant for our interest and chose to have their framework as the basis for our thesis.
A review of existing literature in a field is often done by using keywords when searching for articles in online databases (Bhattacherjee, 2012). In order to gain transparency and replicability of this research project, we conducted a table, (see Appendix A) where our search process including databases, keywords, article type, is clearly stated. Our approach to identify and collect the relevant literature for our study was to use databases of scientific journals and articles. We chose the databases; SCOPUS, Science Direct, and EBSCO to find relevant literature since these databases often are used for papers within the field of organizational research.
In the first search, the search criteria used were published in the English language, peer- reviewed, the publication year 2010-2020, and ‘Article’ type (see Appendix A). To gain an overview of the topic via online databases, our first search for articles included the keywords:
“Global Talent Management” OR “Talent Management” OR Human Resource Management”.
The second search set included the keyword “Strategic Human Resource Management” and the third “Challenges”. These keywords were used as they were commonly expressed in the article by Tarique and Schuler (2010), from which we based our thesis. Even though Tarique and Schuler (2010) express GTM systems as related to International Human Resource Management (IHRM), they also use SHRM as a concept related to GTM. The difference is that IHRM focuses
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on both internal and external drivers for GTM, while SHRM mainly focuses on internal drivers.
The reason why we opted for SHRM as a keyword, rather than IHRM, was that we wanted to collect articles mainly focusing on internal factors affecting GTM.
A fourth search was conducted where the previous three search sets were combined, from which the total sample generated from the three databases were 282 articles. In the sample of 282 articles, duplicates were searched for and removed. We read the abstract to make sure the aim was relevant for our research and the keywords not used in a different context. After the duplicates and articles not relevant for our study were removed, the sample generated was 136 articles. The next step was to read the introduction and conclusion of these articles to identify if these articles had some discussion regarding internal drivers and challenges related to GTM.
The final sample chosen to analyze further consisted of 38 articles (see Appendix B).
3.6 Selection Criteria
In order to select relevant articles for our study, selection criteria are used as all papers appearing from our search in the databases are not suitable for answering the research question of this study. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are therefore used to make sure the identified papers are relevant and can contribute to our research. According to Randolph (2009), a review of articles includes the determination of criteria for inclusion and exclusion. Meaning that early in the process it needs to be determined which articles will be included and which will be excluded in the review. The criteria are influenced by the review’s focus, goals, and coverage of the research. Defining and following inclusion criteria guide researchers in the right direction without deviations, while exclusion criteria confirm the removal of unnecessary articles in a valid way (Randolph, 2009).
3.6.1 Inclusion Criteria
The criteria listed below are chosen since articles providing insights about internal drivers with GTM, relating this to SHRM, are needed to answer our research question. In order to analyze the articles, we had to include the criteria of full online access and English language. Further, as this study is not new to the Talent Management field, and we want to enhance the framework by Tarique and Schuler, conducted in the year of 2010, the research papers need to be selected from the years "2010 to 2020". The papers who appeared from our search in the databases and fulfill the following factors are included in this paper:
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· Articles providing information about internal factors with GTM, related to the activities of attracting, developing and retaining employees
· Papers that relate GTM to organizations’ strategy or work with SHRM
· The articles to which we could gain full-text access
· Articles published in the English language
· Articles published between the years of 2010-2020
3.6.2 Exclusion Criteria
When identifying the inclusion criteria needed to conduct this study, the exclusion criteria derived naturally. These criteria are used to remove unnecessary articles, not relevant for our study, in a valid way. The papers which appeared in the search string and did not fulfill the inclusion criteria are excluded from the study. Thus:
· The papers which did not contribute to the research question of this study
· Articles published in another language than English
· Articles published before the year of 2010
· Papers we could not gain full access to online
· Duplicates and repeated papers related to this study
3.6.3 Flowchart
The flowchart presents our process of finding the relevant articles for our study. The same keywords; Global Talent Management, Talent Management, Human Resource Management, Challenges were used for all database searches.
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Fig. 2 - Flowchart presenting the inquiry process of relevant literature
3.7 Data Analysis
Data analysis includes the identification of similarities, differences, formations, and patterns (Bell & Waters, 2016). The 38 articles chosen for further analysis (see Appendix B) were read thoroughly and summarized in order to find key narratives relevant to our research question.
The different articles were continuously discussed in order to identify new themes emerging in current GTM literature. The newly emerged themes were summarized in order to get a clear
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overview. The themes and conceptualizations often occurring in the literature were then analyzed in relation to the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) to find similarities or differences regarding internal GTM drivers. The similarities and differences were additionally discussed since some of the internal drivers stated in the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) was reoccurring in the current literature. Further, both the reoccurring and newly emerged internal drivers were conceptualized in a conceptual model, presented in chapter 6, The New GTM Framework.
3.8 Quality Appraisal
As we want to ensure the validity of our study and display high credibility towards the reader of the thesis, we want to display the reasons leading us to include the chosen literature of our thesis. We chose to use a thematic method for acquiring data, in order to be transparent about the process. We argue that this creates the high credibility and validity of our study. We critically assessed the reviewed literature, making sure they were valid, relevant for the research field, and fitting for our research problem. Each study was summarised according to authors and year of publication. One criterion when choosing articles for further analysis was that they needed to address drivers affecting challenges regarding the topic of GTM and strategy. Thus, the articles focusing on simply explaining the concepts of GTM, TM, or SHRM, were not included for further analysis.
3.9 Overview of Selected Literature
The articles mentioned in Appendix B are the basis for our result and the building of our conceptual model, representing the newly emerged internal drivers conceptualized in current GTM literature. The sources reflected themes consistently emerging in the analysis as prominent in regard to internal drivers affecting challenges when working with GTM in relation to organizational strategy.
See Table 1 in Appendix B.
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4. Result
This chapter presents our results found from the literature review. The articles chosen to be analyzed will be used to enhance the existing literature and build upon the integrative framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010). This thesis will merely analyze the identified internal drivers affecting Global Talent Management (GTM) systems, e.g attracting, developing, and retaining talent, and attempt to identify newly emerged challenges within these systems in relation to Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Fig. 3 - Summary of the themes presented in the result
The sub-paragraphs under each theme, attracting talent, developing talent, retaining talent, and a differentiated HR architecture, will be presented in the wording most used in the analyzed articles. This to present how the internal drivers affecting Global Talent Management (GTM) are being conceptualized in current literature. If and how these concepts are presented in the framework by Tarique and Schuler (2010) will be presented continuously.
4.1 Attracting Talent
Anastasiu et al. (2020) and Vural, Vardalier, and Ayker (2012) define attracting talent as one of the most difficult challenges among organizations. This since the activity of attracting the right people has vital importance to the organizations' performance. The study by King and Vaiman (2019) reveals that the work with both attracting and managing talent is on some level determined by the organizations' talent philosophy. The work will differ, depending on if an organization has an exclusive or inclusive view on talent.
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4.1.1 Talent Philosophy
Tarique and Schuler (2010) mention that further research is needed on the field of inclusiveness regarding talents, to investigate how the definitions impact the work with GTM. However, talent definition as an internal driver is not included in their framework from 2010. Several scholars discuss the issue of talent definitions in regard to GTM (King & Vaiman, 2019;
Bolander et al., 2017; Swailes, Downs & Orr, 2014; Cappelli & Keller, 2014; Thunnissen, Boselie & Fruytier, 2013; Mellahi & Collings, 2010). Implying that talent definition is a driver affecting the internal strategic work with GTM.
According to a literature review by Thunnissen et al. (2013), organizations need to consider the dimensions they are working in, before deciding on how to define their talent philosophy. There are two dimensions; one is used for dividing talent and one for differentiating the workforce.
The first dimension regarding defining the talent has a subject or object perspective on talent.
The subject approach views talent as people and the object approach links talent to characteristics of people, namely abilities, knowledge, and/or competencies (Thunnissen et al., 2013). The other dimension, which is discussed more often by scholars, is used when differentiating talent in the workforce, using the terms of exclusive and inclusive philosophy (King & Vaiman, 2019; Bolander et al., 2017; Cappelli & Keller, 2014; Thunnissen et al., 2013). Within the exclusive philosophy, there is a specific definition regarding which employees are seen as a talent. In this perspective, the employees who possess specific characteristics, skills, and knowledge that the organization has defined as valuable, are managed as a strategic resource. In the inclusive view on talent, the full workforce is considered to be the organization's “talent” (Bolander et al., 2017; Thunnissen et al., 2013). A study by Mellahi and Collings (2010) argues that organizations often fail to achieve a sufficient talent definition. For such a philosophy to be successful and contribute to the organizations’ work with GTM, the organization needs to be able to define the skills and characteristics needed for an employee to be seen as a talent.
The result by Festing, Schäfer, and Scullion (2013) indicates that small- and medium-sized businesses often prefer a more inclusive approach when managing talent, where most employees are targeted as talents. In contrast, larger, multinational enterprises favor a more exclusive, elitist approach to talent (Festing et al., 2013). Swailes et al. (2014, p. 531-532) agree,
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have specified the view on talent definitions, implying that everyone cannot be seen as a talent in an organization, at least not in large and established organizations:
“[...] talented employees can only exist in relation to others in the workforce, then, in large organizations, the vast majority of employees cannot be talented, by definition.”
The scholars highlight the need for large, global, and complex organizations to work with an exclusive view of talent (Swailes et al., 2014). Mainly focusing on a few key employees that are viewed as talents. However, it is argued, that if smaller businesses were to recruit only the best out of a group of candidates that has the right ability, the business could state that they have an inclusive view on talent, since, in relation to all other employees, that specific recruited workforce is truly viewed as the talents (Swailes et al., 2014).
If organizations were to adopt the inclusive approach to talent, it would suggest that all employees can develop their full potential on work-related abilities (Swailes et al., 2014).
Nevertheless, the inclusive approach creates a challenge for organizations, since they would have to find jobs that fit all the employees' talents. If compared to the exclusive, more strategic approach to talent, organizations find employees that have the ability to develop the organization towards its fullest potential (Swailes et al., 2014). Turning these two philosophies against each other, and comparing them from the perspective of ethics, another challenge derives from the exclusive approach. Literature reveals that the ethics regarding how to manage the elitist talents, and the neglected employees become an issue (Swailes, 2013). The identification of the high-performing employees whose contribution to the organizations is above standard, or finding the employees with the potential to become high-performing, must be fair in order to fit into the organization's ethical standard.
4.1.2 Identification of Key Positions and Core Employees
Tarique and Schuler (2010) state in their framework that talent metrics are a vital part of GTM, which HR-managers often fail in implementing. In talent metrics, Tarique and Schuler (2010) discuss that factors such as talent brand mapping, strategic readiness of individual talent, employee satisfaction, work motivation, employee-recruit gap analysis, and employee commitment are used in order to improve HRs’ impact. However, from our analysis of current literature, we have not identified any scholars that correlate these factors to the wording of talent metrics. However, the work with talent brand mapping and an employee-recruitment gap is
