This article examines the reallocation of human resource management responsibilities from HR specialists to line managers in UK public sector organisations in an increasingly regulated working environment. It uses evidence about the extent and scope of HR devolution in a large unitary city council, the British Library and a county probationary service. Based on the perceptions of senior managers, middle managers, HR specialists and the trade union representatives, it specifically explores: the issues devolution raises about the HR responsibilities of line managers; the experience of HR devolution in the public sector; and the impact of a more externally regulated and litigious workplace on continuing devolution.

In this essay we offer a critical investigation of talent management practices (TMP), which is an increasingly influential concept in contemporary organisations. We try to show how these organisational practices could have both a negative and a positive ethical impact on those identified as ‘talent’ within organisations. A critical analysis of how talent is defined, and how this impacts on individuals’ capacities for ethical reflection, allows us to highlight the ethical ambiguity inherent in talent management (TM). We then highlight examples of some ‘bad’ consequences of TM, and explore some ‘good’ counter‐examples. To highlight what may be ‘possible’ in talent management, we propose a more constructive relationship between talent management and ethics based on two dimensions: (1) the acceptance of ambiguity and personal struggle and (2) the development of more qualitative approaches to performance that could enable a better understanding of and sensitivity towards the broader context within which organisations function.

The results of this qualitative study of international talent show that although the acquisition of career capital through international assignments is perceived to be desirable both from an individual and organisational perspective, the global mobility needs and preferences of these two parties rarely coincide. This is due to the fact that individual mobility requirements come in cycles aligned to life cycle stages whereas organisational mobility needs ebb and flow like waves in response to perceived threats and opportunities. This presents opportunities and challenges for individuals in the acquisition and utilisation of career capital to balance work and non-work related demands in their global Kaleidoscope Careers. The role of HRM is to facilitate this process through mentoring, networking and other opportunities to engage in storying enabling employees to accommodate their changing needs at different life cycle stages. Failure to offer such support can manifest itself in demotivation, business performance issues as well as difficulties in terms of diversity and inclusion. Thus this paper offers a contribution to academic literature in the field of career theory as well as international Human Resource Management professional practice.

In this paper we provide a commentary on the article in this special issue by [authors' names] on the relevance of context to the field of talent management. We agree that further research is needed to explore the link between macro, meso and micro-level considerations. The authors pose a question in relation to the contribution of talent management to the social and moral development of society; which, for us, raises issues as to the extent to which individual agency in ethical issues is possible in environments designed to regulate and control talent. We concur that a more critical, pluralist approach to talent management scholarship is needed and that talent management should go beyond a mere economic exchange. We suggest, as yet unexplored, notions of strategic exchange, and individual identity provide a richer picture of the employment relationship. Thus this paper raises a number of possible directions for future TM research.

In the workplace, demand for globally mobile workers continues to grow. This article examines the consequences for the individual of being named as global talent. Findings from a qualitative study within a large, multinational organisation, reveal the identity struggles these individuals engage in as they seek to reconcile the tensions inherent in such challenging careers. By combining and building on extant literature in naming, identity and global talent, the article offers a greater understanding of the lived experiences of global talent, as they construct and re-construct their identities in an on-going cycle. By drawing on the emerging field of socio-onomastics, a greater understanding of the meaning and connotations of being named as global talent is offered. By highlighting how names do not merely mirror identities, but are negotiated and resisted through a process of identity work, a contribution is made to the fields of identity studies and global talent management.