In search of global talent: is South Asia ready?

Abstract

Purpose – Using human capital theory and resource-based view (RBV), the authors argue that individuals and societies derive economic benefits from investments in people (Becker, 1992; Sweetland, 1996), thus effective management of talent is critical for economic development (Lepak and Snell, 2002; Khilji, 2012a). Next, the authors review governmental policies in three of the world's most populous countries, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, in order to highlight their national talent development efforts. The authors discuss how each country is meeting the challenge of making the talent they own, as well as buying diaspora talent in order to strengthen their local capabilities. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopted a comparative analysis approach in order to frame our arguments and discussion. Findings – The paper finds that Bangladesh, India and Pakistan have implemented a wide range of initiatives, from skill development programs to citizenship policies for its diaspora, in order to upgrade their local capabilities. In addition, these countries are simultaneously using inclusive, exclusive, and subject dimensions (Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2013) in developing their national talent. The paper highlights prevalence of the paradox of development and retention particularly in Bangladesh and Pakistan, where youth is also being trained to emigrate. Research limitations/implications – Global talent management (GTM) has become an increasingly important policy initiative, in view of a global generational divide that will require youth-rich emerging economies and aging developed countries to implement policies that help them meet global talent needs. Originality/value – This commentary advances a macro GTM view, and argues in favor of promoting a policy perspective to better connect policy, research and practice that may lead to maximizing human potential globally and addressing global talent shortages.

Analysis of skill gap for business graduates: managerial perspective from banking industry

“…Pakistan is an important player in global talent hunt because of large supply of people. How talent is developed here is important globally for policy makers, practitioners and researchers (Khilji and Keilson, 2014). Literature reveals that a gap exists between expectations of employers and performance of fresh library science (Warraich and Ameen, 2011), marketing (Saeed, 2015) and business graduates (Amen, 2014) in Pakistan.…”

Does gender matter? Gender talent migration and its implication for talent management

“…We used Russian graduates as a unit of analysis. Graduates are young talents who represent a key human capital source for organizations and countries (Khilji and Keilson, 2014) and thus should be considered when designing TM framework (McCracken et al , 2016; Khilji and Schuler, 2017). The choice of graduates as respondents is justified by the implementation of the inclusive approach to talent definition according to which all employees are considered to have their strengths and thus can be included in talent pools (Gallardo-Gallardo et al , 2013; Makarem et al , 2019).…”

Guest editorial

“…If qualified and skilled, then this population is likely to be in high demand in future global labor market (Khilji, 2012; Khilji and Keilson, 2014; Khilji et al , 2015). Recent reviews of national talent development initiatives indicate that South Asian countries, particularly Pakistan and Bangladesh, are acutely aware of a long-standing “leadership deficit” there, with many reports indicating that the young have a growing level of anxiety about renewal of leadership (Khilji and Keilson, 2014; Masood, 2013). To address this, respective governments have implemented a wide range of leadership development initiatives.…”