Responsible talent management: towards guiding principles

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>This article addresses three concerns about the operationalization and possible effects of exclusive talent management; the core assumptions that underpin and shape talent practices, the problem of fair talent identification and potentially adverse employee reactions.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>This is a conceptual paper that integrates empirical research on talent and talent management with ideas from business ethics.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>Organizations should not simply assume that they meet the underlying assumptions of talent management. Where the assumptions can reasonably be shown to be valid, then a framework based on a set of principles is suggested to guide organizational approaches towards responsible talent management.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title><jats:p>The article provides talent practitioners with a set of principles, or at least some substantive suggestions, to be considered in the design of socially responsible talent management programmes and in programme evaluation.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Social implications</jats:title><jats:p>The article provides guidance for organizations wishing to improve the care of their workforce in relation to strategies of employee differentiation based on performance and potential.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>Despite the burgeoning literature on talent management, the topic has not received much attention from an ethical and socially responsible viewpoint. This article adds to that literature and suggests further research particularly concerning the existence of real talent differences on which the entire talent management project is based.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Exploring the determinants of an organisational talent culture for a Botswanan local government institution

“…Consequently, the government institution will find it challenging to display the required individual behaviour to deliver trustworthy and ethical services to the public (Andersson 2019;Molina & McKeown 2012;Pereira et al 2015). Moreover, a lack of institutional values can also prevent the ethical and socially responsible implementation of talent management practices to ensure a healthy and sustainable workforce (Swailes 2020). Without a strong value foundation, the government institution will fail to create the talent value proposition required to attract and retain talent (Saurombe 2017).…”

“…Swailes, Downs and Orr (2014) advise that inclusive talents need to be deployed in a position that best fits those talents. This requires an ethical and socially responsible implementation of talent practices, including fair talent identification practices, realistic and non-discriminatory talent descriptions, the provision of visible talent management programmes and monitoring the progress and well-being of employee talent (Swailes 2020). Talent culture also plays a mediating role between talent identification, talent competence development and talent retention (Dass, Muthaly & Annakis 2015).…”

Identifying talent: public organisation with skewed performance scores

“…What made the difference between scenarios was the employee performance data. The classification of employee performance based on the standard deviation is used by Young and Dulewicz (2005), Getha-Taylor (2008) and Swailes (2020), while the percentile criteria are recommended by Boyatzis (2009).…”

“…It is questionable whether it is appropriate to use percentiles – as pointed out in the regulation – instead of the standard deviation when grouping employee performance scores. In the HRM literature, superior performers can be statistically identified as employees with performance scores one standard deviation above the average (see Hunter et al , 1990; Spencer and Spencer, 1993; Young and Dulewicz, 2005; Netemeyer et al , 2010; Swailes, 2020). However, in the case of the GoWJP, applying the standard deviation approach cannot always guarantee that one will find the group of superior performers because of a relatively high standard deviation in the data.…”

More responsible talent management

“…The review is based on: “Responsible talent management: towards guiding principles” by Swailes (2020 ), published in Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance. Effective management of talent can positively impact on firm performance.…”