Talent management: four “buying versus making” talent development approaches

Abstract

PurposeThis paper presents a typology exploring employers’ perceptions of the quality of available applicants and employers decisions to buy qualified staff vs. to hire available workers and then make i.e. develop them via employer-supported training.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses 2015 survey data from Southwestern Ontario, Canada, based on responses from 834 employers regarding their hiring, separations, training and other HRM policies.FindingsAmong surveyed employers, 10% are “Reliants” who found the quality of available applicants to be low, yet these employers do not provide employee training. Almost half of employers (at 45%) are “Developers” who find the quality of applicants to be low but they do provide employee training. Approximately, 7% of employers are “Poachers” who find that the quality of applicants is high and do not provide employee training, while 38% are Refiners, who find the quality of applicants is high and they provide employee training.Originality/valueEmployers need to make their training decisions in alignment with their assessment of the quality of job applicants to whom they have access. In this paper, decisions on training and applicant quality are considered concurrently. From an academic viewpoint, the findings raise the issue as to whether other stakeholders (such as educational institutions) are sufficiently helping individuals gain the skills, credentials and work experiences that employers are seeking. If job openings are remaining unfilled because employers are unwilling to hire those available, then applicants lose, employers lose and societies lose.

Investigating turnover intention in a financial organisation in Gauteng

“…Other than poor working conditions or working under toxic leaders, educated employees had a turnover intention due to the high demands imposed upon them within the financial labour market (De Gieter & Hofmans, 2015). The downside of losing educated and skilled workers is that the financial organisation loses its competitive edge and incurs the cost of attracting talented and educated employees (Cooke et al, 2022). Not only do they incur talent acquisition costs, but also talent development costs (Bussin, 2018).…”

A paradox perspective on talent management: a multi-level analysis of paradoxes and their responses in talent management

“…The tensions around global integration and local responsiveness are also present in the context of highly skilled migration when attracting the best international talent may be in conflict with policies related to developing and utilizing local talent (Green & Hogarth, 2017). This also addresses a paradoxical situation in terms of buying vs. making talent (Cooke et al, 2022;Groysberg et al, 2008) referring to the dilemma around recruiting talent from outside vs. developing talent from within.…”

Are people the greatest asset: talent management in SME hotels in Nigeria during the COVID-19 crisis

“…According to Glaister et al, (2018), TM approaches that are focused on building networks to develop and share expertise will result in better organisational performance. It has been argued that individuals who have engaged in global mobility have access to more networks than those who do not (Crane and Hartwell, 2019;Mäkelä and Suutari, 2013) When seeking to develop a balanced portfolio of talent within an organisation, leaders buy-in or develop talent or do both (Cooke et al, 2021). A reliance on buying in talent alone, however, is not held to offer firms a sustainable source of competitive advantage as without training and development they may choose to leave the organisation leading to a decreased imitability of human assets (Ambrosius, 2018).…”

“…When seeking to develop a balanced portfolio of talent within an organisation, leaders buy-in or develop talent or do both (Cooke et al , 2021). A reliance on buying in talent alone, however, is not held to offer firms a sustainable source of competitive advantage as without training and development they may choose to leave the organisation leading to a decreased imitability of human assets (Ambrosius, 2018).…”

“…The over-reliance on buying in rather than growing talent (Cooke et al , 2021) means that hotel owners cannot necessarily develop a proactive approach to TM. Instead of benefitting from balancing their talent stocks and flows (Crane and Hartwell, 2019), they may be limiting their sustainability and ability to grow in the longer term.…”