Framework of Talent Management: Example of the United States
Interest in talent management (TM) in the business context and the macro (global) context increased significantly in the 1990s when a group of McKinsey consultants coined the phrase, ‘war for talent’ in late 1990s to emphasize the critical importance of employees to the success of top performing companies (Michaels, Hanfield-Jones, & Axelford, 2001; Scullion & Collings, 2016). While certainly important, it tends to focus mainly on the individual and organizational levels, and minimizes several macro or country factors of the global environment that are proving to be invaluable for TM at the individual and organizational levels (Khilji & Schuler, 2017; Khilji, Tarique & Schuler, 2015; Oxford Economics, 2014; Strack, et al., 2011). This is despite the long-standing interest in talent management in the global context, or the macro (country) level. In particular, non-governmental organizations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF), IMD’s World Competitiveness Center, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development began publishing reports about the importance of talent, education and quality of a country’s workforce in the 1980s.
Since then several studies have highlighted the macro, country, view of talent management (Khilji and Schuler, 2017; Sparrow, Brewster & Chung, 2017; Cooke, Saini & Wang, 2014; The Economist, 2013; Heidrick & Struggles, 2007; 2011; Khilji et. al, 2015; Oxford Economics, 2014; WEF, Human Capital Reports, 2013; 2015; 2016; Lanvin and Evans, 2014; 2015; 2017). These studies and reports showed that many governments have joined the hunt for global talent by developing immigrant friendly policies. Some governments have also been luring back skilled diaspora, and many others have been making serious investments in education and human development of their own citizens with the purpose of spurring economic growth by upgrading local capabilities and building innovative capacities for the firms in their countries (Lanvin & Evans, 2014; 2015; 2017; Evans & Lanvin, 2015; Khilji et. al., 2015; Ragazzi, 2014).
Active involvement of various governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and several consulting firms, in attracting and developing talent makes TM truly a global issue, which reaches beyond a single organization and its talent management activities. It draws attention to complexity of the macro environment within which organizations develop their talent management systems, and individuals make career choices (Khilji & Schuler, 2016; Khilji et. al., 2015; Khilji & Keilson, 2014). It incorporates cross border flow of talent, diaspora mobility, and government policies to attract, grow, develop and retain the talent nationally for innovation, productivity and competitiveness, which facilitates talent management activities within organizations.
It is, therefore, important that the scope of talent management (TM) extend beyond an individual and organizational analysis to incorporate the macro level in order to fully comprehend the complexities of managing talent in today’s globalized world, where organizations are not only competing with each other but where governments, organizations and their societies have also joined the race (Sparrow, et al., 2017; Lanvin & Evans, 2014; 2015; 2017; Ragazzi, 2014; The Economist, 2011;). As such, we propose definition of macro TM (MTM) as:
Factors such as the demographics, the economic, educational, social and political conditions of countries and the policies, programs and activities that are systematically developed by governmental and non-governmental organizations expressly for the purpose of enhancing the quality and quantity of talent within and across countries and regions to facilitate productivity, innovation and competitiveness of their domestic and multinational enterprises for the benefit of their citizens, organizations, and societies for long term advantage.
By promoting the macro perspective, we want to broaden the scope of TM beyond its current main focus (on the individual and organizational levels). What we are describing, therefore, is not “global talent management” (which is focused on the individual and organizational levels), but talent management in the global context, which is focused on the macro level, or country level (it is both within a single country and/or across countries). At this macro level, talent is defined to include a large majority of a country’s population, similar to companies that pursue an inclusive approach in their talent management activities. However, research has also shown that many countries also pursue an exclusive approach to target a small portion of the portion (such as youth programs and assistance for high performing citizens in Bangladesh and Pakistan- Khilji & Keilson, 2014).
Excerpt from: Khilji, S.E. & Schuler, R. (2017). “Talent Management in the Global Context,” in D. Collings, K. Mellahi, and W. Cascio (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Talent Management, Oxford University Press: Oxford, England
