Talent Management for the Twenty First Century - Research Proposal Example

Running header: Talent Management Student’s name: Instructor’s name Subject code: Date of submission Talent Management 1. The problem discussed in the research article The problem discussed in the article is about the failure of the traditional talent managementapproaches in meeting organizational needs regarding employee talent and skills needs. The author presents two talent management approaches that have traditionally been in use in managing talents in the organization. These methods include doing nothing. This involves organizations failing to anticipate future talent needs while making no plans to address the needs meaning that organizations hire from outside whenever needs arise. The second approach commonly used by large, older companies makes use of complex and bureaucratic models in forecasting and succession planning. The Author hypothesizes that the above methods have failed in addressing talent needs in organizations sometimes resulting in talent shortage in organizations while at other times organizations finding themselves with excess talents but with no need for them. This author states is costly for the organization and hence the need to develop a third talent management model that addresses the shortcomings of the above models. In this regard, the author hypothesizes that the third model should borrow from the principles of supply chain management or a just in time approach to talent management. This, the author hypothesizes that although it may not entirely solve the talent management issues experienced by companies, it will go a long way into reducing those issues while reducing the costs associated with talent management. The new Just in Time Talent Management approach that has been proposed should be based on four principles similar to those of supply chain management including make and buy to manage risk, adapting to the uncertainty in talent demand, improvement of the return on investment in developing employees and preserving the investment by balancing employee- employer interests. This, the author says is a perfect approach to talent management by organizations. 2. The need for the study in the article As stated above, talent management involves anticipation of need for human capital and then setting out a plan to meet it. In addition, it has been established that though involving a lot of costs, traditional talent management approaches have failed resulting in organizations sometimes having talent deficits while at other times having surpluses. As such, this article is important for a person studying human resources management courses as it enlightens one on the shortcomings of the current talent management approaches. In addition, it provides an alternative to these approaches byproviding a Just in Time Talent Management model that borrows heavily from supply chain management. The article is equally important and applicable to the United Arab Emirates/GCC “Gulf Cooperation Council’ environment. It should be noted that this is an economic council with a single aim of providing better economic environment hence helping companies achieve growth by being more profitable which should result in overall growth of the economic block. As such, the council can get insight from the article and hence be better placed to advice businesses falling under its jurisdiction on better talent management approaches or even coming up with a better talent management policy that avoids the shortfalls discussed above. Organizations with better talent management policies will be better placed to achieve growth hence achieving the GCC’s goal of economic growth. 3. The methodology used in the study The main methodology employed by the author in airing his views on organizational talent management is case study. A number of organizations have been studied in this regard. Examples of organizations that have been studied include Unilever. Unilever has been used to demonstrate how the traditional talent management approaches have failed. This was seen in India where despite the company having been the best globally in terms of talent management, it still experienced talent surplus of 1,400 well trained managers in 2004 which was indeed an increase of 27% from the 2000 figures. The author has also cited case studies such as capital one and Dow in showing how companies can adopt alternative talent management approaches that will be effective. Another example is Pittsburgh- based PNC financial services to show how companies can improve the return on investment in developing employees. To a small extent, the author has used data to demonstrate his points. For instance, the author states that about 20% of U.S employers ask employees who are about to receive training or development experiences to sign a contract that they will not leave the organization before a specific time lapses. In conclusion, the author has successfully used a combination of data and case study, in demonstrating the weaknesses of thetraditional talent management approach while demonstrating that the Just inTime talent management approach can indeed be an effective method of dealing with these shortcomings which is also more cost effective. 4. Critique including the study’s assumptions, limitations and potential for future research The author has attempted to prove the shortcomings of the traditional talent management approaches while providing an alternative talent management approach that will deal with the shortcomings identified. In so doing, the author makes a number of assumptions. For instance, the author assumes that organizations face similar environmental conditions and hence they are faced with similar talent management issues. However, it should be noted that different organizations in different regions of the word are faced with different environmental conditions. As such, the assumption of one size fits all as far as talent management in organizations is concerned may not be accurate. This is because an organization may be faced with different talent management needs and issues and hence organizations should adopt the method that best addressestheir talent management needs given its environmental needs and issues. The author also assumes that the traditional approaches discussed above have failed in all organizations. This has necessitated the development of a new approach to talent management as discussed above. However, this assumption may not be accurate since someorganizations still use the above methods successfully. In addition, it cannot be assumed that all organizations willexperience employee turnover of all the talent they have developed internally. This research has a number of weaknesses including the fact that the author has only relied on other people’s research in arriving at the conclusion. The author should have carried out his own research in order to arrive at more convincing conclusions. Furthermore, the author has over relied on case study. The author should have carried a more detailed research for instance by interviewing company executives. The research shouldhave involved scientific sampling of data in a bid to arrive at a more convincing conclusion. As such, although the article is convincing regarding the topic it addresses, the number of companies that have been studied is so small compared to the high number of companies in operation today. As such, future research should be more scientific while involving larger samples so that it can be more convincing. Future research should focus on the effectiveness of the Just in Time Talent Management approach as has been proposed in resolving organization’s talent management needs. The author has just proposed a new model of dealing with the shortcomings of the older approaches as has been discussed above. However, we are yet to establish whether the model proposed does offer a real solution. Will it lead to bigger talent management issues than the current ones or does it solve them and result in a more economical talent management? Future research should also focus on establishing better talent management models for organizations that would be devoid of many issues despite being cost effective. The main goal of business organizations is to make profit and maximum profitability will be achieved if organizations are able to effectively and efficiently manage talent. 5. Summary and conclusion The article has raised important issues concerning organizational talent management. It has demonstrated the importance of companies anticipating in advance their talent requirements and thus putting in place measures that would enable them meet their talent needs in an efficient and effective manner. Two models of talent management have been discussed. These include the most common one of doing nothing anticipating no needs at all while making no plans for addressing talent needs. This means that the organization mainly outsources its talent needs. Large organizationsalso rely on complex and bureaucratic models in forecasting and succession planning. It implies that the organization relies on internal development of talent to meet its needs. According to the author, the methods have largely failed owing to the volatility of the labor market and the economic environment. This is to say you can develop talent internally but other companies fish it even before you have realized the associated benefits. In addition, according to the author, the methods at times lead to talent surplus while at other times they lead to talent deficit. The implication of this is that organizations have to undergo unnecessary cost of either maintaining the resultant talent inventory or hiring the balance from outside. Resulting from the above shortcomings, the author has proposed an alternative that relies heavily on the principles of supply chain management. The proposed model should be anchored on a number of principles. First, the organization ought to realize that a deep bench of talent is expensive and hence they ought to undershoot theirestimates of what would be needed and plan to hire outside the organization for any resultant shortfall. It should balance between what is easier to develop internally and what should be hired from outside. The company should also strive to adapt to the uncertainties of talent demand. This could be achieved by breakingup development programs into shorter units or creating an organization wide talent pool that can be allocated among business units according to needs. Organizations should also aim at improving return on investment in developing employees for instance by getting employees to share in the costs of development. This could also be achieved by maintaining relationships with former employees in the hope that they may return someday and hence bring back with them your investment in their skills. Finally, the organization ought to preserve the investment through balancing of employee and employer interests through sharing in advancement decisions. In conclusion, it is hoped that by adopting the Just in Time Talent management approach, organization will be able to eliminate the shortcomings of the former models while leading to a more cost effective talent management approach. References: Peter, C2008, Talent management for the 21st Century, May 2008 issue. Read More