TALENT =
– all young and high educated employees?
– all managers as from a certain level in the organization?
– all incumbents of a critical position?
– all employees with potential to evolve vertically?
– all employees with outstanding performance?
– other?
WHO is involved when we talk about Talent Management ?
Prof. Dr. Lidewey Van der Sluis distinguishes 4 talent typologies to help C-level decide on how the organization defines ’talent’. These 4 perspectives are on the one hand based on inclusive versus exclusive orientation and on the other hand the human versus position based approach. The definition of talent also has a direct influence on the development choices made by the organization.
The 4 perspectives:
1. Exclusive human oriented approach: talents are high potentials, so 5 to 7% of the employees are talents. Development initiatives focus on the accelerated development for these high potentials;
2. Inclusive human oriented approach: all employees are talents. These organizations invest in everyone’s development, taking into account the aspirations and talents of each individual employee;
3. Exclusive position oriented approach: critical positions should be filled by employees with outstanding performance. The development focus is on (future) incumbents of critical positions, in line with the specific requirements for this position;
4. Inclusive position oriented approach: every position requires certain competencies and knowledge. Talent is developed in line with the requirements for a certain position.
In my experience, when discussing the scope of the Talent Review, most organizations would like to discuss all talents and therefor choose an inclusive human oriented approach.
To me the Talent Review needs to start from the organizational strategy and give answer to the business requirements. I suggest to focus and make choices. Making clear choices, or choosing an exclusive approach, helps you to ensure the implementation and follow-up on the talents and/or critical positions identified.
Let us know what choice your organization made and why …