The talent recipe

Multi-actor perspective on managing paradoxes of talent identification in organizations

Identifying and managing talented individuals has been a major concern for line managers and a top priority for CEOs. This project focuses on the bedrock of Talent Management: Talent identification. In this project we explore how organizations identify their talents and what contextual factors shape these decisions.

Content and purpose of the research project

Recent challenges related to macroeconomic volatility, social inequality or health put increased pressure on organizations and threaten their ability to attract and retain talent. Consequently, Talent Management has become as one of the priorities for CEOs. However, surveys indicate that fewer than one third of organizations implementing Talent Management have realized a significant return on their investments in identified talents and that almost half of talent nominations end in failure. This project takes a paradox theory perspective on the bedrock of Talent Management by adopting the paradox theory lens to look at talent identification as a pluralistic and dynamic process instead of the traditional static, best-practice approach.

Two studies are planned. First, we establish a typology of tensions in talent identification and aim to understand how organizations navigate these tensions. Second, we conduct a two-wave survey study of organizations in Switzerland to explore how organizations’ approaches translate into proximal and distal Talent Management outcomes. In addition, in both studies we explore the contextual factors explaining why organizations choose different approaches to talent identification.

The project is a cooperation between the University of Applied Sciences Lucerne (HSLU, lead) and the University of Lucerne (Unilu). Dr. Anna Sender (HSLU) leads the project and is supported by Dr. Lea Rutishauser (Unilu) and a doctoral candidate. The team is supported by project partners: Prof. Dr. Bruno Staffelbach (Unilu), Prof. Dr. David Collings, DCU Business School, Ireland and Prof. Dr. Randall Schuler, Rutgers University, USA.

The first results of the project can be found here:
The Talent Recipe Report 2024

Contact
Project leader: Sarah Kost, MA
sarah.kost@hslu.ch

Project member: Anna Sender, PhD
anna.sender@hslu.ch

Project member: Marina Pletscher, MA
marina.pletscher@unilu.ch