Talent Management Strategies and Research Directions

This assignment provides an overview of talent management strategies and research directions in the context of human resource (HR) practices. It discusses the benefits of talent management, including strengthening behavioral relationships among employees, improving their welfare, and enabling them to balance personal and professional work life. The assignment also reviews theoretical considerations and implications for talent management, highlighting the importance of context and a pluralistic approach. It draws on research from various sources, including journals and books, to provide a comprehensive understanding of talent management in HR practices.

Talent Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TASK 5............................................................................................................................................1
1. Arguments on individual verses team performance targets...............................................1
2. Use of performance management system in improving employee development and
communications......................................................................................................................2
3. Integration of performance management system with human resource processes and its
importance..............................................................................................................................3
4. Effectiveness of linking performance to financial rewards................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

TASK 5
1. Arguments on individual verses team performance targets
''Which are better: individual or team goal''
Most of the firms face problems at the time of setting goals for their employees because
they understand that worker will also give more priority to individual targets compared to
organisational objectives (Tansley, 2011). Multinational companies were also coping up with
this troubles so they started a new system where every team will get own targets and if they
attain more than it then whole team will get incentives. This strategy worked for many
enterprises because team leaders clearly gave clear instruction to the group members that if they
want to earn more money than they have to attain set targets. But gradually effectiveness of this
strategy started to decline because some employees gave their best for reaching targets while
others did not perform according to expectation. This create conflicts in the team.
In present system, big or even small companies has started using more effective approach
relating to ''individual verses team performance goals''. They are setting higher targets for every
individual in order to attain overall team performance objectives. Managers know some
employees will fail to meet their targets so they deliberately set a higher individual aims. If few
workers will perform better than set limits then poor work from the side of other worker can be
compensated and team objectives can easily be attained.
Steel Co. is failing to improve performance of organisation and employees because of
various issues. Divisional director gave targets to every personnel and to the team also. He has
also developed a bonus scheme but it has also failed as employees do not take much interest in it
and they argued that it does not make any change in their salary and lifestyle (Schuler, Jackson
and Tarique, 2011). The reason behind failure of this effective scheme is that employees of this
organisation are working under autocratic leadership from a long period of time. They have
never thought about team targets and this is the prime reason that they are not getting motivated
to perform better (Nilsson and Ellström, 2012). Their mind-set is fixed, they only want to
complete their working hours and go home. According to them, company cannot pay them more,
and this is prime reason that they are not taking no interest in earning more incentives.
Employees do not have any individual or team targets. First of all, divisional director
need to keep patience and continuous his effort because company has seen little impact because
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of new bonus plan. Changing perception of an individual take time. Employee will actively take
part in incentive scheme once they will understand that if they will attain team target then will
would also earn more money.
This is to argue between the effectiveness of team and individual performance to
maximize the overall performance of the firm with a special context of Steel Co. On considering
its case, it has been found that the newly appointed divisional director has a strong faith on team
work and hence divided the individuals into teams. Also, the team leaders were not at all trained
about handling teams and this impacted the entire performance of the firm in a negative way. It is
therefore on referring to the argument of team work versus individual work where both of these
concepts are known to have a distinct consideration of working towards the achievement of
organisational goals.
This is on considering the criteria of working individually where an individual employee
is required to meet yearly with his or her supervisor for establishing goals for the upcoming year.
Herein, the personal goal of an individual is linked to the company’s overall objectives with
assistance of the manager who sets a clear path for the employee by creating a clear plan of
improvement using SMART framework. There exist certain benefits of working individually
where an individual is able to balance out the strengths and weaknesses with a greater control
and responsibility. Also, while working at an individual level, an individual employee is shows a
more personal interest towards the attainment of the organisational goals.
Team work on another hand consists of several number of individuals supposed to work
together in a group. This may or may not reflect a similar interest of each of the involved
members in the group and thus lead to raise conflicted situations at the workplace. This is firstly
on considering the team criteria where a manager is usually accountable to establish an all-
inclusive plan at the starting of a project by defining all parameters involving the plan, purpose,
deliverable requirements, risks, milestones, assumptions, budgets and other related resources.
Also, a group work necessitates the team leaders to firstly understand the ability of each of the
team participants and accordingly allot the work to them.
However, in the present case, due to untrained leaders appointed by the new divisional
manager, the group members lacked the sense of collaboration to work together in a cooperative
manner and attain the set goals, it hampered the overall productivity of the organisation.
However, it is important to consider some relative aspects of team work before considering to
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operate in groups that was clearly missed in the present case study of Steel & Co. Along with a
prime concern of team size and their distinct set of skills, distinct set of culture and disposition of
each of the team members also plays a vital role.
2. Use of performance management system in improving employee development and
communications
A good system of performance management is proven to improve the overall performance of
an organisation with a similar consideration of the present case of Steel & Co that is facing
tremendous number of issues. This is mainly in relation to their worker’s performance who were
disappointingly working in the enterprise due to several number of issues that in turn hampered
the overall productivity of their organisation. It is therefore important to apply strategic measures
of performance management that plays a crucial role in administrating the overall performance
of the organisation. This needs an integrating approach of a designed system of performance
management with that to the procedures of human resources.
This is for instance to provide open and transparent job related feedbacks to the workers on
regular basis. It is with another foremost consideration of creating a well-defined link between
the carried performance of employees with that to the designed compensation program. Also, it
must be backed up by sufficient learning and development related opportunities to grow their
career. Lastly, the carried performance of the workers should be measured fairly. This is
expected to lead into an improved organisational performance with retained and loyal set of
employees who are giving productive work. Beside this, it will also overcome any barriers to
communicate clearly at the workplace where all individuals will be clear about their
responsibilities.
Divisional director need must know that employees of this company are not happy with
them from a long time ago. They do not care about organisational objectives and at the same
time they know that company also do not consider them key asset. Below is some way in which
performance management can be used for improving employee development and
communication:
Consistency – One of the key area where performance management focuses is
consistency. It is a cycle which start from making plan and end by reviewing results. Most of
problems which workers of Steel co. are facing is because of unavailability of proper channel of
communication between employees and senior managers. Performance management develop a
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continuous process of conflict resolution. It provides fair chance to employees for putting their
issues on the table. Workers are not happy because they feel that there is no one who can
understand, listen and solve their problems and this is the main reason that they only come to
office to completely their working hour and get basic salary. Using performance management
will play crucial role in gaining trust of employees. This is essential for seeking their support at
the time of attaining organisation goals.
Motivation – Most of the worker of Steel co. are not taking interest in bonus scheme
because of lack of motivation (Bethke-Langenegger, Mahler and Staffelbach, 2011). In present
scenario, their mind-set is pretty clear i.e. complete office time and do not care much about own
or company's performance. If performance management system is implemented in proper way
divisional director can analyse various needs of different employees. Some workers get
motivated when their social needs get satisfied while others get motivated when basic needs like
food, home etc. of employees get fulfilled. Developing a reward system by taking views of
employees improve relation between workers and management. Along with this, performance
management ensure that staff members expand their limit and give their best for achieving set
targets. When workers try to expand their limits, it results in employee development. Steel Co
should analyse needs of every employees and give them what they are seeking in order to assure
get their support at the time of forwarding towards company's goal.
Training needs – An important part of performance management system is to provide
continuous training to employees so they can learn new techniques of working and deliver better
results. Employee development can only happen if training needs of workers are identified in
regular interval of time and company spend money on them for attaining personal and
organisational goals (Meyersvan, Woerkom and Dries, 2013). Another significant part of training
is that it reduces communication gap between management and employees. Steel Co. should
focus on providing training to workers and as it is significant part of performance management.
Once staff members will overcome their shortcomings then they would start taking more interest
in bonus scheme. In present scenario, they are not getting any benefit of this scheme because
they know that they cannot attain the given targets as they are out of their limit. Instead of
lowering down targets, Steel Co. should use develop an effective performance management
system and ensure proper training to employees so they can attain aggressive targets.
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3. Integration of performance management system with human resource processes and its
importance
Performance management system can be considered as a bit new concept which focuses
on increasing contribution of every employees and attain set objects by working together
(Employer and worker). Some of the manager area where performance management system
concentrate is providing regular coaching and training to employees, take feedbacks from them,
set targets by consulting with them etc. One of the most important things which should be
noticed at the time of analysing this system is that it is directly connected with human resource
departments. Below is integration of PMS and human resource processes:
Identified training need and provide it – HR managers play crucial role in finding
training needs of employees (Festing and Schäfer, 2014). They are responsible for their
continuous development and career growth. Management of Steel Co. should ask their HR team
to communicate with workers and identify the areas where employees think that they need rapid
development. Gaining trust between employee and employers is crucial part of performance
management system and if this process is linked with other HR activities by involving workers in
the decision making process at the time of training, then it may deliver surprising results in no
time.
Get regular feedbacks – Performance management system concentrate of reducing the
communication gap employer and employees (Thunnissen, Boselie and Fruytier, 2013). If HR
wing of Steel Co. take regular feedbacks workers, divisional director and other senior manager
then they can identify the exact skills which is needed by an applicant for working in this
organisation.
Increase employee’s accountability – A significant part of PMS is fixation of
accountability of every employee. Currently, workers of Steel Co. do not care about
organisational goals and performance because they are not held responsible for poor
performance. If divisional director will ask human resource department to clearly communicate
the job responsibility of every employee to them then they can ensure effective integration of
performance management system and HR process.
Importance of Integration
If activities performed by HR wing and PMS is combined, then it can provide various
kind of benefits. First of all, it provides more strength to one of the most important part an
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organisation i.e. increase trust between employer and employees (Al Ariss, Cascio and Paauwe,
2014). Steel Co. is facing most of the problems because connection between employer and
workers is not good. Another area where this company can avail benefit of this integration is
skills development of employees and overcoming their shortcomings. If a sound channel of
communication gets develop among HR, management and workers then feedbacks from all the
sides can be used for removing difference and making plans for attaining aggressive
organisational objectives & individual targets also. Present bonus scheme of divisional director
failed to impressive employees. Integration between PMS and HR process can assist divisional
director is making an impressive and attractive bonus scheme. It can remove the issues which
was raise by many employees i.e. no significant improvement in salary.
This is to evaluate the integration of performance management with that to the human
resources in Steel & Co., where two distinct type of integrations have been found to take place.
These are vertical and horizontal integration with distinct consideration of each. Performance
management being an integral part of human resource management needs to associate with other
related consideration of HRM. This will also lead to depict a strategic working of HR where a
vertical integration is required to be done at the operational level of the organisation like Steel &
Co. This indicates the integration of those actions that are entirely within the range of
supervisory control such as planning, directing and controlling, etc. A vertical integration also
involves the elements of strategic and operational practices including the vision, mission, values,
strategic objectives and the key success factors of entities like Steel & Co. Horizontal integration
on another hand involves the integration of HRM system stating the procedures of staffing and
compensation, etc. Herein, both of these processes are required to be synchronised with each
other. This mainly refers to the daily administrative practices, involving the practices of
performance management with a chief role of HRM in it.
4. Effectiveness of linking performance to financial rewards
In an organization it is not necessary that on providing the required resources desired
results can be achieved by the management. Different individuals have their own priorities and
need to be motivated in the same manner (Tansley, 2011). There are distinct ways through which
employees can be influenced to work in a specific manner and financial rewards is considered as
the most effective one. It is that mode which can be used as a medium of influencing. When
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employees know that their performance will be judged and accordingly benefits are given than a
noticeable change can be observed in the overall results of the organization.
When performance is linked with the financial rewards it also raises the present
competition among the different departments employees. every person like to get recognize in
the work place and when provided with monetary benefits than they try to work better every time
and hence increase his own capacities. This way the power of workforce of the organization also
gets developed and it helps enterprise in achieving the competitive advantage (Schuler, Jackson
and Tarique, 2011). Extra pay with salary increases the living standards of different employees
that further act as a motivator for them. They develop a habit of earning more for which they
take efforts in the place they are working in. apart from all these benefits another advantage of
the same concept is that it also develops an effective connection between management and the
employees as they develop feeling of belonging with the organization. They get the assurance
that their efforts will be acknowledge and hence do not show resistance to change.
In this case, Steel Co. is failing to use financial rewards in order to improve performance
of their employees because their bonus plan it not very effective. It cannot be considered as an
incentive scheme because it is started by divisional manager as a ''damage control'' scheme. This
company was deducting some amount from the salary of employees. Divisional manager started
this scheme for resolving this issue. There is no doubt that financial rewards are great source of
motivation but if they are not used in proper way and by developing an effective strategy then
they would not be much effective. Steel Co. should start a new incentive scheme if they want to
improve the performance of employees. They should first provide them training in order to
increase their productivity and then set aggressive target (Scullion and Collings, 2011).
Financial rewards can motivate workers of this organisation. Divisional; manager has to
make sure then earning of employees increase by significant amount increment of small amount
in salary would not result in improvement of performance. In present scenario, most of the
worker are not happy with the bonus scheme because it cannot be considered as financial
rewards for those employees who has given better performance. Their salary does not get
increase by significant amount and they feel cheated. Another important thing which divisional
manager has to consider is that they are financial reward system will get success once an
employee actually receive more salary compare to others. If one worker will get more salary,
then other will already start performing better for earning more money. However, the financial
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rewards are together associated with various number of drawbacks where it is not known to last
for long. Apart from this, it also increases the cost of the company to a great extent. Also, it leads
to create an intense competition with an ultimate existence of disputes at the workplace. Lastly,
the workers to get financially rewarded start ignoring some significant consideration of
maintaining the quality of work and bringing innovation as well. Although, linking performance
with that to the system of rewards is stated to be one of the most effective consideration of an
organisation that leads to several number of benefits. A reward system is meant to motivate the
employees and improve their performance on continues basis.
Linking reward with performance is fundamental to retain a skilled set of employees and
increase their sense of commitment. This will ultimately lead to improve their contribution
towards the firm. However, the employees are required to perform well in order to get rewarded
where the non-financial rewards also play a significant role in motivating the worker. It is with a
special consideration of those who are more keen to operate within a flexible work environment
and are more concerned about getting recognised for their good work. In addition to this, it is
composed of various advantages where it benefits in terms of strengthening the behavioural
relationship of employees. It is by also improving their welfare and giving them a chance of
balancing both their personal and professional work life.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al Ariss, A., Cascio, W.F. and Paauwe, J., 2014. Talent management: Current theories and future
research directions. Journal of World Business. 49(2). pp.173-179.
Bethke-Langenegger, P., Mahler, P. and Staffelbach, B., 2011. Effectiveness of talent
management strategies. European Journal of International Management. 5(5). pp.524-
539.
Festing, M. and Schäfer, L., 2014. Generational challenges to talent management: A framework
for talent retention based on the psychological-contract perspective. Journal of World
Business. 49(2). pp.262-271.
James Sunday Kehinde PhD, A.C.A., 2012. Talent management: Effect on organizational
performance. Journal of Management Research. 4(2). p.178.
Meyers, M.C., van Woerkom, M. and Dries, N., 2013. Talent—Innate or acquired? Theoretical
considerations and their implications for talent management. Human Resource
Management Review. 23(4). pp.305-321.
Nilsson, S. and Ellström, P.E., 2012. Employability and talent management: challenges for HRD
practices. European Journal of Training and Development. 36(1). pp.26-45.
Schuler, R.S., Jackson, S.E. and Tarique, I., 2011. Global talent management and global talent
challenges: Strategic opportunities for IHRM. Journal of World Business. 46(4).
pp.506-516.
Scullion, H. and Collings, D., 2011. Global talent management. Routledge.
Stahl, G., Björkman, I., Farndale, E., Morris, S.S., Paauwe, J., Stiles, P., Trevor, J. and Wright,
P., 2012. Six principles of effective global talent management. Sloan Management
Review. 53(2). pp.25-42.
Tansley, C., 2011. What do we mean by the term “talent” in talent management?. Industrial and
commercial training. 43(5). pp.266-274.
Thunnissen, M., Boselie, P. and Fruytier, B., 2013. A review of talent management:‘infancy or
adolescence?’. The international journal of human resource management. 24(9).
pp.1744-1761.
Thunnissen, M., Boselie, P. and Fruytier, B., 2013. Talent management and the relevance of
context: Towards a pluralistic approach. Human Resource Management Review. 23(4).
pp.326-336.
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