Strategic talent management scholarship: a review of current foci and future directions
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Date
2019-05-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAINING
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review strategic talent management (STM) research with the aim
of providing major insights into the under-explored themes, issues, theories and methods.
Design/methodology/approach – The method included a systematic review of studies from 2007 to 2019
in five reputable academic databases. In total, 51 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analysed.
Findings – STM can be leveraged to achieve several positive employee, organisational and macro-level
outcomes. However, the realisation of these positive outcomes can be threatened by several challenges,
which need to be addressed through the creation of conditions critical for the success of talent
management strategies. Moreover, effective talent management strategy regime does not lie on the
shoulders of just one individual but a collective responsibility of multiple stakeholders. The study also
highlighted the digitalisation of STM, integration of ethical and responsible management principles into
talent management strategies, and strategic management of unconventional of talent pools as key trends.
Finally, several major weaknesses in the current STM scholarship from theoretical, content, context and
methodological perspectives are discussed.
Research limitations/implications – Although the studies included in the analysis may not include
all studies published during the study period, it is assumed that they provide a good representation of
such studies.
Originality/value – Since no systematic study was conducted specifically on STM, this study contributes to
the talent management literature by identifying several research issues and gaps while defining
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Systematic review, Strategic talent management, Talent strategy