Managing Talent

Edited by Billy Adamsen · Stephen Swailes Managing Talent Understanding Critical Perspectives Managing Talent Billy Adamsen • Stephen Swailes Editors Managing Talent Understanding Critical Perspectives Editors Billy Adamsen Stephen Swailes Talent Lab, Zealand Institute of Huddersfield Business School Business and Technology University of Huddersfield Slagelse, Denmark Huddersfield, UK ISBN 978-3-319-95200-0 ISBN 978-3-319-95201-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95201-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018955848 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019, Corrected Publication 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and trans- mission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland The original version of this book was revised, the acknowledgement was added. Correction to this book can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95201-7_10 Acknowledgements The inspiration for this book came at the 5th EIASM Workshop on talent management held at Copenhagen Business School in 2016. In par- ticular, we wanted to appreciate more critical perspectives on talent management in contrast to the steady flow of mainstream articles and books on the topic. For some years we had been thinking about more nuanced and more philosophical understandings of talent management and were delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate. Across our careers in organizations we have seen talented individuals rise and fall, seen average performers treated as if they were special, and seen undoubt- edly talented colleagues held back and frustrated by indifference, power plays, and politics. The opportunity to reflect on our experiences and our approach to the field is most welcome. We are particularly grateful to Lucy Kidwell of Palgrave Macmillan for her advice and support through- out the production process and to our partners, Anne and Elizabeth, for their patience while we prepared material for the book. Most of all we would like to thank all the authors who have contributed to this book for their understanding and cooperation in responding to our comments and deadlines. vii Contents 1 Talent Management: Gestation, Birth, and Innovation Diffusion 1 Stephen Swailes 2 The Semantic Emptiness of Talent and the Accidental Ontology of Talent Management 21 Billy Adamsen 3 Paralysing Rebellion: Figurations, Celebrity, and Power in Elite Talent Management 35 John Lever and Stephen Swailes 4 The Meaning of Competence, Commitment, and Contribution in Talent Definition 53 Riitta Lumme-Tuomala 5 Subjective Bias in Talent Identification 75 Denise Holland ix x Contents 6 Talent Management in Egalitarian Cultures: Scandinavian Managers in Singapore 97 Torben Andersen and Stefan Quifors 7 Frontline Managers: A Re-examination of Their Role in Talent Management 123 Søren Voxted 8 Talent on the Frontline: Role Stress and Customer Professionalism in the Banking Industry 149 Torben Andersen and Jesper Raalskov 9 Why Do Organisations Run Talent Programmes? Insights from UK Organisations 187 Sunday Adebola Correction to: Managing Talent E1 Index 215 Notes on Contributors Billy Adamsen is an assistant professor at the Zealand Institute of Business and Technology, Denmark. He has published several books and papers on a variety of subjects including sport management, talent management, management, cognition and media, politics and media, the psychology of language, and the effect of new media. In addition to his academic experience, he has for years worked as a manager and director within different national and international companies within business and sports and been an advisor for the Danish Prime Minister and Minister of Economics and Business Affairs. His book, Demystifying Talent Management: A Critical Approach to the Realities of Talent Management, was published by Palgrave in 2016. Sunday Adebola holds a PhD from the University of Huddersfield. His research examined how private sector organizations evaluate talent management and he is completing training in preparation for a teaching career. Prior to start- ing his PhD, he worked in the private sector where he worked on setting up and managing a small-scale enterprise for an ethnic minority group in the UK. His research interests are in the areas of talent management, cross-cultural management, and organization behaviour. Torben Andersen is an associate professor in the Department of Economics and Business Economics at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. His research interests include the Nordic welfare model and labour market economics. He is a regular policy advisor in Denmark and is a fellow at international research xi xii Notes on Contributors centres in London, Bonn, and Munich. Andersen has written several books and published several papers about talent management and HR in international journals. Denise Holland has for the last 30 years worked in the telecommunications, medical device, localization, and management consulting sectors where she gained considerable international and cross-cultural experience. She has man- aged several functions including business development, operations, quality management, HRM, and global vendor management. In 2011, she was awarded a Masters in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at National University of Ireland Galway. She holds a PhD in 2015 on talent retention. New to the world of academia, she lectures at NUI Galway in the areas of international human resource management (IHRM), cross-cultural management, and global business and HR in context. She is a chartered member of Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a certified quality auditor to ISO 9001:2015 and holds certifications in psychometric testing. John Lever holds a PhD from the University of the West of England. He is a senior lecturer at Huddersfield Business School. Before embarking on an academic career, Lever worked in fair trade at Oxfam. He previously worked in the Cities Research Centre at the University of the West of England and in the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University, where his research focused on sustainable communities and sustainable food systems. Lever is on the editorial board of Human Figurations, the journal of the Norbert Elias Foundation. He is a regular reviewer for Sociology, Sustainability, Journal of Rural Studies, Geoforum, Agriculture and Human Values, and International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, amongst others. Riitta Lumme-Tuomala works in the areas of leadership, especially from the point of view of different generations at the same workplace, young potential development, talent management, and individual diversity. Based at Aalto University, Finland, she is responsible for marketing, communications, and alumni relations heading a team of seven marketing professionals. She is also responsible for the Russian business area cooperating with top Russian business schools and developing talent management and high potential concepts and programmes. She holds a Master of Science degree in Economics from the Helsinki School of Economics and an EMBA degree from HSE Executive Education. She is working on her DBA dissertation on talent management. Her work experience includes Pfizer (HRD manager), Mercuri Urval, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Notes on Contributors xiii Stefan Quifors is a lecturer at Auckland University of Technology. His current research, which has a strong international orientation, focuses on IHRM and talent management within specific cultural contexts. Prior to entering academia, he spent 15 years working in senior HRM managerial positions for some of the largest MNEs in SE Asia. He researches, publishes, and consults in three pri- mary areas: international human resource management, talent management, and value-based HRM. Jesper Raalskov is a postdoc at University of Southern Denmark. He researches in role stress, talent management, behavioural theory, and professional service marketing and teaches in human resource management, professional advisory and sales, as well as a wide range of courses in management, organizational, and behavioural theory. His extensive working experience entails, among others, several years

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