Competing in the Talent Show

What single HR initiative is considered a top priority by a majority oforganizations? It’s talent management (Fegley, 2006). What issue isdeemed critical by a majority of senior managers? Again, it’s talentmanagement (Towers Perrin, 2005). And which HR activity has thehighest positive impact on European companies? You guessed it(Hewitt Associates, 2005/06).

So who, exactly, is all this talent we want to manage?

The term “talent management” does not refer to the entire workforcebut to a pool of leaders and key professional and technical employeesthat, on average, comprise only about 15% of the workforce, accordingto Towers Perrin (2005). In their 2005 Talent Management: The Stateof the Art: A TP Track Research Report survey of more than 250executives, 86% considered senior leadership groups as “talent,” 82%included those with leadership potential in midlevel jobs, 76% includedkey contributors/technical experts and 48% included those withleadership potential in entry-level positions.

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