HRD3702 – Management of Training and Development
WORKBOOK 8: Talent Management
People are the most important asset of any organisation and must be nurtured and placed in positions where they
experience job satisfaction in line with their abilities and interests.
3. Talent Management
It is evident that there is a relationship between the talent of staff and their productivity in organisations. Organisations will
benefit from nurturing the talent of their staff.
Talent management is the process of establishing a continuous supply of highly productive individuals in the
right job at the right time, including the implementation of strategies designed to increase workplace
productivity and improve process for attracting developing, retaining and utilisation of people with the required
skills and competencies to meet current and future strategic business needs.
Talent management can be defined as the sourcing; screening; selection; on-boarding; retention;
development; deployment; and renewal of the workforce, with analyses and planning as the adhesive,
overarching agent.
If organisations nurture the talent of their staff, it will enable human capital management and therefore HRD to
be linked to the organisation business strategies and allow for investments in the s taff, developing them in
line with their talents and potential.
4. High Potential
It has become increasingly important for organisations to identify the talent in the organisation and therefore for
staff with high potential to move ahead in the organisation.
Talent is defined as the shared knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, values, habits, and behaviours of
employees that contribute to the organisation’s mission.
Talent in organisations can refer to or be applied to three distinct aspects:
• an individual’s knowledge, skills and abilities (that is, talents)
• a specific person (e.g. she/he is talented, implying that she/he has specific knowledge, skills and abilities
in some area)
• a group is an organisation, implying that a pool of employees is exceptional in their knowledge, skills,
and abilities in a specific area (for example, leadership potential, innovative thinking, financial
management, and so forth.
Talent reflects the core competencies of the organisation.
Potential entails what a person can become; their ability to be more than what they are at this moment.
Potential is the possibility that an individual might develop the characteristics necessary to reach a
higher level. Talent therefore determines an individual potential.
Two types of potential exist within an organisation:
• The traits and competencies that a person has when employed.
• The ability a person has to learn new competencies and to develop to become successful in a high level
position.
Three components of potential
➢ Foundational dimension is competencies that are consistent throughout an individual’s adult career,
e.g. cognitive abilities, personality characteristics, and interpersonal abilities.
➢ Growth dimensions include mechanisms that facilitate or obstruct an individual’s growth and
development. Typical examples are adaptability, flexibility and motivation.
➢ Career dimensions are early indications pf potential for a specific career or area of a career, e.g.
supervisor skills, design skills, or potential project leadership skills.
Page 1 of 7
, HRD3702 – Management of Training and Development
5. Concept of Talent
Before the organisation can identify staff with the potential to enable it to reach and even exceed its goals, it
must know what it is looking for in employees. Staff needs to be developed in areas that are of importance to
the organisation while also offering them the opportunities and environment they can excel in. If organisations
do this, they will not only stay competitive and grow, but it will also become an employer of choice where the
talent developed and managed would want to remain within the organisation.
The goal of talent management is to ensure that the right talent is strategically placed in the right
position at the right time.
Individual concepts of potential and talent
Experience refers to previous job experience, variety of assignments or any learnerships that an
employee gained in his or her career so far. By facing a variety of challenges, the individual develops an
insight that cannot be learned from training alone.
Knowledge: Workers contribute knowledge towards the organisation through what they know. They
have many job opportunities and specialised knowledge which they can take with them to any other
organisation.
Competencies (Capabilities) include relevant knowledge, skills and value orientation that may be
required for a specific task or job.
Personal attributes refer to personality, learning experiences, emotional intelligence, ability, behaviour
and motivation.
Cognitive ability can include verbal comprehension, quantitative ability and reasoning abilities. As
stated earlier, global economies are moving towards knowledge and service organisations. Employment
in services is expected to account for 86% of all jobs in 2016.7 Cognitive abilities on all levels become
more and more important for the organisation to maintain a competitive advantage.
Human capital – what employees have – refers to the sum of the life experiences, knowledge, personal
attributes, inventiveness, enthusiasm and cognitive ability that the employees invest in their work.
Page 2 of 7
WORKBOOK 8: Talent Management
People are the most important asset of any organisation and must be nurtured and placed in positions where they
experience job satisfaction in line with their abilities and interests.
3. Talent Management
It is evident that there is a relationship between the talent of staff and their productivity in organisations. Organisations will
benefit from nurturing the talent of their staff.
Talent management is the process of establishing a continuous supply of highly productive individuals in the
right job at the right time, including the implementation of strategies designed to increase workplace
productivity and improve process for attracting developing, retaining and utilisation of people with the required
skills and competencies to meet current and future strategic business needs.
Talent management can be defined as the sourcing; screening; selection; on-boarding; retention;
development; deployment; and renewal of the workforce, with analyses and planning as the adhesive,
overarching agent.
If organisations nurture the talent of their staff, it will enable human capital management and therefore HRD to
be linked to the organisation business strategies and allow for investments in the s taff, developing them in
line with their talents and potential.
4. High Potential
It has become increasingly important for organisations to identify the talent in the organisation and therefore for
staff with high potential to move ahead in the organisation.
Talent is defined as the shared knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, values, habits, and behaviours of
employees that contribute to the organisation’s mission.
Talent in organisations can refer to or be applied to three distinct aspects:
• an individual’s knowledge, skills and abilities (that is, talents)
• a specific person (e.g. she/he is talented, implying that she/he has specific knowledge, skills and abilities
in some area)
• a group is an organisation, implying that a pool of employees is exceptional in their knowledge, skills,
and abilities in a specific area (for example, leadership potential, innovative thinking, financial
management, and so forth.
Talent reflects the core competencies of the organisation.
Potential entails what a person can become; their ability to be more than what they are at this moment.
Potential is the possibility that an individual might develop the characteristics necessary to reach a
higher level. Talent therefore determines an individual potential.
Two types of potential exist within an organisation:
• The traits and competencies that a person has when employed.
• The ability a person has to learn new competencies and to develop to become successful in a high level
position.
Three components of potential
➢ Foundational dimension is competencies that are consistent throughout an individual’s adult career,
e.g. cognitive abilities, personality characteristics, and interpersonal abilities.
➢ Growth dimensions include mechanisms that facilitate or obstruct an individual’s growth and
development. Typical examples are adaptability, flexibility and motivation.
➢ Career dimensions are early indications pf potential for a specific career or area of a career, e.g.
supervisor skills, design skills, or potential project leadership skills.
Page 1 of 7
, HRD3702 – Management of Training and Development
5. Concept of Talent
Before the organisation can identify staff with the potential to enable it to reach and even exceed its goals, it
must know what it is looking for in employees. Staff needs to be developed in areas that are of importance to
the organisation while also offering them the opportunities and environment they can excel in. If organisations
do this, they will not only stay competitive and grow, but it will also become an employer of choice where the
talent developed and managed would want to remain within the organisation.
The goal of talent management is to ensure that the right talent is strategically placed in the right
position at the right time.
Individual concepts of potential and talent
Experience refers to previous job experience, variety of assignments or any learnerships that an
employee gained in his or her career so far. By facing a variety of challenges, the individual develops an
insight that cannot be learned from training alone.
Knowledge: Workers contribute knowledge towards the organisation through what they know. They
have many job opportunities and specialised knowledge which they can take with them to any other
organisation.
Competencies (Capabilities) include relevant knowledge, skills and value orientation that may be
required for a specific task or job.
Personal attributes refer to personality, learning experiences, emotional intelligence, ability, behaviour
and motivation.
Cognitive ability can include verbal comprehension, quantitative ability and reasoning abilities. As
stated earlier, global economies are moving towards knowledge and service organisations. Employment
in services is expected to account for 86% of all jobs in 2016.7 Cognitive abilities on all levels become
more and more important for the organisation to maintain a competitive advantage.
Human capital – what employees have – refers to the sum of the life experiences, knowledge, personal
attributes, inventiveness, enthusiasm and cognitive ability that the employees invest in their work.
Page 2 of 7
