Conclusions and Unresolved Issues

Abstract

Generally, there are a number of issues that remain relatively unresolved with regard to talent management in organisations. The first is that many managers confuse talent management with performance management. A clear, if somewhat basic, differentiation between the two is outlined at the start of this chapter. Second is the issue of measuring return on investment (ROI). Senior management teams and boards of directors seem to think you can concoct a measure of ROI from existing data and this is not the case. It is possible to give a measure of ROI but it needs to be designed specifically around what the talent management system is trying to achieve. This means keeping records — something that most of the case studies admitted to not being so good at. Third is the difficulty that people have with the word ‘talent’. While organisations are happy to have a talent management system, they do not find it easy to have conversations about ‘talent’. Finally there are a number of paradoxes that seem to emerge within the concept of talent management when it is put into practice. The nature of a paradox is such that it cannot be solved, however noting them can help avoid them when designing a talent management system.