ESADE WORKING PAPER Nº 243
February 2013
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent
management
Paulo Hayashi Jr.
Simon L. Dolan
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Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
Paulo Hayashi Jr.
paulo.hayashi@hotmail.com
Simon L. Dolan
simon.dolan@esade.edu
ESADE Future of Work Chair
ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull University
Barcelona, Spain
February 2013
Abstract
Although the necessity for attracting, retaining, and motivating talent is a very old
challenge for all competitive organizations, only in the last decade has the theme
been getting increased attention as a field of study. The objective of this paper is
to introduce a new concept of “Talenting” in its multifaceted framework composed
by 7H’s: Hiring, Health, Happiness, Hygiene, Head, Heart and Hand. Very
different from the traditional models of Talent Management, we are arguing that
focusing on the process as proposed in our model can make a person a consistent
high achiever over time.
Keywords: talenting; talent management; new model of talent; people
management
JEL Classification Codes: J24, M54
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
3
Introduction
The economic crises in many countries in Europe, such as Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy
and even the recession in the USA, leads to the emergence of many themes as a focus of
interest. Interesting enough, in difficult times in terms of shortage of money and-or
shrinkage in purchasing power, as well as high rates of unemployment, the issue of
“talent” becomes a critical concern. In order to manage these difficulties, organizations
need talented managers, talented core employees and innovative ideas that were not as
critical in other contexts. Thus, several authors propose that we are entering into the era
of the war over talent (Chambers et al., 1998; Fishman, 1998; Michels, Handfield-Jones, &
Axelrod, 2001; Beechler & Woodward, 2009; Dolan, 2010). Consequently, the area of
Talent Management (hereafter, TM) appears to be one of these hot topics and most likely
will continue to attract our attention in the next decade. Lewis & Kackman (2006)
conducted an internet search with the phrase “talent management HR” encountered over
2, 700, 00 hits in 2004. One year later they reported more than 8 million hits, and our
research today (in 2013) detected more than 10, 200, 000 hits. This is a clear indication
that the concept is becoming increasingly popular. Nonetheless, there “isn´t a single
consistent or concise definition of talent management,” (Aston & Morton, 2005, p.30). This
strange fact can be understood, perhaps, due to the fact that a blend of non-academics
(i.e. consultants, and managers) as well as academic scholars are interested in the
concept. We argue that the time has come to separate the wheat from the chaff. For
instance, a search using Web of Knowledge in November 2012 resulted in only 68 hits for
the words “talent management HR” and 1, 392 for “talent management.”
Building on this, Collings & Mellahi (2009, p. 311) argue that “the area of talent
management is in its infancy and a significant degree of theoretical advancement is
required.” In a similar way, Farndale, Scullion, & Sparrow (2010, p. 162) observed “the
concept [of talent management] is still lacking in definition and theoretical development.”
Thus, in order to study TM at the academic level, it is necessary to develop new concepts
and methodology instead of disputing spaces with ordinary publications.
The objective of this paper is to introduce the concept of “Talenting” as a process
oriented angle to study and research the area of TM. One may ask: why introduce a
process model rather than the traditional model to deal with TM? In this paper, it is argued
that the focus should be on the process for which someone converts into a high achiever
and making the difference in the global economy, instead of the content or traits of a gifted
person. Traditionally the word, “talent” has been referred in the West as to “those who
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
4
have been identified as having the potential to reach high levels of achievement.”
(Tansley, 2011, p.266) or as stated in the dictionary: “a special natural ability or aptitude.”
(www.dictionary.com). In Japanese, the word talent can be represented through the kanji:
(saino). The first part of the kanji means genius, smart, talent, years old and the
age suffix and the second part means ability and accomplishment. As observed by
Tansley (2011, p. 268): “The Japanese word does not suggest the notion of innateness. In
Japanese culture, the emphasis is on talent as an accomplishment acquired, and is seen
as the product of often years of striving to attain perfection.”
People have the potential and and often achieve excellent results or excellent
performance the link potential-high performance is not automatic. Many times it is
important to believe in the potential of the person and to help him/her to foster and step
forward in the direction of high performance. If the person has high potential and high
performance probably (s)he will be seen as a professional with a future in the company.
However, “when we talk to many organizations, they tell us their high potentials fail to live
up to expectations” (The Grapevine, 2011, p.1). So, a tentative conclusion is that potential
does not always mean high performance. From the organizational perspective,, “an
employer really wants to assess not potential but rather performance” (Gladwell, 2002,
p.30). Consequently, we are proposing to employ in the future the concept of Talenting,
which embeds the following underlying assumptions:
1. Ability of sustainable accomplishment is not static; it is dynamic and variable.
2. Ability of sustainable accomplishment is not predetermined; it is contingent.
3. Ability of
sustainable accomplishment is not simple cause-effect; it is
configurational - a multivariate configuration process.
4. Ability of sustainable accomplishment depends on the individual‟s ability but also
on the organizational system.
5. Ability of sustainable accomplishment depends on a culture of trust rather than
control in the organization. We argue that a shift in the paradigm is needed. The
old paradigm proposed that trust is good but control is better. The new paradigm
suggests that control is good but trust is much better (Dolan, 2011).Ability of
sustainable accomplishment breeds on the concept of coevolution. Collaboration is
a two-way street and in this society of chaotic fast pace change and discovery,
there is an increased need to foster a dynamic synergy amongst all stakeholders,
for which the talent pool is part of.
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
5
Talent pool and the importance of values
Employees differs in their knowledge, abilities and attitudes and therefore can not and
should not be managed the same way. Employees also differ in terms of their needs and
aspirations and thus can be motivated or demotivated towards high performance
depending on the the type of organizational culture and the respective HR policies and
practices.. The latter has been well articulated by Miles & Snow (1984) in the strategy
area or by Lepak & Snell (1999, 2002) in the strategic HR field. In relationship to TM, it is
important to introduce the work of Lewin & Heckman (2006) who uncovered three streams
of thoughts: the first one seems only to exchange the term “Human Resources” for “Talent
Management. - a “New bottle to serve the old HRM wine,” as noted by Inkson (2008, p.
277). The second steam focuses on the talent pool, mainly with regard to the process of
attracting talented employees. According to Collings & Melhahi (2009, p. 305): “Studies in
this tradition typically build on earlier research on the manpower planning or succession
planning literatures.” The challenging task of retaining and developing is not the main
focus. By contrast, the third stream focuses on talent in a generic manner and it has two
opposing approaches: one that treats the talented professional as a resource or an object
that can be modified or substituted when the performance is below the expected level,
and the other calls for attending to everyone in the company and all the employees
deserve attention and support for keeping the high levels of achievement. The former
means a high sophisticated case of “carrot and stick” and the latter, a more humanistic
approach (Lewis & Heckman, 2006). More recently, Collings & Melhahi (2009) recognize
the emergence of a 4th stream “which emphasizes the identification of key positions which
have the potentials to differentially impact the competitive advantage of the firm.”
Other concepts that attempt to address some particular niches of TM include:

Global Talent Management – GTM “includes all the activities for the purpose of
attracting, selecting, developing and retaining the best employees in the most
strategic roles on a global scale.” (Vaiman, Scullion, & Collings, 2012, p. 926)

Talentship – decision science for human capital and investments (Boudreau &
Ramstad, 2005).
In this paper, the focus is placed on the talent pool. Nonetheless, it is presented in a
different angle. We argue that the fact of only keeping a high quantity of high potential
employees is not sufficient for the organization to compete successfully in this time of
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
6
crises and turbulence. Focusing solely on a more sophisticated “stick” or a golden “carrot”
does not help either. It is important to support and motivate the employees even when
they are not in good shape or situations. The challenge for retaining talented people and
keeping the high achievement is so important as to find the right person for the right place
at the right time. “High performancer is likely to leave companies where they feel
underdeveloped, undervalued and/ or underpaid” (McKinsey, 2001, p.3). Moreover, to
work with a talented person does not mean always an easy job. Often, great talent means
lots of trouble. Talented people expect to be treated and managed differently. Thus, it is
necessary to develop a distinct organizational culture or subculture related to the
management of the talent pool. Some key ingredients in such culture include trust,
teamwork and other appropriate synergetic components leading to collaboration and
coevolution (Spector & Jones, 2004; Dolan, 2011; Cabello-Medina et al., 2011). As
suggested by Barney (1986, p. 656): “Firms with sustained superior….performance
typically are characterized by a strong set of core managerial values that define the ways
they conduct business. It is these core values (about how to treat employees, customers,
suppliers and others), that foster innovativeness and flexibility in firms.” Analyzing some
well-studied organizations for their best-practices and success such as Toyota, Whole
Foods and Southwest Airlines, shows that a culture based on values that put employees
first and, in a sequence, clients and shareholders represents a difficult to imitate process
even for well-organized competitors ( Pfeffer (2005). The fundamental question related to
culture has to do with the evolving values. According to Bilsky & Schwartz (1994, p. 164):
“values are commonly characterized as relatively stable individual preferences that reflect
socialization.” For Williams (1968), the values are related to the criteria and the standard
of preference and or choices. In the managerial literature, values have been often referred
to as the organizational culture (Hofstede, 1980; Schein, 1985; Handy, 1995) and only
recently, in the 1990´s with the development of the strategic approach of the ResourceBased View (Dierickx & Cool, 1989; Barney, 1991; Conner, 1991; Mahoney & Pandian,
1992, Peteraf, 1993), the relationships between HR-Strategy, Values and Strategy seem
to become clearer (Boxall & Purcell, 2000; Lengnick-Hall et al., 2009). Dolan and
colleagues (Dolan, Garcia, & Richely, 2006; Dolan et al., 2008; Dolan, 2011) have
proposed a model composed by three facets or axis that can be used to analyze an
organizational culture and it also facilitates the connection between the values and the
strategy. The 3E´s triaxial model is composed of the following value axes: (i) economicpragmatic values, (ii) ethical and social values, (iii) emotional-developmental values. The
first group of values are related to the financial, economic and productivity standards of
any commercial business. The second group of values is related to the social aspects of
the work environment such as honesty, integrity, respect and loyalty that facilitate a
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
7
sustainable relationship and collaboration in a medium and long term. The last group of
values “is essential for creating impetus for action. They are values related to intrinsic
motivation: optimism, passion, perceived freedom and happiness are a few examples of
such values. Deficiency in these values may hinder initiative, innovation as well as
organizational commitment.” (Dolan & Altman, 2013.
The proposed model of “Talenting” represents an extension and broadening of the 3Es
Tri-axial Model developed by Dolan et al. (2006) and Dolan (2011). We argue, hereafter
that it might help to set the roadmap to a new way of studying TM. Figure 1 depicts this
model in a schematic manner.
_________________________
Insert Figure 1 about here
_________________________
The 7H´s Framework: Stimulating the talent pool
The framework of Talenting is an extension of the tri-axil model with a specific application
to the field of talent management. It is composed by a configuration of seven core values,
verbs and nouns, and we label it as the 7H´s: Hiring, Health, Happiness, Hygiene, Head,
Heart and Hand. All these are important for keeping the talent pool at the high
performance zone.

Hiring – a continuous process of hiring talented people is an important phase
when working with a talent pool perspective. It is not the main or the exclusive
step, but hiring definitively plays an important role in the “war over talent.” The
talent shortage doesn‟t affect only the transnational companies (Vaiman, Scullion,
& Collings, 2012), but also the local companies because of the aging population
for which increased talent is retireing and that occurres in many countries (Bohara,
2007). Many surveys point out that the number of workers in. who are 35-44 years
old – the people entering the executive ranks – will decline significantly in the
future both in the U.S. and in Europe. The difficulty to find talented people
available in the labor market also enhances the importance of hiring. Due to it,
Rawlinson, McFarland & Post (2008, p.3) argue “organizations must also be
prepared to act whenever exceptional talent appears.”
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
8

Health – great talent means great responsibility. But we are not interested in the
superman or super woman that produces daily miracles of producing an incredible
output- this is not sustainable, this is not healthy. The pressure for economic
results and productivity has produced new phenomenon such as karoshi or death
from over-work in Asian countries such as Japan and China (Ke, 2012). Even in
countries such as Brazil the situation does not seem better. A recent research
made by the Labor Union of Sao Paulo, Osasco and region depicts a sad portrait
of the Brazilian bank employees. “Working environment is a constant source of
fear, anguish, persecution, ethical desviations, unreasonable disputes among the
colleagues and great personal insecurity.” (Bruno, 2011, pp. 21-22). Because of it,
66% of the interviewed believe the working environment that they are exposed can
provoke any kind of disease. In the stress management literature, it is well-known
that too much pressure does not result in more productivity. On the contrary,
according to the inverted-U curve model (Figure 2) too much pressure as well as
too little pressure results in poor performance.
_________________________
Insert Figure 2 about here
_________________________
The relationship between workplace strain and the job performance is complex, but the
studies in the area of stress management (Cohen, 1980; Takeuchi, Wang, & Marinova,
2005; Dolan, 2006) reinforce the inverted U-curve as a way to summarize the concept.
However, only adding “Health” is not sufficient to improve the quality of working
environment and life, it is necessary to add “Happiness” too as we will note hereafter.

Happiness - it is a kind of “fuel” that energizes, motivates and creates a good
climate of collaboration and partnership among the stakeholders. Although the
relationship between workplace productivity and happiness seems a bit awkward,
more and more people propose that converting the workplace into an environment
of playfulness has many advantages in terms of both productivity and performance
(Kerns & Ko, 2010; Dolan, 2011). Indeed, if we substitute the word “happiness” for
“meaningful jobs and playfulness” it produces satisfaction and the happy worker is
indeed becoming a more productive worker. Since the 1930‟s until now more than
10, 000 studies were published about job satisfaction (Wright, 2006). Furthermore,
Kerns & Ko (2010) argue that happy employees result in highly satisfied customers
and even in highly productive professionals. With the emergence of “dot com”
company (or “click company”), the employee seems to encounter another model of
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
9
HR in comparison to the traditional “brick company” (Panda, 2001). The “click
company” seems to follow the teachings of Confucius: “Find a job you love and
you‟ll never work a day in your life.” Thus, subjects such as happiness and fun
seem to have at least some spaces in this new work environment. The emergence
of Google in the first position of Fortune´s 2012 „100 Best Companies to Work For‟
list confirms the importance of Happiness for the work quality, collaboration and
firm performance.
The Health and Happiness are, in our framework, like the “thermostat” that helps
control the pressure by keeping people in a good position within the inverted-U
curve stress model.

Hygiene – This is an old concept that comes from the work of Herzberg´s model of
motivation. It is a necessary conditions, but not sufficient condition to attract and
retain talent (Herzberg, 1987). It means making the workplace competitive by
embedding rewards commensurate with productivity and, providing training and
career plans for people to grow professionally. Otherwise, the talented people
would look elsewhere for their development. However, the financial rewards alone
are not sufficient to retain talented people, mainly in the “dot com” companies
(Panda, 2001). The autonomy, the purposeful work and the mastery are very
important to motivate the talented people in the 21st century (Pink, 2009; Ulrich &
Ulrich, 2010). Autonomy and the concept of empowerment are quite close. For
Wall, Cordery & Clegg (2002, p. 147): “empowerment as management practice
represents the antithesis of traditional Tayloristic thinking.” In other words, the nonseparation between thinking and action, control and autonomy. A talented person
needs space to develop his//her own capacity, responsibility and leadership style.
This resembles the classical Douglas McGregor´s Theory Y. With the Y theory, the
managers assume that employees like work, seek to develop their skills and to
accomplish the organizational goals without external pressure or control
(McGregor, 1960; DeVoe & Iyengar, 2004). Because of it, Collings & Mellahi
(2009, p.307) noted “those employees who are likely to compose the talent pool
are high achievers and may easily become disillusioned if they are appointed roles
with limited scope for the applications of their skills or development of their talent.”
Moreover, employee dissatisfaction may have consequences on the unethical
behaviors such as theft, disengaging and quitting (Jones & Kavanagh, 1996;
Rosse & Saturay, 2004). Because of that, it is important to involve the talent pool
in a meaningful job. An emerging feature of a purposeful work in the XXI century is
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
10
related to the necessity of adding value to society such as volunteering programs
or even Corporate Social Responsibility (SCR) (Bhattacharya, Sen, & Korschu,
2008). Nowadays, a very popular concept that is emerging is the Triple Bottom
Line (TBL). TBL or the sustainable development through the economic, social and
environmental dimensions - also known as 3 Ps (Profit, People and Planet) – is a
concept that many companies are adopting but only handful of talented
professionals have been encouraged to take part in all its dimensions. For Quinn &
Baltes (2007), the link between leadership and the TBL is a must and they propose
that in the future, the relationship will intensify. Additionaly, Vaiman, Scullion &
Collings (2012) argue that “cultivating a reputation as a socially responsible
company can be an important lever in talent management and retention.” It also
helps with the attraction of new professionals who are looking for a meaningful job
to make the difference in the world (Ulrich & Ulrich, 2010). The last, but not the
least, mastery is the purpose of getting better and better in the pursuit of
something that really matters (Pink, 2009). This purpose is connected with the
Japanese word, “saino” and also with the question of craftsmanship. Only with
hard work and practice, a person can achieve high standards and we can see the
mastery in many different areas such as music, sports and even a professor with
years of room and teaching. To achieve mastery, the happiness and passion for
what the person is doing is fundamental. Even with mastery, learning is a
continuous process, but with a happy and healthy environment the process seems
to be more attractive and sustainable over time.
The four H´s discussed above are related to the organization and its systems and are
important for supporting the talent pool. The next t three H´s are related to the individual
and his/her capacity to commit to the organization. If the organization can convince the
the professional about its vision and mission, commitment is enhanced and can be
measured using the so called Head, Heart and Hand. The likelihood of enhanced
sustainable performance will be almost guaranteed.

Head – the organization needs to create a rational connection with the individual
through the formal or instrumental rationality mode (Kalberg, 1980; Villegas, 2000).
People need to understand the logic for why do they work. The answer to this
simple question is every time consuming and complex (Ulrich & Ulrich, 2010). The
rationality for working is not limited to the economic perspective alone. We can
develop the “Head” through engagement in the visionof the company. A shared
vision leads to higher level of commitment (Dolan et al, 2006; Dolan, 2011). It is a
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
11
kind of Messianic work, but only by sharing the vision and the dreams, the work
collaboration can be forged (Mahon, 2008). Thus, it is necessary to develop a
positive mindset such as pride of being part of the company, and the behavioral
attitudes of self-confidence and self-esteem. According to McKinsey (2001, p. 4):
“a talent mindset is the deeply held belief that building a strong management talent
pool is critical to achieving the aspirations of the company. Leaders with a talent
mindset roll up their sleeves and make talent their job.” However, changing mental
models is not an easy task (Pfeffer, 2005).,. The talented person is responsible for
his/her job performance,but also helps other people to achieve their goals as well.
In a certain way, the “Head” is related to the concept of Bandura´s self-efficacy.
“The strength of people´s convictions in their own effectiveness is likely to affect
whether they will even try to cope with given situation.” (Bandura, 1977, p. 193).
Scholars like Dolan (2011) proposed to accomplish that by a process he calls
“Coaching by Values.” Others, such as Seligman et al. (2005) introduced the
concept of Positive Psychology that can foster the confidence or reinforce positive
qualities of the person. The coaching process in general attempts to liberate the
inner potential of the individual mainly through reflexive conversations and guided
actions (Dilts, 2004). There are different kind of coaches and techniques, but one
common denominator to all is the search for establishing a planned process for
change in direction through the coachee development (Dolan, 2011). Moreover,
others call for “reflexive structure” or at least some (un)planned moments for
reflection. As observed by Boyatzis, McKee & Goleman (2002, p. 9): “When
leadership guru, Warren Bennis, interviewed leaders from all walks of life in the
early 1990‟s, he found that they had a common way of staying in touch with what
was important to them. They built into their lives what Bennis called “reflexive
structure,” time and space for self-examination, whether a few hours a week, a day
or two a month, or a longer period every year.”

Heart – With the heart, it is possible to create an emotional connection between
the professional and the organization. When a person is connected emotionally
with the organization, the boss, the supervisor or the team, the flows of ideas and
even the work in progress seem to occur in an easier way. Besides, it is more
comfortable to work and collaborate with people we care about, and/or who cares
for us. According to Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee (2001, p. 44): “a cranky and
ruthless boss creates a toxic organization filled with negative underachievers who
ignore opportunities.” They argue that it the importance to link leadership with
emotional intelligence. Even though the technical skills are relevant and will be so
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
12
for a long time, the ability to understand the person`s own feelings and situation,
the condition for self-control and how displace energy and motivation to
understand both, the situation and the other people´s situation is a sine qua non
condition for effective leadership (Goleman, 2004). This emotional leadership
connects the emotions to the service in a positive way. This link is very important,
albeit the fact that it is not entirely new. Probably Adam Smith in his classical book
“Theory of Moral Sentiments” was the pionner in the area. The book was first
published in 1759 and it is important to note this book came almost twenty years
before Smith´s well-known “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of
Nations.” For Smith (1999), the quality of sympathy is very important to have a
great relationship among people, because it is a “reflective exercise of imaginative
projection into the situational position of the agent under consideration.” (Rick,
2007, p. 139). With Smithian sympathy, the leader can achive a broader
consideration of the situation and the feelings, expectations and needs of the
involved people. Thus, the collaboration process is easier and the help can be
more effective. We can go further and insist on the importance of the leaders‟
mood as a contagious behaviour. For example, small gestures such as a smile or
even a laugh can provoke a great benefit in the work environment (Goleman,
Boyatzis, and McKee, 2001). The Smith´s idea was recently re-examined and
further developed by the best selling author Riane Eisler. In her book, “The Real
Wealth of Nations,” (Eisler, 2008) she argues that the conventional economic
measures, policies, and practices fail to give visibility and value to the most
essential human work - the work of caring and caregiving. She calls for a radical
reformulation of economics, one that supports caring and caregiving at the
individual, organizational, societal, and environmental levels; this "caring
economics" takes into account the full spectrum of economic activities, from the
life-sustaining activities of the household, to the life-enriching activities of
caregivers and communities of all types, to the life-supporting processes of nature.
A good example of Eisler´s idea is a movement called “World Kindness
Movement.” The motto of the movement is very simple and inspirational: “kindness
generates kindness.” For example, in Brazil, some high schools are getting used to
dedicate a week per year to practice this philosophy through the incentives of
creating posters and small gifts to exchange among the students. If everyone can
make a little kind gesture for the other, the world will be a better place to live and
to care about others. Coming back to the issue of talent, Rawlinson, McFarland &
Post (2008, p.3) argue that “for many companies, the battle for talent is won or lost
in the field of internal leadership development.” Full leaders need good vision and
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
13
head, the traditional image of the big strategist, but also the heart and the hands to
put things at work correctly.

Hand: the capacity to move from the planned action to the achievement of results.
The mobilization of resources, people and energy need to bring not only learning
by doing and reflexive thoughts, but concrete results in terms of what is expected.
The financial metrics are important, but they are not alone (Boudreau & Ramstad,
2005). Due to it, the talent pool is expected to have high capacity to perform and to
give feedback for the group in terms of economic, ethical and emotional results. An
intriguing or polemic theme can be the question for profit maximization and the
concept of Adam Smith´s invisible hand, but in this work we consider the
importance of Smith´s first book (i.e.before the “Wealth of Nation”). So the profit
maximization is just a myth about Smith for readers who misread his work.
Moreover, the leader or the manager needs to “wet” his/her hand (put your money
where your moth is) and give the example to the others, namely the ones who are
newcomers to the organization. Learning by Doing or Walk the talk, and
Leadership through example are the essence of this last “H.”
The 7H´s embedded in the concept of Talenting, attempt to delineate a holistic view and a
multifaceted framework to support the talent pool in maintaining a sustainable high
standard of performance. The focus of talenting is more on the group level, as the
subculture of the talent pool and the conditions of the firm or its HR department can
addressed to helping the respective bright professionals sustain their performance. Yet,
going beyond the expectation of talent pool and certainly beyond the traditional school of
leadership, we are also proposing the 8th “H”, Hope.
Hope and coevolution of the system
How can leadership in a company develop a culture of continuous hope for its talented
employees? Dolan and Altman (2013) argue that this type of hope should be the task of
the inspirational leaders. The latter know how to embed the famous three “Spires” of great
leadership and bring it to the work place: Aspire, Perspire and Inspire (Kaushik, 2006).
Aspire is related to influencing other people. Perspire is related to work hard and sufficient
to accomplish the results and also to give an example. And the last one, the inspiration, is
a kind of spiritual connection between the person with the cosmos, the superior force and
intelligence that can support man in his journey. Yet, For Aristotle “Hope is a waking
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
14
dream” and we certainly need it in order to evolve and develop personally and
organizationally. Although the focus of Talenting is in the talent pool, the larger objective is
to help and disseminate talent across the organization. Thus, this is the basis for our
concept of coevolution. The term, coevolution, is used to describe “cases where two (or
more) species reciprocally affect each other‟s evolution,” (Evolution 101, 2012), mainly in
a positive way or in a “win-win” situation where all the parts involved in the process gain.
Thus, Talenting is a way to achieve the development of the entire organization through a
strong and powerful subculture that can generate progressive improvements in a
continuous and intermittent changes. Collaboration, synergy and mutual learning are
some results expected when implementing the Talenting process because the means is
the talent pool, but the end is the organization. As noted by Gladwell (2002, p. 33): “WalMart is an organization, not an all-star team.” The concept of coevolution is dynamic and
thus the eternal question should be repeatedly asked: is the talent coevolves to fulfill all
stakeholders expectations? Rawlinson, McFarland, & Post, 2008 assert that a peocess
similar to coevolution can bring superior performance even to ordinary people With
Talenting and the facet of coevolution, we can create virtuous circles leading to circle of
success rather than circle of failure. For example,, Albeit problems in establishing a
cause-effect, Schlesinger & Heskett (1991) studying several organizations claim that the
continuous deterioration of the service quality was the result of low payment, high
customer turnover, employee boredom,, and other factors related to non-evolution. They
concluded that the. pursuit of only short-term profits or short term performance was a
source of trap into the failure circle. Boudreau & Ramstad (2005) among others, insist on
applying a broader spectrum of organizational goals if we wish to enter into the
sustainable success cycle, and insisting on mere financial results is not sufficient.
Examples of broader goals can include the search for the sustainability of poor countries
by sharing agricultural technology with them as to reduce the lack of food and human
suffering, Another example is going beyong employees´job satisfaction and looking at
his/her family satisfaction or the Job-Family interaction. An organization needs to balance
the persecution of financial and non-financial goals and in order to be successful in a
Talent Management Program means to carve a virtuous circle and the coevolution of the
system over time (Figure 3).
_________________________
Insert Figure 3 about here
_________________________
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
15
The process of coevolution and the virtuous circle represent a struggle for Talenting over
time. This is important, hence the question of Talenting is not an isolated act. On the
contrary, it requires time and patience, investiments and discipline. It is clearer to see
these necessities in the sport or in the art industries, or the case of a father helping his
son to develop some abilities or a professor with his/her students. Results do not come
overnight. Blumberg and Pringle (1982) corroborate the argument with a function that sum
up the formula of sustainable performance that can serves as a framework to the HR
people:
Performance = ƒ (opportunity x capacity x willingness)
In our proposed framework, the dimensions of capacity and willingness are relatively
covered. However, the opportunity is an environmental dimension. Because of it, our
framework (Figure 1) comes with the context to represent the opportunity dimension. This
way, even though the 7H‟s can be aligned with the talent pool the results depend on the
context and the market situation. This implies accepting that people are sometimes not
productive because of the context. The idea is that even a gifted person can sometimes
score poorly because of the context. Should talented person be under treated or even be
punished for not maintaining peak performance? We argue that the answer to this
question is negative.
Conclusion
The focus of Talenting is to help the organization and the respective HR department to
offer conditions to the professionals enabling them to sustain their performance over time.
Keeping a high level of high potential employees is not sufficient for the organization to
compete with in this turbulent and chaotic time. We argue that it is imperative to support
and to motivate the employees even when they are not producing at peak performance.
This is the essence of mentoring and coaching (Dolan, 2011). Situations such as stress
outside work, problems with families or friends who died or become seriously ill, may
spillover and effect temporarily performance (Staines, 1980; Dolan, 2006). The challenge
for retaining talented people and keeping high achievement is so important that it is
worthwhile to offer coaching or employee assistant programs to this individuals in order to
reach excellent performance rather than simply getting rid of them (Dolan, 2011). The
process of being talented, in a sense, is much more humanistic than a simple metric of
adjusting goals and rewards. Talenting is related to the achievement of high standards
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
16
over time as denoted by the Japanese kanji, “saino.” The 7H‟s of Talenting (hiring, health,
happiness, hygiene, head, heart and hand) attempts to integrate some variables in a
multifaceted framework that influence the talent pool and the performance. Beyond the
7H‟s there is the concept of coevolution and an aspiration for the 8th “H,” Hope. With hope
and the coevolution of the system, Talenting does not stay restricted to a small part of the
organization or a limited period of time. The dissemination of talents throughout the
organization and the mindset of excellence and high achievement are essential for the
21st century competition. However, more than looking at financial profits, the results
should be balanced in different perspectives reflecting the core values of the organization
(Dolan, 2011). Not only a more humanistic organization is required by adopting the
Talenting, but perhaps a complete new paradigm of management is needed; we can start
to see the human being instead of the human resource (Inkson, 2008; Dolan and Raich,
2013).
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
17
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Figure 1 – Talenting or the 7H´s
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
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Figure 2 – The Inverted-U relationship between pressure and performance
Source: adapted from Dolan (2006, p. 95)
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
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Figure 3 – The coevolution of the organization through a virtuous circle over time
Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
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Talenting: Towards a new processual approach to talent management
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