Critical Review of Strategic Talent Management by Collings & Mellahi

Introduction

In today's business environment, there exists intense competition for talent as well as a need for strategic business growth. The contemporary business environment calls for strategic measures to recruit, manage, and retain an effective and talented workforce. This creates the need for human resource management through a well-formulated planning strategy (Budhwar & Mellahi, 2016). According to Budhwar and Mellahi (2016), human resource planning entails developing measures to identify talent within the workforce and managing that talent in a strategic manner. This paper presents a critical review of strategic talent management as discussed by Collings and Mellahi (2009).

The authors identify the scope of talent management by highlighting the different components of human resource management and their contribution to a sustainable organization. The article demonstrates that there is no clear and concise definition of talent in the field of human resource management and planning (Collings & Mellahi, 2009). According to the authors, this gap limits the potential of human resource management to articulate effective strategies for talent management within an organization (Collings & Mellahi, 2009). From this article, a definition of talent is proposed and a theoretical model for strategic talent management is developed. By reviewing existing research and methodologies in human resource management, the authors were able to identify and establish a concrete definition of talent. From this definition and analysis, a theoretical model for identifying, developing, managing, and utilizing talent is presented. The article's theoretical model encompasses the identification of talent positions, the development of a talent pool, the creation of a unique human resource architecture, and the assessment of outcomes.

Summary of the Article

The theoretical model presents clear measures for an organization to identify its needs by interrogating its objectives and linking them to talent requirements. The article equips organizations to determine the precise composition of their workforce and how to identify the ideal employees (Collings & Mellahi, 2009). It contributes to human resource practice by providing solutions to the difficulties of defining the scope of talent management.

The article also devises measures to approach human resource management within a universal framework applicable across a broad spectrum of organizations. It identifies two core problems in human resource management and proposes solutions to each. The clear definition of the scope of talent management and the creation of a talent management model together resolve major difficulties in human resource planning and management.

It is notable that the authors did not provide a direction for future research. From their findings and theoretical model, more interest is likely to be generated in the practice of human resource management. The article, however, does not address the challenges encountered during the research process. According to Conkin (2005), all research undertakings face challenges, and these challenges should be highlighted to provide a deeper understanding of the research process.

The authors should also consider elaborating on the assumptions made in their research, both for the purposes of future studies and for a more thorough understanding of the processes involved in talent management. Disclosing these assumptions would also guide the application of the developed model across diverse organizational conditions.