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Research Paper Undergraduate 1,118 words

Talent Management Strategy: Performance and Retention

~6 min read 6 sections Business · Management Strategies
Abstract

This paper examines talent management strategy from multiple perspectives, drawing on research from the Economist Intelligence Unit, Profiles Research Institute, and industry practitioners. It explores how senior executives view human capital as a primary driver of business value, and how HR functions are evolving from administrative to strategic roles. Key topics include performance planning and evaluation, recruitment effectiveness, talent mapping, workforce planning, work environment factors, and the reasons smart employees underperform. The paper concludes by outlining top talent management strategies for sustainable organizational growth, with particular emphasis on the integration of cloud, mobile, social, and analytics technologies to enable effective talent management outcomes.

Key Takeaways
  • Introduction: Study objectives and talent management overview
  • HR and Talent Management: HR's strategic role in career customization
  • Key Drivers of Performance and Recruitment: Engagement metrics, technology, and recruitment effectiveness
  • Performance Planning and Work Environment: Feedback loops, compensation links, and workplace factors
  • Factors Affecting Employee Fit and Underperformance: New hire fit barriers and smart employee underperformance
  • Top Talent Management Strategies and Sustainability: Data-driven strategies and technology integration recommendations
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What makes this paper effective

  • Synthesizes multiple authoritative sources — the Economist Intelligence Unit, Profiles Research Institute, and industry practitioner Blakely — to build a coherent argument across several dimensions of talent management.
  • Moves logically from high-level executive perspective down to operational details such as recruitment, performance planning, and work environment factors, giving the analysis practical breadth.
  • Grounds abstract strategy recommendations in concrete organizational problems, such as employee underperformance, poor new-hire fit, and technology fragmentation.

Key academic technique demonstrated

The paper demonstrates effective use of literature synthesis: rather than summarizing each source independently, it weaves together findings from multiple reports to support a unified argument about strategic talent management. Direct quotations are deployed selectively to anchor key claims, while paraphrase is used for supporting detail, maintaining appropriate citation throughout.

Structure breakdown

The paper opens with a problem statement framed around executive priorities, then narrows progressively through HR strategy, performance drivers, recruitment, work environment, and employee fit issues. It concludes with actionable recommendations centered on technology integration and data-driven metrics. This funnel structure — from broad strategic context to specific operational recommendations — is characteristic of applied business research papers at the undergraduate level.

Essay 1,118 words

Introduction

The objective of this study is to determine which performance management process will be employed to measure employee talent, and to analyze the key concepts related to the talent pool and the talent review process. This study develops appropriate talent management objectives to measure functional expertise and assesses the key elements of global talent management as they apply to the organization. Finally, it recommends a process that optimizes a sustainable talent management strategy.

Senior managers claim that people serve to drive business value. In a recent survey, the Economist Intelligence Unit for Oracle reports that "senior executives at corporations worldwide judge the ability to attract and retain people as one of the most critical enablers of growth" (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2007, p. 4). Employee skills and knowledge ensure that workers remain in demand and provide value to their employers by enabling the organization to compete effectively. Talent development management is, more often than not, the responsibility of human resource professionals.

HR and Talent Management

The Economist Intelligence Unit reports that a senior financial executive of a large U.S. technology firm states that value is delivered by HR executives through assisting the company in customizing the careers of its most valuable workers. The process of "designing and continually updating an individual career path" results in the organization achieving a greater return on its investment in employees and retaining them longer. Talent management is reported to be making a transition from an administrative focus to one that is more strategic in nature.

4 Sections Hidden · 745 words
Key Drivers of Performance and Recruitment200 words
The Economist Intelligence Unit identifies employee engagement as a key driver of performance. By monitoring and measuring engagement, the human resources function is able…
Performance Planning and Work Environment175 words
Performance planning and evaluation are important for engaging employees toward effective performance. HR systems "can help managers to develop feedback loops between performance…
Factors Affecting Employee Fit and Underperformance150 words
Factors that result in a new hire not being a good fit for the organization include: (1) inadequate capabilities; (2) poor fit to the job; (3) unclear goals and accountabilities; (4) a poor relationship with the manager; (5) poor relationships with co-workers; (6) health issues; and (7) physical and environmental factors (Profiles Research Institute, 2009, p. 3).…
Top Talent Management Strategies and Sustainability220 words
The work of Ann Blakely examines the top ten talent management strategies and states that it is important to "identify the organization's top 5% most important functions" (Blakely, 2012, p. 1). The most critical functions are identified not only at the…

References

Acquiring Skilled Employees (2013). Profiles Research Institute. Retrieved from

Blakely, A. (2012). Top ten talent management strategies for 2012. On Balance, Jan/Feb 2012. Retrieved from

Why Smart Employees Underperform (2009). Expert Insights. Profiles Research Institute. Retrieved from

Key Concepts in This Paper
Talent Management Performance Planning Employee Engagement Talent Mapping Workforce Planning HR Technology Talent Pool Recruitment Strategy Talent Review Sustainable HR
Cite This Paper
PaperDue. (2026). Talent Management Strategy: Performance and Retention. PaperDue. https://www.paperdue.com/study-guide/talent-management-strategy-performance-retention-102698

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