Activate Talent: Capture the full potential towards common goals

Abstract

This conceptual paper articulates talent management as a strategic mindset. It presents an innovative and original perspective on the talent loop which is known as the talent value chain. Our findings suggest that the context in which talent is activated transforms talent in three stages: 1) talent as human resources, 2) human capital, and 3) human assets.

We state that leadership matters as contextual factor of the optimization process of the talent value chain. We conclude that leaders’ signatures take root in which and how people are selected as human resources, how they are deployed as human capital, and how they are valued as human assets.

Conceptualization of talent as a construct is a main part of this paper. The insights discussed can be a contemporary guide for effective policies and efficient practices that lead to the recruitment, selection, development, growth and retention of employees and that transform talent into value.

Furthermore, this article guides executives, managers, and HR professionals on their way forward to carry organizations into the future. The presented five-stage approach offers an umbrella from an integral perspective. It makes clear that managing talent has different phases and includes several kinds of responsibilities and goals. Organizations that optimize the whole chain or some parts of the chain will beat the competition, create employment, and contribute value to society.