Global talent management:New challenges for the corporate HR function

Farndale, Elaine and Sparrow, Paul Ronald and Scullion, Hugh and Vidovic, Maja (2018) Global talent management:New challenges for the corporate HR function. In: Global Talent Management. Routledge, London, pp. 92-111. ISBN 9781138712454

Abstract

Although GTM is highly visible in management practice, its activity and scope are less well understood and there remains some debate over the meanings, challenges and future vision of GTM. It has become a topical issue both for research and practice as competition between employers has become more generic and has shifted from the country level to the regional and global levels. However, the role of the Corporate Human Resource (CHR) function in MNCs has until recently been largely neglected in the international HRM literature. The chapter examines the challenges faced by the CHR function in managing talent on a global basis. It expands upon the emergent roles for the function and discusses four of these roles derived from the extant literature (champion of processes, guardian of culture, network leadership and intelligence, and managers of internal receptivity). It explores how these roles support GTM in MNCs. The chapter examines the importance of the context in which a firm is operating in order to understand better how these roles might play out in reality. It identifies the key issues that need to be addressed to advance our understanding of the theory and practice of GTM and the implications for CHR in the context of the rise of emerging markets.