i Eighth Edition Resourcing and Talent Management
The theory and practice of recruiting and developing a workforce Stephen Taylor ii Publisher’s note
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Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY iii CO N T E N T S 01 Introduction 1
Resourcing and talent management 2 What is resourcing? 3 What is talent management? 6
Decision-making and evaluation 8 Adding value 10 Operations and strategy 13
Integration with other HRM activities 17
02 The resourcing and talent management environment 19 Introduction 20 The political context 20 The economic context 22 The social context 24 The technological context 26 The legal context 29 The environmental context 32
03 Human resource planning 34 What is HR planning? 35
Stages in traditional human resource planning 35
Forecasting future demand for human resources 37 Forecasting internal supply 42 Forecasting external supply 43 IT applications 45
The use of HR planning in practice 47
The case against HR planning 49 The case for HR planning 51
Adapting traditional HR planning 55
HR planning in an international context 61
04 Job analysis and job design 63 Managing vacancy scenarios 63 Job analysis 65
Problems with the job analysis approach 76 Competency frameworks 77 Job design 81 Job sculpting 86 iv Contents
05 Recruitment advertising 89 Introducing recruitment 89 Internal recruitment 92 External recruitment 94 Advertising in the media 95 Style and wording 97 Social media 102
06 Alternative recruitment methods 105 Informal approaches 106 Agencies 109 Education liaison 114
07 Employer branding 119 Introduction 119
Brands and brand management 120 Defining employer branding 123
The benefits of employer branding 124
Establishing an employer brand 128
Employer rebranding exercises 138
Debates about employer branding 140
08 Selection – the classic trio 144
Research in employee selection 144 Application forms 149 Shortlisting 153 Electronic sifting 154 Problems with interviews 156
The survival of the traditional interview 158
Varieties of interview format 160
Varieties of interview question 162 Structuring interviews 165 Remote interviews 167 Employment references 168 Criminal record checks 170
09 Advanced methods of employee selection 172 Biodata 173 Ability testing 175 Personality testing 182
Professional issues in the use of selection tests 189 Assessment centres 191 Contents v 10 The new employee 197 Contracts of employment 198 Specific contractual terms 202 The psychological contract 205 Induction 208 11
Performance management strategies 215 Introduction 216
Perspectives on performance management 217
Obtaining data about performance 220 Negotiation 227 Persuasion 228 Discipline 231 Reward 234 Working environments 237 Counselling 240
Further thinking about performance management 241
12 Performance appraisal 245 Introduction 246
The rise of performance appraisal 247
Varieties of performance appraisal 248 Aims of appraisal 252
Problems with performance appraisal 253 Legal and ethical issues 257
Appraising a flexible workforce 260 Customer-based appraisal 261
A defence of performance appraisal 261 360-degree appraisal 262 Practicalities 264
Replacing performance appraisal 268
13 Managing absence 271 Introduction 271 Measuring absence 273 Costing absence 276 The causes of absence 278 Reducing absence levels 283
Absence in the public sector 287
Evidence-based absence management 294 vi Contents
14 Succession planning 296 Introduction 296
What is succession planning? 297 Traditional approaches 303 Contemporary approaches 305 Alumni 308
15 Measuring and analysing employee turnover 311
Defining voluntary turnover 312 Does turnover matter? 313 Measuring turnover 317 Costing turnover 323 Data analytics 331 Benchmarking turnover 332
16 Improving employee retention 335 Reasons for leaving 336 Exit routes 338 Diagnostic tools 341 Reducing turnover 350
Employee retention and reward 352
Employee retention and developmental opportunities 356
Employee retention and effective line management 358 17 Retirement 363 Introduction 363 Population ageing 364 Employing older workers 366 Pension issues 369 Age discrimination law 371 Early retirement 372
Preparing employees for retirement 372 Post-retirement contact 374 18 Dismissals 375 Introduction 375
Introduction to the law of unfair dismissal 376 Fair and unfair reasons 377 Reasonableness 379
Misconduct and poor performance 382 Ill-health dismissals 385 Documentation 388 Contents vii Notice periods 389 Unfair dismissal claims 390
Qualifications and remedies 391 Wrongful dismissal 393 Best practice 394 19 Redundancy 396 Defining redundancy 397 Avoiding redundancies 399
Selecting people for redundancy 403
Providing help for redundant employees 406 Redundancy payments 409 Managing the survivors 410 Other legal issues 412 Offers of alternative work 414 Individual cases 415
20 Resourcing and talent management strategies 416 Introduction 417
Taking a strategic approach 417
Aligning HR practices with business strategy 420 Other models 425
Alternative views of the HR–business strategy link 426
Talent management strategies 433 References 439 Index 465 viii
THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 1 01 Introduction LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this chapter readers should be able to:
• define the terms ‘resourcing’ and ‘talent management’
• distinguish between different kinds of organisational objectives that are met, in
part, through resourcing and talent management activities
• establish criteria against which to evaluate decision-making in the resourcing and talent management field
• point out the different ways in which a resourcing or talent management specialist
can ‘add value’ on behalf of an organisation
• outline different ways of thinking about strategy in the field of resourcing and talent management.
In addition, readers should be able to understand and explain:
• the purpose of resourcing and talent management and the contribution these make
to the achievement of organisational goals
• the importance of administrative excellence as the basis for HR credibility and
influence within an organisation
• the contribution effective resourcing and talent management can make to an
organisation’s long-term success. 2
Resourcing and Talent Management
Resourcing and talent management
Through its Profession Map and educational syllabus, the Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development (CIPD/the Institute) delineates resourcing and talent
management as a distinct and coherent area of human resources management
(HRM). This book is intended to act as a guide to these management activities. Its
aim is to introduce, explore and critically analyse them, in the process drawing read-
ers’ attention to the most relevant published research and opinion.
The CIPD’s module outline for resourcing and talent management sums up
concisely how this field is defined for the purposes of the Institute’s Level 7 quali-
fications framework. This is the broad framework that we will use as the basis for
the material covered in this book. There are four quite broadly expressed ‘learning
outcomes’, each of which is further divided into three or four distinct ‘assessment criteria’:
1. Understand the impact of the changing business environment on resourcing
and talent management strategy and practice.
1.1. Analyse current developments impacting business environments and
their significance for organisational resourcing and talent strategy and practice.
1.2. Evaluate the value of resourcing and talent management strategies.
1.3. Critically discuss potential future developments in the fields of
resourcing and talent management.
1.4. Compare ways in which organisations build and maintain a positive
reputation in key labour markets by offering compelling employee value propositions.
2. Understand organisational recruitment and selection strategies.
2.1. Research current developments in job analysis, job design and competency frameworks.
2.2. Evaluate effective recruitment, selection and induction methods in organisations.
2.3. Analyse the use of technologies to improve: – attraction – selection – induction.
3. Understand the importance of succession planning to support sustainable organisational performance.
3.1. Evaluate long- and short-term talent planning approaches to meet organisational demand.
3.2. Analyse a range of analytics to determine talent planning and retention strategies.
3.3. Justify measures designed to reduce voluntary employee turnover. Introduction 3
4. Understand approaches to improving individual and team performance.
4.1. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to manage
and enhance employee performance.
4.2. Evaluate the use of technology to monitor individual and team performance.
4.3. Discuss management strategies for attendance and underperforming staff in organisations. What is resourcing?
The term ‘resourcing’ is widely used but has never been precisely defined. The term
has long been used by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and its
predecessor bodies, but its precise meaning has evolved somewhat over time.
Resourcing activities form a major part of the generalist HR role. They are activ-
ities of central relevance to all organisations which employ people because they aim
to help meet six central HRM objectives: staffing, performance, administration,
change management, reputation-building and promoting employee wellbeing. Staffing
Staffing objectives are concerned with ensuring that an organisation is able to call
on the services of sufficient numbers of staff to meet its objectives. These people
may be employed in a variety of different ways, but one way or another they must
be able to carry out the tasks and duties needed for the organisation to function
effectively. This is often summed up in the phrase ‘securing the services of the right
people, in the right place, at the right time’. To achieve this, there is a need to
recruit new employees, to retain existing employees and, on occasions, to dismiss
others. Increasingly we are seeing organisations taking a more strategic approach
to the staffing of their organisations, reflecting the perceived need to recruit and
retain more effective performers than their competitors can. Hence, as well as the
emphasis on ‘talent management’, we regularly see examples of organisations seek-
ing to become ‘employers of choice’, putting forward ‘employee value propositions’
and developing ‘employer brands’. The aim is to sell themselves as employers to
would-be employees by offering them both an attractive package of terms and
conditions and an employment experience that is superior to and distinct from that
which they could achieve elsewhere. Performance
Performance objectives pick up from the point at which the staffing objectives have
been achieved. The aim here is to ensure that, once assembled, the workforce is
absent as little as possible, and is well motivated and willing to perform to the best
of its ability. To achieve this, there is a need first to monitor individual and group 4
Resourcing and Talent Management
performance and then to develop means by which it can be improved. There are
always two distinct areas of performance management activity. The first concerns
the identification of sub-standard performance and measures taken to improve it.
This can be focused either on groups of employees or on individuals. The second
concerns policies and practices which have as their aim the maximisation of perfor-
mance in a more general sense. In recent years the emphasis here has tended to be on
managing people in such a way as to encourage them to demonstrate ‘discretionary
effort’. The most successful organisations are those whose people are sufficiently
committed that they are prepared to work beyond the strict requirements of their
contracts in order to help achieve the organisation’s aims. Administration
Administration objectives are concerned with ensuring that the employment rela-
tionships formed are managed efficiently, as well as in accordance with the law,
professional ethics and natural justice. In order to achieve these aims consistently,
it is necessary to write HR policies, to develop accepted procedures and to draw
up other documents relating to the employment of individuals (eg job descriptions,
offer letters, contracts and disciplinary warnings). Effective job and organisation
design can also be cited as significant administrative activities. It is often argued
that these kinds of activities represent a cost to organisations, amount to bureau-
cratic requirements and do not add value. While this is true of over-elaborate and
unnecessarily unwieldy practices, it is not the case in more general terms. The truth
is that the management of every organisation includes an administrative element.
Carrying out those tasks more effectively and efficiently than competitors do is,
therefore, one way in which the HRM function contributes to the achievement of competitive advantage. Change
A fourth type of objective draws on elements of the first three but is usefully treated
as being distinct in nature. This ensures that proper recognition is given to the signif-
icance of change in organisations and its effective management. Increasingly it is
argued that we operate in a business environment which is subject to continual
change. For many businesses it is no longer a question of managing a discrete episode
during which change occurs, but managing processes through which organisations
progressively evolve in terms of both their structure and culture. The resourcing
function can act as an important ‘change agent’ through the mechanisms whereby it
attracts, retains and motivates staff.
Charles Darwin famously argued that the biological species that survive most
effectively are not those which are strongest or most intelligent, but those which
are best at adapting to change. The more volatile, competitive and unpredictable
our business environment becomes, the more relevant this idea is to the world of
employment. The organisations which develop the best capacity for flexibility are
those which are best placed to seize opportunities as they arise. Introduction 5 Reputation
In recent years developments in the media landscape, particularly the evolution
of all-pervasive social media and greater competition among mainstream media
outlets, have made it harder for corporations to protect and enhance their repu-
tations. The truth is that negative stories attract public interest, and it is thus in
the interests of journalists and people looking to gain a bigger following on social
media to place the worst possible spin on a story. The bigger a global brand, the
higher the risks associated with loss of reputation. Over time, as more and more
such stories are published and circulated, public trust in the ethics and good inten-
tions of businesses has declined, and in many cases these concern HR matters
either directly (eg media revelations about poor or inequitable treatment of staff)
or indirectly (ethically questionable actions by staff). In the field of resourcing and
talent management, the major risk areas that need to be managed increasingly
carefully to protect and enhance reputation are equality and diversity (eg domi-
nance of senior positions by people who are ‘male and pale’), flexible working
arrangements (eg bogus self-employment and zero-hours contracts) and dismissal
decisions (eg terminating contracts for reasons that are widely considered to be unreasonable). Wellbeing
For much of the past 30 years HR managers have tended to distance themselves
somewhat from activities that relate to the welfare of employees. Back in the
1920s and 1930s when our profession was first establishing itself, looking after
employee welfare was acknowledged as being a major part of the role, but by the
1980s this side of HR work was often downplayed in favour of activities aimed
squarely at meeting management objectives. The idea that the role of HR manag-
ers was in part to represent employee interests to senior management fell out of
fashion as the HR function sought to reposition itself as one which is both critical
to organisational success and strategic in nature. Currently we are seeing a rever-
sal of this trend. It is occurring partly because of increased concern about stress
and mental health in workplaces and partly in reaction to media revelations about
sexual harassment and bullying in workplaces. It was striking in 2018 to observe
Members of Parliament in the UK calling for the establishment of a proper HR
function in the Palace of Westminster so that staff would have somewhere to go
when they wanted to raise concerns about their treatment at work. More generally
it is being increasingly appreciated that wellbeing is associated with job satisfac-
tion and hence with productivity and performance. An employer that neglects its
employees’ welfare is unlikely to be able to recruit and retain good performers.
Looking after people is thus right back at the top of the HR agenda again. In the
resourcing and talent management field this means that more attention needs to
be given to employee interests when hiring and firing in particular. HR managers
need both to act fairly and professionally when carrying out their activities and be seen to do so. 6
Resourcing and Talent Management Activity 1.1 What’s in a name?
Read the article entitled ‘Why HR is ditching Questions
traditional job titles’ by Marianne Calnan and
1 Why do you think that managers who have
Georgi Gyton featured in People Management
been happy to call themselves HR officers, HR
(November 2017, pages 42–44). This can be
managers and directors of HR now seem to be
downloaded from the People Management opting for other titles?
archive on the CIPD’s website (www.cipd.co.uk).
2 How far do you agree that the terms
This article discusses the different job titles
‘resources’ and ‘resourcing’ are becoming
that people employed in HR work are increasingly
less appropriate to use in job titles? What
adopting. The suggestion is that, over time, the would you prefer and why?
term ‘human resource manager’ is falling out of fashion. PAUSE AND REFLECT
In 2007 Harvard Business Review published an article by Tamara Erickson and Linda
Gratton entitled ‘What it means to work here’. They argued that employers are most
likely to recruit and retain the most talented performers when they are able to offer
them ‘a signature employment experience’.
What do you think this might mean in practice? How far would you say that your
organisation offers its staff ‘a signature experience’?
What is talent management?
As with many relatively new business terms, including the term ‘HRM’ itself, ‘talent
management’ has been defined in a range of different ways (Sparrow et al, 2014a;
Collings et al, 2017a; Gallardo-Gallardo and Thunnissen, 2019). It was first coined
around the turn of the 21st century by a group of HR consultants working for
McKinsey & Co., since when it has become very widely used across the world.
Numerous books and articles have now been published on the subject, each of which
has tended to take a somewhat different perspective and hence to have adopted its
own precise definition. Here are some examples:
The systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention and
deployment of those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an organisation. (CIPD, 2020b)