Nicolene Schutte (Barkhuizen)
Abstract
The introduction of talent management as a workplace function in the late 1990s was enthusiastically received as an innovative approach to optimise people management practice. Advocates view talent management as a top strategy for ensuring competitiveness, sustainability, and advancement in a VUCA world. Organizations that comprehended and were frontrunners in talent management practices reaped the advantages, although they were in the minority. Regrettably, we are experiencing a period characterised by the “Quiets”, referring to Quiet quitting and firing. This has brought attention to the practical implementation of talent management in the workplace and its significance. The main objective of this paper is to deconstruct the ideologies around talent management and the perceived effectiveness of the practical application thereof in the context of higher education. Based on a textual and discourse analysis of foundational texts on TM, I identify the ideological thoughts currently shaping talent management practice and the emergent gaps in the realistic application thereof. Although there have been some advancements in the academic research and practical implementation of talent, notable disparities exist between their perceived benefits and their actual use in the workplace. This necessitates a fundamental change in our ideological cognitive processes regarding talent management.