Talent management as a key imperative for leadership development

Talent management (otherwise known as human capital management) is an integrated strategic and deliberate activity, performed by both private sector and public sector organisations. It directs how organisations source, attract, select, train, develop, retain, promote and deploy employees. Research done on the value of such systems implemented within particular organisations consistently uncovers benefits in these critical economic areas: revenue creation, customer satisfaction, quality, productivity, cycle time, and market capitalisation. However, for the purposes of employee development and succession planning, it may be prudent to consider talent management as a means to develop strong leaders within an organisation. The mindset of this more personal human resource approach seeks not only to hire and retain the most qualified and valuable employees but also to put a strong emphasis on their development and to harness their inert potential.