*Submit by due date listed in course schedule
Talent Management
Individual Paper #1, Due 04/04/2024
The current environment for managing talent has never been more dynamic and challenging.
Economic, political, social, and environmental change takes place on a rapid cycle. Talent
shortages exist alongside surpluses. Technology and generational differences present both
opportunities and threats to recruiting, retention, loyalty and productivity. How can each critical
element in the talent lifecycle support the businesses or organization’s strategy and provide the
quality, types and numbers of talent required for now and in the future? How can the
management of talent create both a sustainable and a reliable source of competitive
advantage?
This paper is an opportunity for you to leverage and apply class discussions, readings, videos,
and your own experience and learnings; with a focus on the key areas of managing talent
covered in the first half of the course. This assignment asks you to respond to a series of
questions and topic areas that will require you to synthesize, integrate learnings and then
express your own point of view and include your rationale. Although there are no right
answers, what is expected and required is well-developed, specific, complete and thoughtful
responses.
The talent management elements that your paper will cover include:
● Connecting to the businesses or organization’s strategy
● Philosophy, strategy, and other foundational elements of talent management
● Sourcing, recruiting, hiring and onboarding processes that promote a positive
candidate/employee experience, motivated employees and sufficient talent flow
● A powerful employee value proposition that can and will attract and retain both internal
employees and external candidates
● Performance management approach, programs and processes that you believe in and
would advocate for
● An approach to motivation and how to maximize employee motivation at every level
● Your brief assessment of how your current organization, or an organization that you
recently worked for, manages each of these elements.
● Your individual paper #1 is due on Thursday, April 4, 2024 by 11:59 pm.
Here are the specific focus areas and questions for each of the above elements that require a
response:
1. Connecting to the businesses or organization’s strategy:
● Why is starting with the organizational strategy important to managing talent?
● What would be your approach and key steps in linking the management of talent to
organizational strategy?
● How can the leadership and HR ensure that the TM philosophy, TM strategy and TM
programs and processes, are fully aligned and support the achievement of that strategy?
● What kind of measurement approach would you include to determine whether TM is really
aligned and directly supportive of the organizational strategy and goals?
2. Philosophy, strategy and other foundational elements of talent management:
● Describe/define what you believe should be an overall talent management philosophy.
Include your reasoning/rationale and any assumptions that you are making. Provide examples.
● Describe/define an overall talent management strategy and what you would base it on.
Include your reasoning/rationale. Provide examples (i.e., if an organization’s strategy is this,
then the talent management strategy should be that/includes that/focuses on that, etc.).
● Based on your perspective/point of view; provide a definition of how talent is defined.
● How you would define potential versus performance and define high potentials. How
would you identify these populations (what methods, processes, instruments or tools would
you use).
3. Sourcing, recruiting, hiring, onboarding and performance management processes that
promote a positive candidate/employee experience, motivated employees and sufficient
talent flow:
● What does it take for the sourcing, recruiting and hiring processes to promote a positive
candidate experience? How would you measure this?
● What is key to ensuring that each of these processes are both effective and efficient? How
do you define efficient and effective? Provide specific suggestions/recommendations regarding
sourcing, recruiting and hiring that are critical to success.
● What is necessary for an onboarding process to be both a positive experience and
effective? How would you measure?
● Performance management approach, programs and processes that you believe in and
would advocate for. What is your approach to performance management? What would you
include? Eliminate? Key elements including processes, frequency, forms? Include your rationale
for what you are describing and advocating for
4. A powerful employee value proposition (EVP) that can and will attract and retain both
internal employees and external candidates and other approaches to motivation and
how to maximize employee motivation at every level:
● Describe the key elements of an EVP. What is necessary to make it a powerful approach to
both candidates and current hires?
● What is your view regarding whether an EVP should be universal or customized. Provide
your rationale.
● What are your beliefs about motivation and whether and if so, how employees and leaders,
managers can be motivated? What makes a difference/what matters?
● How would you explain to senior leaders that having a clear set of assumptions/beliefs and
approach to motivation is an important element of managing talent?
5. Your brief assessment of how your current organization, or an organization that you
recently worked for, manages each of these elements.
●
For each of the above four elements, in a few paragraphs, assess the effectiveness of how
this element is managed and include your rationale.
Individual Paper Format
● The paper should be from 12-15 pages.
● APA format.
● Arial 11-point front and double-spaced.
● The paper should include at least 5 robust references from class content including
readings, videos and class materials, along with your research and use of other external
references and sources from respected publications. For example: peer-reviewed journal
articles, business publications such as the Harvard Business Review, etc.). Although you may
use sources such as the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), Wall Street Journal,
etc., you are also expected to go beyond such sources of non-peer reviewed, “newsy”
information and white papers.
● Sources should be cited using full APA style citations.
Refer to the Rubric for Individual Paper #1 for guidance regarding achievement criteria
levels/points.
