Talent management – competency development: key to global leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to draw lessons on how building a talent management strategy based on competency profiling becomes a critical impact area within the field of strategic HRM. Design/methodology/approach The case study discusses an Indian pharmaceutical organisation, the environment and the issues arising in context to talent management. The case discusses a well designed talent management strategy. Findings The talent mindset has helped the organisation in recruiting the best talent from the best pharmaceutical organisations. The attrition of the top and valued talent segment has come down. Some of the key positions have been filled through succession planning. Research limitations/implications The case study is in a lesser known but emerging sector of the Indian economy. The case has concentrated on attracting and developing and retaining key talent, it does not concentrate on developing average talent into key talent. Practical implications The implications lie in whether to grow talent or buy talent. What signal through a communication strategy should a HR manager give when determining for talent segmentation? How to develop talent and retain employees when there are not challenging options available in the internal labour market? Originality/value This paper provides insights to HR practitioners on how to attract, acquire and manage talent in a tight internal and external labour market. It also provides empirical support for, and theoretical understanding of, the strategic HRM literature on talent management theme.