Workplace career conversations: aligning organizational talent management and individual career development?

PURPOSE. This thesis takes a contextualised stakeholder approach to exploring alignment between organizational talent management and individual career development. The contribution and nature of career conversations as an opportunity for alignment is considered. DESIGN. This qualitative study was conducted in two phases. Phase one involved semi-structured interviews with Human Resources and Organizational Development professionals (n = 30). Phase two involved semi-structured interviews using career narratives with line managers and individuals from five case study organizations which were also involved in phase 1 (n = 40). Data were analysed thematically by stakeholder group and within each case study. LIMITATIONS. The sample used within the study were not selected to be representative. The conversations described by participants may not be representative of all of the conversations they have experienced. The case study organizations were all UK based. FINDINGS. For most HR professionals, talent management was driven by organizational goals with little reference to individual needs, hence, alignment was not a priority for them. In contrast, individuals and line managers described a commitment to seeking overlap between organizational and individual goals, with some line managers describing their role as brokers . Career conversations were seen by all stakeholders as an important part of talent management and career development, with the potential to be a vehicle for alignment. Detailed analysis of the career conversations described by individuals identified a broad range of helpful conversations, the majority of which took place informally. Additional categories of career shaper (from Bosley et al, 2009) were also identified as collaborators and catalysts . A variety of contextual features were found to influence the enactment of talent management and career development. These were summarised as a contextual map indicating local, organisational and environmental dynamics. ORIGINALITY/VALUE. The research reinforced the value of taking a contextualised perspective of both organizational talent and individual career (e.g. Cohen et al 2004; Sparrow, 2014). It also captured the voices of different stakeholder groups (e.g. Collings, 2014; Thunnissen et al, 2013).