HRM Roles in Global Talent Management Examination and the Influence of the Organizational Context

This present study looked to analyze the different roles that can be performed by HR managers as global talent management facilitators through the balance sheet analysis between global integration adjustments and local responsibility needed to an organization that acts globally.

In this regard, and from the interviews analyses and the diverse documents made available by the organization, we have easily saw that the organization philosophy transfers capacity by its collaborators and the different countries where it acts and presupposes the existence of the presented four roles:

• - Monitor the implementation of relevant policies and practices (“We have a Corporate area, within Human Resources, Talent Management and Leadership Development, which positions all persons in a talent matrix and supervises directly three segments of talents that deserve a special attention through very customized and variable processes. The remaining are subject of a more global process supervised by line managers, which focus, always, the development”— Head of Talent)
• - Disseminate the organizational culture (“We are daily motivated by our history, culture and values wealth. In this sense we dispose what we call of ‘our way of doing ", a document that summarizes our culture and values and that is based in four crucial pillars: Our values, how do we work, or teams, our managers. We try hard day after day in order to be able to contribute to become our persons distinctive and unmistakable, in all places where we operate, being Talent Management processes prepared to adjust to all international scenario”—[23, p. 22])
• - Establish networks and guarantee that all parties are sensible to global mobility needs (“We develop in a regular basis transversal forums to the diverse business areas, with the aim of share knowledge and promote the adoption of best practices. We also have four consulting groups, with periodical meetings designed to share and coordinate information. In addition, we count with two commissions used as a platform to knowledge and experiences share”—[23, p. 28]).

Considering the presence of the four roles, a new preposition was therefore established. In other words, we wanted to know whether it will be possible to foresee the prevalence of each of them, based in the company organizational context, i.e., according to the adopted talent management approach (inclusive, exclusive or hybrid), the talent philosophy or the world economic crises context.

In the multinational organization, the role Champion of Processes assumes a great relevance. “HRM, through the Talent Management and Leadership Development, assumes the main role in the Talent Management System architecture, namely in the Talent Matrix design and analysis, previously analyzed, and in the follow-up of all involved in the Performance Management Cycle, that covers all the organization—Staff Corporate and stores” (Head of Talent).

In the Y organization, the Guardian of Culture role is important, in the sense that it assumes to be critical to manage and conciliate the organizational culture role, which is highly evident and strong in the organization, with the expatriation process and the acquisition of local talents and the needed local adjustments.

It was found that in most situations of the international expansion, the organization resorts to local workers. In those situations when the organization resorts to expatriation, the expatriates are carefully prepared to the international mission. In the talent management point of view and according to the organization Head of Talent, “the organization considers absolutely indispensable to have an international mindset where the language care (English language is adopted as the official language of the Group) and the respect and attention toward certain cultures are crucial”. Sometimes is possible to observe the need for local adjustments “in what concerns Spanish people, who have less familiarity with English, there was an attempt in adopt the Spanish language in business” (Head of Talent).

Human resource managers of the Y organization also assume, clearly, the role of manager of local receptivity as they show flexibility and the necessary complexity in career management, showing adjustment to the new approaches of the international assignments, namely with the existence of more and more self-initiated expatriates.

“The communication ofTalents Management themes is always facilitated as well as the concerns share” (Head of Talent). Talents Management assumes a crucial role, paying HRM attention to the change of processes, mentalities, and practices, compared to the workers international experiences. This role is well visible in the Talent Matrix and more specifically in the Talent Revision Forums. The organization is concerned in developing future leaders and promoting a talent management culture, which is considered a long-term investment.

Repatriation is also considered crucial: Repatriation success is an important tool to encourage others to international assignments.

Intelligent networks and leadership: HRM reveals an extensive knowledge and applicability of the last tendencies and developments in internal and external labor markets as well as high sensitivity to what is happening simultaneously at the local and global levels. Social and organizational networks assume a crucial role to internal receptivity. According to Y Organization Head of Talent, networks and relations established in the organization can be presented in four levels:

• (1) Communication among collaborators;
• (2) Networks related with specific roles that allow leaders to identify international individuals and assignments;
• (3) Networks with the respective HR Departments, encouraging regular contacts to the discussion of global mobility subjects;
• (4) Networks among expatriates that allow the exchange of experiences and concerns, creating a social and professional support.

HR area reveals a concern in managing structural social capital (configuration, density and network function/relations) and, simultaneously, social cognitive capital (shared objectives and culture, such as language, codes, among others).

The final preposition suggests, as it had happen in the study that supports this present one, that roles performed by HR managers’ enablers of global talent management are dynamic, product of the organizational context influence. In what concerns the context of the global economic crisis, contrary to what happened in the study developed by Farndale et al. [18], in the present study we have concluded that despite the crisis started in 2008 has affected global markets and changed the way to search talents, it did not require a resource reduction in the implementation of the global mobility strategy adopted by the organization. In the multinational study, the great influence is exercised by the organization talent philosophy inherent to the global strategy that is people orientated.

Talent management system of Y organization and the talent philosophy that underlies it presuppose the existence of a hybrid management approach. If, on the one hand, all workers are integrated in a Talent Matrix—inclusive approach, on the other hand the organization focuses its performance in top potentials and senior executives, having to them a customized and differentiated approach—exclusive approach.

The organization further considers that there is no single business model able to operate internationally. The type of management developed by the organization at the subsidiaries level is decentralized, with local approaches to the Talents Management. The organization adopts a decentralized model, providing subsidiaries with some local responsibilities. However, the organization considers essential to have a good balance between global integration and local responsibility. If global integration allows the organization to transfer its management philosophy in the countries where operates, local responsibility allows to provide the subsidiaries with great autonomy and the possibility to incorporate local specificities and culture, having respect by the environment where they operate.