Talent management in educational institutions

The present times are marked with ongoing changes, the consequences of which are experienced by organizations in both the private and public sectors. Globalization, technological progress, growing staff mobility, demographic trends (e.g., society aging), growing diversity (e.g., race and ethnicity), diverse lifestyles, more challenging conditions in the labor markets (e.g., decrease in labor force growth rate, war for talents, lack of skills and experience, staff shortages, insufficient number of educated candidates, etc.), and new trends in education (promotion of lifelong learning, e-learning, etc.) are phenomena that play a significant role in human resource management in organizations (Stuss, 2021, p. 44).

Organizations have been changing their approach to recruitment. There is a shift from the old approach, according to which candidates searched for employers and were loyal to them; talented staff members were something that made a company stand out, and employees were loyal to their organizations and expected long-term employment. They accepted incentive schemes offered by organizations. This approach resulted from workers’ attitude towards work and their limited mobility. However, the labor market has been changing for some time, which has also led to changes in employees’ attitudes towards organizations. Today, it is organizations that search for their staff. The quality of human resources determines the organization’s competitive advantage. Attracting talents is critical and is connected with fighting for them. Employers are aware that today’s employees are mobile and more open to change. They also expect individual, dedicated incentives (Wieczorek-Szymańska, 2019, p. 146). So, organizations have changed their approach to recruiting employees and motivating them to stay. It is worth pointing out that today, the demand in the labor market is mainly for candidates with specific key competencies. There is a discussion within the scientific discourse about education oriented to developing certain competencies necessary to function in the modern labor market (see: Jagielska, 2023). In the context of labor market volatility and accelerating social and technological transformations, it is important to underline the role of education and preparation of prospective workers to function in the rapidly changing reality. Modern employees will have to be skilled at critical analysis of information, obtaining knowledge, strategic thinking, etc. Another sign of the times is the massive growth of knowledge, which will require talented employees to extract the information necessary to perform highly specialized work.

Talent management is increasingly challenging for organizations operating in the knowledge economy. The literature provides many definitions of this term. It is defined as an economy based on the production, distribution and application of knowledge and information (Pocztowski, 2008, p. 14). Surely, the key element of the knowledge economy is knowledge, the development of which drives socio-economic growth. Humans and their capital are the source of this knowledge (Brzeziński, 2016). The concept of knowledge economy is also connected with the term ‘human capital’ which is “built by family and environment, enriched by school and normative system, and only available in economy in its mature form. It can then be developed and utilized, or stifled and killed” (Galar, 2003, p. 308, after: Brzeziński, 2016). The competitiveness of the knowledge economy is associated with the intentional development of human capital and efficient human resource management. Today’s society is a knowledge society. According to Peter Drucker, knowledge means utility. Thus, knowledge is a means to reach social and economic goals (Drucker, 1999, p. 40). It should be treated as a general set of information and skills used by individuals to solve problems through action (Zastempowski, 2008, p. 117, after: Kucznik, 2019, p. 137).

We can observe significant knowledge growth and use technologies to further expand it. The potential of the modern labor market is hidden in employees. They are a critical resource in every organization. The proper use of their potential and commitment creates many opportunities for the organization. The contemporary labor market is part of the new reality connected with effective human resource management. This new reality is talent management. In order to function, every organization hires people with diverse talents. Talented employees determine the competitive advantage of the organization. That is why the ability to discover and develop talents is so important in workforce management. Having talented workers also means facing difficulties generated by the labor market and the high demand for talented employees. Staff mobility does not help organizations either. Keeping talented employees may be challenging (see: Stuss, 2021, p. 51). The literature on the subject points to the fact that there are many indicators inside and outside organizations that confirm the growing importance of talent management. These indicators include: 1. The need to improve the effectiveness of organizations; 2. Difficulties in winning talented workers; 3. The need to prepare future managers; 4. The need to retain talented employees in an organization; 5. The need for more effective use of tangible and non-tangible resources for training and development; and 6. Expanding the offer of incentives (A. Kaczmarska & Ł. Sienkiewicz, 2005, p. 53-53, after: Pocztowski, 2008, pp. 11-12). Proper talent management in an organization may contribute to its greater competitiveness. Effectively managing, motivating, and attracting talents ensures a greater competitive advantage. Internal and external factors that indicate the growing role of talent management have been presented in detail in relevant publications (see: Pocztowski, 2008; Collings & Mellahi, 2009; Collings, Mellahi & Cascio, 2019; Lewis & Heckman, 2006; Tarique & Schuler, 2010; Vainman, Scullion & Collings, 2012; Mahfoozi, Salajegheh, Ghorbani & Sheikhi, 2018). Talent management becomes particularly important in light of the socio-demographic changes and labor market transformations. The open labor market favors migrations. Talented workers with relevant capital find employment in international markets. They choose work that gives them satisfaction, is an investment in their development and provides adequate financial gratification. The problem of the shrinking pool of talented employees in the labor market does not only affect the private sector. Actually, it can be said that it refers mainly to the public sector, especially the education system, which has been struggling with the outflow of talented staff for many years.

This article aims to fill the research gap in Polish research on talent management at a higher education institution (a research institute within the structure of a university) and present a concept for implementing talent management at a Polish higher education institution. This issue is important as it concerns institutions that are tasked with knowledge transfer. Knowledge is the most important element in the GOW and is linked to the economy. In the case of the presented and described educational institution, it turned out that it is important not only to transfer knowledge appropriately but also to take care of employees with appropriate capital who are able to share knowledge. Appropriate talent management in an educational institution translates into an increase in the effectiveness of its work and the knowledge of subjects/students coming out of the educational system. It has been recognized for the purposes of the article presented here that educational units are the place where knowledge is transmitted and created, and thus the place is the nucleus of talent management.

Reflections on talent management should begin with defining the term ‘talent’. The word itself is quite hard to define clearly, as different authors form different concepts around it. Talent can mean “general abilities: extraordinary intellectual potential. Directed abilities: skills related to specific domains of functioning. A factor not related with thinking: motivation, emotional maturity, psychical resistance” (Brzeziński, 2016, p. 128). In the psychological approach, a talent is a person who: 1. Has deeper awareness and understanding of their own unique interests and aptitudes; 2. Recognizes how these attributes can be used in the course of their education and career; and 3. Thinks reflectively (Achter & Lubiński, 2005, p. 602, after: Pocztowski, 2008, p. 38). Alicja Rylewska & Agnieszka Springer (2014, p. 147) think that “a talented person is someone with extraordinary abilities, who has a great knowledge and skills, is creative, entrepreneurial and very engaged in their work, focuses on selfdevelopment and, at the same time, cares about the image and wellbeing of the entire organization.” Another definition of talent was presented by Deepika Gaur & Bhawna Gaur: “Talent is the employee everyone wants, … the kind of person you employ that is going to make a difference to your business and do something that hasn’t been done before. Talent flows naturally to countries that create an environment for economic growth; that make life easy for enterprise; that attract and welcome investment” (Gaur & Gaur, 2018, pp. 1-6). Talent can also be understood as an individual “systematically developing their innate abilities which they find important, that contribute to excellent results obtained by organization. Talent enables individuals to perform better than other individuals of the same age or experience; it can also be an individual performing consistently at their personal best” (Gallardo-Gallardo, Nijs, Dres, Gallo, 2015). Bogusz Mikuła defines talented employees as “particularly talented knowledge staff members who have unique skills, a very high development potential and are committed to their work. These individuals often have additional extraordinary achievements” (Mikuła, 2006, p. 172, after: Brzeziński, 2016). Tadeusz Listwan says that “a talented employee is an ambitious individual with inner motivation to achieve professional goals” (Listwan, 2015, p. 21). Talent can be explored from the perspective of its components. A combination of these elements results in talent and represented abilities. Talent components include: 1. Extraordinary abilities, which include general abilities (elevated intellectual potential) and specialist skills (in a specific domain); 2. Creativity, that is, sensitivity and rich emotionality, out-of-the-box thinking, unconventional approach, attempts at solving new problems, risk-taking, tolerance of uncertainty, and acceptance of change; 3. Commitment to work, that is, inner discipline and diligence, fascination with work, endurance in pursuing goals, faith in one’s own abilities, and willingness to sacrifice (Sękowski, 2005). According to Kwiecień (2005), talent consists of: 1. Strategic thinking ability, 2. Leadership skills, 3. Emotional intelligence, 4. Ability to influence others, 5. Entrepreneurship, 6. Focus on results, 7. Flexibility and adaptation to change, 8. Ability to work in a team, and 9. Technical skills within one’s field of expertise. The key aspects of talent definition revolve around the following concepts: extraordinary abilities, knowledge, ability, creativity, commitment, competence, experience, contribution, potential, personal characteristics, and qualifications. An interesting approach to talents in organizations is presented by Dave Urlich & Norman Smallwood (2012). They claim that every person working in an organization should be considered a talent. However, different approaches should be applied to different groups: 1. C-suite executives, 2. Leadership cadre, 3. High-potentials, and 4. All employees. The C-suite executives should be offered dedicated, non-standard learning experience, that is, participation in external groups, coaching, and targeted training; the leadership cadre should have access to development activities focused on thematic areas like shaping the future, setting new challenges, engaging today’s talents, and building next generation of talent. High-potentials should receive dedicated tasks connected with certain teamwork or projects, mentoring opportunities, and targeted training. All employees within an organization should be seen as talented, and they, too, should benefit from dedicated initiatives aimed at developing their potential (Ulrich & Smallwood (2012). Talent can be seen in different ways. Objectively, it can be considered an individual’s strengths or something one is good at. Talent development based on one’s strengths is something an organization should focus on. Thus, objectively, talent can be treated as a human characteristic, a natural ability. Working on a talent leads to individual excellence in a certain field. It is expressed through one’s commitment and passion. It involves one’s inner abilities, skills, knowledge, competencies, and attitudes, which result in extraordinary goals being achieved in a given context. In the subjective approach, talent can be seen as all people working in an organization (see: Stuss, 2021). A detailed overview of publications about the concept of talent and talent management can be found in Stuss (2021).

The term ‘talent management’ should also be defined. In the case of talent, there are many definitions of talent management. The literature on the subject defines it as a “set of activities addressed to highly talented individuals to support their development, abilities and help an organization achieve its goals” (Listwan, 2005, p. 21, after: Chrapek, 2013, p. 89). A narrower approach points out to such elements as identification, development, retaining, commitment, and proper use of talent’s potential in a given organizational environment (Chrapek, 2013). “Based on the organizational cycle and the idea of the organization as an open system, this whole set of activities can be divided into actions associated with entering, moving to and leaving the organization” (Listwan, 2005, after: Brzeziński, 2016). A slightly different definition was proposed by Stanisława Borkowska, who thinks talent management is a “process which will lead to identification and acquisition of talents according to the organization’s strategy, retaining them, motivating them to achieve the best possible results and facilitating their development so that it is beneficial for both the organization and the talents” (Borkowska, 2005, p. 117, after: Brzeziński, 2016). Talent management is “managing employees in such a way so that they have the sense of constant development and self-realization, and use their natural abilities and preferences as best as possible in their work. Talent management involves the ability to recognize the strengths of every staff member and properly assign the areas of responsibility and tasks to individual talents. It is an ongoing focus on meeting the developmental and business goals of every employee” (Balewski, after: Brzeziński 2016). Talent management can also be treated as a process of recruiting, training, developing, and retaining employees who constantly and consequently achieve excellent results (Davis, Cutt, Flynn, Mowl, Orme, 2010, p. 15, after: Wieczorek-Szymańska, 2019, p. 146). It can also be studied as the art of management, a set of processes existing in an organization, tools to get to know employees, a way of thinking, a strategic approach to human resource management, tools to achieve goals, or tools to attract talents. The very idea of management is connected with adequate delegation of responsibilities to individuals with certain aptitudes. Talent management is the ability to recognize and select tasks according to individual talents. The goal of talent management is to attract and retain the best workers. As noticed by Anna Wieczorek-Szymańska, “in order to win the war for talents, businesses must rethink their strategies of attracting, rewarding and motivating the most competent employees as well as collaboration with and supervision thereof” (Wieczorek-Szymańska, 2019, p. 147). The literature analysis conducted by Stuss shows that there are three definitions of talent management: 1. A set of typical practices of HR departments; 2. A pool of talents and ensuring adequate flow of workforce within the entire organization, with a focus on specific groups of employees considered as having the executive talent; and 3. Talent management and talents are treated as a general good and resource that can be managed with high effectiveness (Stuss, 2021, p. 52). Talent management can also be understood as: 1. Actions and processes, including regular identification of the key positions that contribute to the organization’s lasting competitive advantage; 2. Development of the pool of talents with high potential and excellent results; and 3. Design of diverse human resource architecture to facilitate winning and retention of talents and ensure their ongoing commitment to the organization (Collings, Mellahi, 2009, after: Stuss, 2021, p. 52). M. Buckingham & R.M. Vosburgh (2001) claim that talent management is the “art of recognizing the domains in which every employee has a natural talent and considering how to help every employee develop professional skills and knowledge to translate these talents into actual results.” Managing talents “is about attracting, identifying, recruiting, developing, motivating, promoting and retaining high-potential staff to ensure the organization’s success” (Baron & Armstrong, 2007). A detailed analysis of the talent management concept was made by Stuss (2021).

It is worth recalling the words of Wieczorek-Szymańska, who notices that “employers face completely new challenges related to knowledge staff management. In the rapidly changing environment, people become very mobile, learn fast and are less and less loyal and attached to certain organizations. Material incentives are no longer the main determinant of working for a specific company. Talented workers look for freedom of action, creative work opportunities, self-fulfillment, and new knowledge in the workplace. They care about autonomy in decision-making, flexible work time and specific organizational culture of respect and positive relations with others” (Wieczorek-Szymańska, 2019, p. 146). This issue refers not only to the private sector. More and more often, it emerges in education institutions where there is an outflow of talented staff, while it is these institutions that should hire the most talented workers as they prepare the next generations to enter and function in the labor market. In the case of educational institutions operating in the public sector, adequate talent management tools should be implemented, and a system that motivates staff members to remain in organizations should be developed.

Managing talents should be based on a well-thought-out strategy of discovering and developing talents. Wieczorek-Szymańska designed a talent implementation system, which consists of three components: 1. Finding talents (brand creation, identification of talents, determining possible ways to fill the gaps, for example, through a development scheme); 2. Talent development (movement of workers, internal and external development programs); and 3. Talent retention (generating a strong sense of pride from work, a culture of mutual respect for work, setting integrity standards, and employer’s reliability) (Wieczorek-Szymańska, 2019, p. 149). The analyses presented herein will be partly based on this model.

The theoretical premises described above, which relate to talents and talent management, are located in the space of a Polish university. Its specific functioning depends not only on the scientific traditions but mainly on the adopted Development Strategy, the Statute of the university, the autonomy of the researchers, the external laws (Acts and regulations to them) and internal laws (regulations), and the potential and personal resources of the staff (cf. Chutorański, 2013; Szwabowski 2013). But the development of the staff is determined not only by the staff themselves but also by the director, the leader, who is able, through building the climate of the workplace, the work and motivation strategies applied, to act for the development of themselves and the institution itself (Czerepaniak-Walczak, 2014, 2016). It is on the development of the staff (through their appropriate management) that the development of students, research, and, therefore, the university will depend.

It may seem that talent management is impossible to implement in higher education institutions due to the nature of the research and scientific work (there is no research on this in relation to the Polish university; https://www.ebsco.com). However, it should be noted that the right “investment” in the academic staff and proper talent management through assigning duties adequately to skills may increase the effectiveness of individual work and reinforce employees’ commitment to building the positive image of their institution.

The object of the study presented in the paper is talent management in one of the units of a higher education institution. The goal of the study was to present the concept of talent management in higher education institutions. In Poland, there is no research in this area in relation to academic staff and higher education institutions, even though the issue is present in the international discourse (c.f. Bradley, 2016; Thunnissen, 2016; Eghbal, Hovida Siyadat, Samavatiyan & Yarmohammadiyan, 2017; Kamal & Lukman, 2017). This fact makes it possible to consider the presented research as innovative in Poland and complementary to the research issue absent in the academic discourse. There are numerous studies on talent management in the private sector (the overview made by Stuss, 2021); however, the higher education sector is not an area of research focus, even though this sector experiences the outflow of talented staff from its institutions.

The research was conducted using a qualitative strategy. The main research problem was contained in the question: How do higher education institutions implement talent management strategies? The research conducted used a case study method with foundational data (documents). The institutions’ documents were analyzed in terms of activities aimed at identifying and managing employee talent. Documentation related to student education was also analyzed. The analysis was intended to show whether the study program prepares future employees with the skills to manage their own talents.

The research was conducted in the first half of 2023 in one of the cells of a higher education institution. The selection of institutions was purposive. One unit of a higher education institution was selected for analysis. The institution has more than 1,000 employees, with 27 employees working in the unit under study. At the described institution, the first activities related to the implementation of the idea of talent management were undertaken in 2021.

The qualitative analytical strategy adopted made it possible to see the purposefulness and specificity of the activities at the institution, revisit individual documents (found data), and consider significant talent management activities against the background of the whole. It also provided an opportunity to compare data and create a universalization of descriptions of the area under study according to talent management’s categorization key (overarching categories (Gibbs, 2011)). It is worth noting that document analysis is nonreactive research, which is defined by E. Babbie (2004, p. 341) as a form in which there is no interaction with the respondent so that the researcher does not influence the respondent’s behavior.