ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the increasing importance of talent management or TM to HRM theory and practice, especially since the war for talent came to be identified as an important issue for organizations since the late 1990s. Talent management is a term that can be seen as another management fad which has gained currency through fashion rather than through relevance and value rather like previous terms and management techniques such as total quality management (TQM), business process re-engineering (BPR) or just in time (JIT) which have been subject to academic and professional criticism. UBS set up a Leadership Institute, and its Global Leadership Experience is targeted at senior management, with an Accelerated Leadership Experience aimed at high-potentials. Policy developments in the Scottish Parliament relating to human capital issues and the talent management of an older workforce are in part focused on labour-supply shortages in key public services and the retention of the talents of older workers.
