ABSTRACT
In the global dynamic business environment, talent management (TM) along with retention of top quality talent has become a key focus for both practitioners and academics. This chapter seeks to map key trends through a literature analysis of talent management and looks at the definitions and confusion in the term. TM owes its roots to the behavioural school of thought of strategic human resource management (HRM) and falls under the staffing function. A TM strategy involves the acquisition, development and deployment of resources while anticipating and responding to a large variety of market forces. It also involves anticipating and responding faster than the competitors in this arena. Talent management is seen as a vital part of business strategy and of high quality HRM that has greater payoffs and is expected to contribute to the overall performance of the organisation. The chapter concludes with a conceptual model of integrated talent management strategies.
