From war for talent to victory through organization

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that the human resource (HR) focus on “talent” has dominated the profession for the past 15 to 20 years. Much of this work draws on the research from the excellent study and book called The War for Talent. In this paper, the author proposes that victory (from any war) does not come from talent alone, but from the organization. Organization is defined as capabilities, or what an organization is known for and good at, and culture, which is a key capability. When HR professionals deliver both talent and organization, they build sustainable success that leads to victory.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper offers a perspective on shifting HR focus from an exclusive emphasis on talent to one on talent and organization. The author gives many examples of where great individual talent does not lead to long-term success (e.g. in most team sports, the leading scorer is on the winning team about 20 per cent of the time).

Findings

Once one identifies organization as a source of long-term success, it is critical to operationalize organization into a series of conscious choices. The paper defines culture as a key capability (along with other possible capabilities of speed [agility, flexibility, responsiveness and change], innovation, collaboration, efficiency and so forth). The author identifies specific wars that HR professionals and line managers can diagnose that create the right organization.

Originality/value

Many have talked about parts of organization (culture, climate, systems, process, etc.). The author offers an original way to define organization capabilities and culture.

Citation

Ulrich, D. (2015), "From war for talent to victory through organization", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 14 No. 1/2, pp. 8-12. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-01-2015-0004