Implicit link: using free association to explore cross-cultural differences in the meaning of talent

Due to the strikingly diverse forms talent management takes in the field, confusion has arisen about the meaning of the term ‘talent’ itself, especially in the context of cross -cultural organizing within multinational enterprises (MNEs). Taking an emic approach to this problem-examining the phenomenon of global talent management (GTM) from the perspective of local HR managers, in their own words- the present study aims to answer the question: “Do HR practitioners in different countries actually have similar perceptions of what talent means?”. Through a word associations study (2824 associations with ‘talent’ generated by 316 HR managers) we show that in the eyes of HR managers, talent is inherently multidimensional-it refers both to ‘whole people’ and ‘characteristics of people’, to performance and potential, and is partially innate, partially prone to development. Interestingly, the literature on talent philosophies had previously assumed that these would be ‘either-or’ conceptualizations of talent in the mind of a single TM decision maker, whereas our empirical data shows otherwise. Additionally, across countries and cultures we found more convergence than difference. The challenge for global talent management, then, is to translate these socially shared representations of talent, that are both connected and contradictory, into an integrated set of TM practices.