Workplace career conversations: aligning organizational talent management and individual career ...

263 Pages·2017·4.14 MB·English

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Workplace career
conversations: aligning
organizational talent
management and individual
career development?
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Additional Information:
• A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.
Metadata Record: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/27036
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Publisher: (cid:13)c Maggi Evans
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Please cite the published version.
Workplace career conversations: aligning organizational
talent management and individual career development?

by
Maggi Evans
Doctoral Thesis
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the award of
Ph.D. of Loughborough University
October 2017
© by Maggi Evans 2017
Abstract

Purpose: This thesis takes a contextualised stakeholder approach to exploring alignment between
organizational talent management and individual career development. The contribution and nature
of career conversations as an opportunity for alignment is considered.
Design: This qualitative study was conducted in two phases. Phase one involved semi-structured
interviews with Human Resources and Organizational Development professionals (n = 30). Phase two
involved semi-structured interviews using career narratives with line managers and individuals from
five case study organizations which were also involved in phase 1 (n = 40). Data were analysed
thematically by stakeholder group and within each case study.
Limitations: The sample used within the study were not selected to be representative. The
conversations described by participants may not be representative of all of the conversations they
have experienced. The case study organizations were all UK based.
Findings: For most HR professionals, talent management was driven by organizational goals with little
reference to individual needs, hence, alignment was not a priority for them. In contrast, individuals
and line managers described a commitment to seeking overlap between organizational and individual
goals, with some line managers describing their role as ‘brokers’. Career conversations were seen by
all stakeholders as an important part of talent management and career development, with the
potential to be a vehicle for alignment. Detailed analysis of the career conversations described by
individuals identified a broad range of helpful conversations, the majority of which took place
informally. Additional categories of career shaper (from Bosley et al, 2009) were also identified as
‘collaborators’ and ‘catalysts’. A variety of contextual features were found to influence the enactment
of talent management and career development. These were summarised as a ‘contextual map’
indicating local, organisational and environmental dynamics.
Originality/value: The research reinforced the value of taking a contextualised perspective of both
organizational talent and individual career (e.g. Cohen et al 2004; Sparrow, 2014). It also captured the
voices of different stakeholder groups (e.g. Collings, 2014; Thunnissen et al, 2013).

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Contents

Chapter Page
1. Introduction 1
1.1. Why this research? 1
1.2. Research summary 2
1.3. Structure for the thesis 3
1.4. Summary of findings 4
1.5. Contribution 5

2. Career literature review 8
2.1. Introduction 8
2.2. Theoretical perspectives 8
2.3. Career self-management 15
2.4. Organizational career management 18
2.5. Other parties in career management 23
2.6. Career conversations 28
2.7. Summary and conclusion 32

3. Talent Management Literature Review 35
3.1. Introduction 35
3.2. What is talent management? 35
3.3. Research background 37
3.4. Talent management practice 43
3.5. Mutuality within talent management 50
3.6. Talent conversations 54
3.7. Summary and conclusion 57

4. Methodology 60
4.1. Introduction 60
4.2. Research questions and study design 61
4.3. Phase one – data collection 70
4.4. Phase one – analysing the data 76
4.5. Phase two – data collection 81
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4.6. Phase two – analysing the data 88
4.7. Study features and limitations 91
4.8. Conclusion 95

5. Alignment between organizational talent management and individual 97
career development
5.1. Introduction 97
5.2. Organizational talent management -aims 98
5.3. Organizational talent management – intended practices 102
5.4. Organizational talent management – intended roles 106
5.5. Organizational talent management – career conversations 112
5.6. Individual career development – career narratives 117
5.7. Individual career development – expected roles 123
5.8. Individual career development – career conversations 127
5.9. Summary 128

6. The nature of positive career conversations 130
6.1. Introduction 130
6.2. Conversation set-up 131
6.3. Contribution of the career conversation 145
6.4. Perceived interpersonal relationships 155
6.5. Summary 159

7. The influence of organizational context 161
7.1. Introduction 161
7.2. HR and OD perspectives on contextual influences 162
7.3. Case study one – JW 168
7.4. Case study two – HX 174
7.5. Case study three – MT 179
7.6. Case study four – SB 183
7.7. Case study five – IH 188
7.8. Summary 190

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8. Conclusion 194
8.1. Introduction 194
8.2. Review of research questions 195
8.3. Overall contribution 197
8.4. Drawing and verifying conclusions 199
8.5. Implications for talent and career theory 202
8.6. Study limitations and surprises 204
8.7. Reflections 207

References 209

Appendices 224

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List of Figures and Tables
Figures
2.1 Individual-organisational attachment map, from Rousseau & Wade- 11
Benzoni (1995)
2.2 Individual career planning model, from Hirsh (2008) 16
2.3 Web of possible sources of career support, from Hirsh (2008) 22

3.1 Nine box grid, talent management tool 47

4.1 Components of data analysis, interactive model, from Miles & Huberman 65
(1994)
4.2 Phase 1 - initial discussion prompts 72
4.3 Phase 1 - adaptations in the discussion approach 74
4.4 Phase 1 – refined discussion prompts 74
4.5 Phase 1 - Early data display 76
4.6 Phase 1 – embryonic data display 77
4.7 Phase 1 - Contextual map of influences on organizational talent 80
management and individual career development
4.8 Phase 2 - Changes to interview prompts during research process 87

7.1 Contextual map of talent and career influences 162
7.2 Impact of policy change at JW 171
7.3 Revised contextual map of talent and career influences 193

8.1 Contextual map of talent and career influences 200

Tables
2.1 Five career propositions, adapted from Clarke (2013) 10
2.2 Career self- management items, from Sturges et al (2002) 17
2.3 Organizational career management items, from Sturges et al (2002) 20
2.4 The role of line managers in career development, from Yarnall (1998: 24
381)
2.5 Career shaper roles identified through the research, adapted from Bosley 27
et al., 2009
2.6 Summary of effective career discussion findings from Kidd et al., (2003, 29
2004)
2.7 Career literature review lines of enquiry 33

3.1 Alternative approaches to talent management, adapted from Collings & 38
Mellahi (2009); Sparrow et al. (2014)
3.2 Additional talent perspectives, from Thunnissen et al. (2013b) 40
3.3 Summary of talent management steps, adapted from Barner, (2006) 44
3.4 Role of corporate HR in global talent management, from Farndale et al. 47
(2010)
3.5 The ACS Development model, from Smith & Campbell (2011) 55
3.6 Summary of Critical Career conversations adapted from Clutterbuck 56
(2012)
3.7 Talent literature review lines of enquiry 58
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4.1 From lines of enquiry to RQ1 61
4.2 From lines of enquiry to RQ2, RQ3 and RQ4 63
4.3 Phase 1 - Breakdown of organisations represented in the research 71
4.4 Phase 1 – Final coding 78
4.5 Phase 2 - Overview of case study organizations and participant 83
recruitment
4.6 Phase 2 – Number of positive responses, number of participants and 84
location of conversations
4.7 Phase 2 - Reflections on recording and transcribing versus note taking 84
4.8 Phase 2 – interview prompts for individuals and line managers 85
4.9 Phase 2 – First cycle coding post case study one 89
4.10 Phase 2 – coding of career conversations 89

5.1 Talent management approaches adopted by HR participants 101
5.2 Role of the individual and the organisation, HR participants 107
5.3 Aims of career conversations, HR participants 113
5.4 Summary of vision for career conversations, HR participants 116
5.5 Number of employing organisations and functional or cross functional 120
career
5.6 Perspectives on what had helped career development 122
5.7 Perceived career development roles, individual and line manager 123
5.8 Perceived contribution of conversations to career development 127

6.1 Summary of career conversations showing the number of positive ‘single’ 132
and ‘themed’
6.2 Set-up features of positive conversations 133
6.3 Conversation trigger and described contribution 134
6.4 Setting of conversations with different outcomes 142

7.1 Description of local dynamics, HR participants 163
7.2 Description of organizational dynamics, HR participants 165
7.3 Comparison of conversation triggers for each case study organization 169
7.4 Participant perceptions of career development at JW 173
7.5 Comparison of perceived conversation outcomes HX and all other 176
conversations
7.6 Participant perceptions of career development at HX 177
7.7 Comparison of frequency of positive conversations on personal 180
development and future career options
7.8 Participant perceptions of career development at MT 181
7.9 Participant perceptions of career development at SB 187
7.10 Elements of organizational dynamics 191

8.1 Discussion points for how to improve organizational talent management 201

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Appendices

1 Phase 1 – Participant profile summary 225
2 Phase 1 - Information provided to phase one participants 226
3 Phase 1 and phase 2 - Informed consent form 229
4 Scanned exerts from research diary 230
5 Phase 1 - Probing within the interview 232
6 Phase 1 - Embryonic data display diagram and its application in the interviews 233
7 Phase 1 – First cycle coding 234
8 Phase 1 and phase 2 – Topics discounted for further analysis 235
9 Phase 2 – Information provided to employing organizations 236
10 Phase 2 – Sample information provided to participants 238
11 Phase 2 – Individual and line manager perspectives, initial discussion prompts 240
12 Phase 2 – Summary notes from first case study showing application of initial 242
coding
13 Phase 2 – Sample mindmaps and summaries showing initial analysis of context, 246
conversation and role from case study 1
14 Phase 2 - Second iteration of data coding 247
15 Phase 2 – Screen shot of conversation analysis matrix 248
16 Phase 2 – Log of coding parameters 249
17 Diagrams showing thoughts on structuring the findings 251
18 Career management practices in case study organizations 252

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Acknowledgements

In particular I wish to thank:
All of the participants who helped with this study. I enjoyed hearing your stories and I appreciate the
interest you have shown in my research.
Professor John Arnold for the wonderful support, insightful feedback, constructive challenge, and for
helping me to improve my grammar!
Dr Andy Rothwell for seeing new connections, providing valuable feedback and sharing my
enthusiasm.
Steve Carter, Marie Shelton and Emma Crowe – my colleagues at Apter Development for your support,
patience and time.
My amazing family – Dave, Sam, Lily and Fred. Heartfelt thanks for your love, support, belief,
encouragement and for putting up with me when I was engrossed in my research.

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