Dans un contexte de concurrence exacerbée pour les meilleurs jeunes diplômés du marché, les Graduate Programmes (GP) s’imposent progressivement au niveau international comme le modèle de référence dans la gestion de ces populations. Or, ces programmes de recrutement, d'intégration, de formation et de développement semblent négligés par la recherche en sciences de gestion. Pour combler cette lacune, nous mobilisons dans cette thèse le courant de la Stratégie comme Pratique (SCP) afin d’explorer en détail la dynamique de mise en place d’un tel programme dans une banque de financement de d’investissement française.Plus concrètement, nous étudions le contexte d’émergence de ce programme et les praxis et activités quotidiennes entreprises par les praticiens RH pour élaborer et déployer ces dispositifs. Nous explorons de même les pratiques qui constituent un GP du point de vue de la SCP et les apports, limites et conditions propices à un tel programme. Ce faisant, nous dressons un portrait approfondi d’un concept incontournable dans la gestion contemporaine des jeunes diplômés. Plus généralement, nous revendiquons l'intérêt d'accorder une place centrale à la SCP dans la compréhension de l’activité RH des organisations. / In the current context of extreme competition for the best young Graduates available on the market, Graduate Programmes (GP) are becoming the model of reference in the management of this population at an international level. However, these recruitment, integration, training and development programmes seem overlooked by management research. We mobilize here the strategy-as-practice (SAP) approach to explore in detail the dynamics of implementation of such a programme in a French corporate and investment bank.More concretely, we study the context of emergence of this programme and the day-to-day praxis and activities of HR practitioners in the design and implementation of this programme. We also explore the practices that constitute a GP from the SAP perspective and the benefits, limits and suitable conditions for such a programme. Doing that, we propose a sound portrayal of a key concept in Graduate management nowadays. We therefore claim the importance to be given to SAP in the study of corporate HR activities in the coming years.

Employer branding är ett omfattande begrepp som används i många organisationer. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva hur kommuner använde sig av employer branding utifrån att behålla och attrahera kompetens. Genom en kvalitativ semistrukturerad intervju med 20 frågor som utformades utifrån vår teoretiska referensram, samlades data in från fem olika HR befattningar i varierande åldrar och kön från 5 kommuner. Dessa kommuner låg i samma geografiska område. Vi gjorde intervjuerna på plats förutom från en respondent som gjordes på Skype. Efter intervjuerna så analyserades data med hjälp av vår teoretiska referensram. Genom empirin identifierades teman som utgick employer branding för att attrahera och behålla kompetens. Samt utmaningar som finns i kommunerna och hur dessa hanteras genom employer branding. Därefter kunde kategorier urskiljas utifrån temat hur kommuner använder sig av employer branding, vilket var varumärken, extern och intern branding. Utifrån det andra temat utmaningar kunde kategorierna urskilja ett rekryteringsbehov utifrån demografi, fördomar gentemot offentlig verksamhet och problematiken att attrahera unga och nyutexaminerade.Genom den empiriska analysen och slutsatsen visade sig att kommunerna använde sig av exponering i fysisk form och på digitala plattformar för en extern employer branding. Genom att få sin personal att trivas, införa ambassadörskap i organisationen och använda aspekter ur talent management som kompetensutveckling, så användes intern employer branding. Utmaningarna hos kommunerna var att kunna informera externt och internt om hur offentlig verksamhet arbetar, attrahera mer unga genom incitament och olika plattformar samt hitta tillvägagångssätt för att få människor att arbeta heltid istället för deltid. / Employer branding is a comprehensive concept used in many organizations. The purpose of this study is to describe how municipalities used employer branding to retain and attract competence. This was done through a qualitative semi-structured interview with 20 questions. The questions were designed based on our theoretical frame of reference. The data was collected from five different HR positions in varying ages and gender, originated from five different municipalities. These municipalities were in the same geographical area. The interviews was made in person apart from one interview which was done on Skype. After the interviews, the data was analysed using our theoretical frame of reference. Through empirics, themes were identified that were based on the koncept employer branding to attract and retain skills and what challenges exists and how they are handled through employer branding. Subsequently, categories could be distinguished based on the theme how municipalities use employer branding, which was branding, external and internal branding. Based on the second theme challenges, the categories were able to distinguish a need for recruitment based on demographics, prejudices against public activities and to attract young and new graduates.Through the empirical analysis and conclusion, it turned out that the municipalities used exposure in physical form and on digital platforms for an external employer branding. By getting their employees thriving, introducing ambassadorship in the organization and using aspects from talent management as competence development, internal employer branding was used. The challenges faced by the municipalities and how they are handled through employer branding were to inform externally and internally about how public activities work, attract more young people through incentives and different platforms and find ways of getting people to work full time instead of part-time.

This thesis explores gender-related barriers in CEO successions. Only 4% of Fortune 500 CEOs are female despite the fact that women have held the majority of college degrees in the US since the late 1990's and now comprise almost half of the workforce and the majority of managerial positions. Their representation is low even in comparison to the other two top management positions from which CEOs are typically sourced. It is less than one-third of the percentage of both female executive officers (15%) and board directors (17%). A holistic and qualitative research approach was utilized. Data were gathered on societal, individual and organizational factors through one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with board directors, executive search consultants and female CEOs, and analyzed using computer-assisted coding software. This thesis challenges the perception that women's individual barriers are the main reason why there are so few female CEOs. While all three types of barriers were found, organizational barriers appear to be the most important. The convergence of predominately male board directors, CEOs and top executive search consultants with informal, subjective, secretive and disparate talent management and CEO successions programs effectively results in the CEO position being a better fit for men than women. While moderating factors were beneficial to the women who have become CEOs, many factors were found for why they cannot be relied upon to greatly increase the number of female CEOs. A deliberate and comprehensive effort by society, individuals and organizations is required.

「中小企業」一直以來都是我國商業經濟的根基命脈，這些企業大多是以家族企業的形式經營，因此「父傳子、子傳孫」是相當普遍的接班形態。但發展至今，許多企業主開始面臨膝下無子或子女不願接班的窘境，且隨著產業變遷，中小企業在用人與留才上也遭遇到困境。這些因素都使得台灣的中小企業在近年來發生了嚴重的「接班問題」。 「接班人計劃」(Succession Plans)已逐漸成為企業相當重視的人才議題；正如許多企業在面臨領導人驟逝或因故離職時，因為無法迅速推舉出新任的接班人，進而導致組織動盪甚至影響到企業營運。因此，透過制定接班人計劃，預先培養未來所需的領導者，已成為企業間普遍的做法。 考量到中小企業的獨特性，在發展接班人計劃時無法完全因循大型企業的做法。本文旨在透過探究以下三個問題，試圖發掘中小企業在發展接班人計劃時應注意的重要議題： 1.中小企業接班人計劃發展的結構性困難。 2.中小企業接班人計劃所應具備的內容與特質。 3.中小企業接班人計劃得以成功的關鍵因素。 本文將以個案研究的方式，實際建構一套中小企業的接班人計劃，並將研究結果作一整理與綜合性之討論。 / “Small and medium enterprises” have been foundations of economy in our country for a long time. Most of these enterprises are family-owned, so passing on from generation to generation is a usual type of succession. However, there are some entrepreneurs who don’t have any offspring or finding their coming generation have no willingness to take over the business. It’s a troublesome problem that many small and medium enterprises have no idea about how to pass on the business. “Succession Plans”start to be paid attention by many entrepreneurs in recent years. In the past, many dominant enterprises collapsed in a flash just because of failure in succession when last conductor quitted or passed away. Now, it’s very common for enterprises to formulate a proper succession plan in order to incubate some backup talents for future needs. To consider about the uniqueness of small and medium enterprises, it’s hard to follow up the major industries totally. In this paper, we want to investigate the succession question of small and medium enterprises by dealing with three point: 1. What are the structural difficulties about succession plans in small and medium enterprises? 2. What are the contents and characteristics should be possessed by succession plans in small and medium enterprises? 3. What are the key success factors (KSFs) or key performance indicators (KPIs) for succession plans in small and medium enterprises? In this paper, we’ll have a case study research and try to build a succession plan for case company. The final goal is to make this issue prominent and then find the way to resolve the question.

The South African public service is experiencing a high staff turnover and difficulties to retain staff. These will result in the loss of talented and knowledgeable employees and consequently a loss of institutional memory, and will create a knowledge gap. The purpose of the study was to explore whether talent management and knowledge management are integrated and whether they support staff retention in the South African public service. The qualitative data were collected through document analysis and semi-structured individual interviews with seven senior managers and six middle managers who were selected purposefully. Three main themes and ten sub-themes were identified and discussed. The findings indicated that talent management and knowledge management were applied in an ad hoc manner and that there were no approved policies. However, it was found that performance management formed the basis for talent management and that the current talent management approach failed to retain talented employees. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Purpose – This research paper falls within the interpretive research philosophy and considers talent management within the field of competitive advantage. It aims to explore the organisation members’ perceptions of talent, talent management, the factors perceived to facilitate competitive advantage and the role of leadership in the facilitation of talent management. It attempts to achieve a greater understanding of talent management as practically applied by organisations. Design/Methodology – A qualitative research approach in collecting and analysing data was implemented for this particular research study to address the research problem. The research design consists of a qualitative case study of one organisation. The organisation was purposively selected due to its superior performance in its particular industry. The data was collected by using in-depth interviews and observation and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Organisational documents supplemented the data collection process. Rationale – Current talent management literature shows a lack of understanding of talent and the role leadership plays in talent management. A number of authors have called for research which focuses on the perspectives of all stakeholders, especially at the individual level. It was also suggested that greater focus is allocated to small to medium enterprises, as multi-national corporations dominated the current literature. This research paper has the potential to increase levels of understanding at both organisation and individual level. This study examined TM from a range of perspectives, focused on a smaller organisation and is one of the few qualitative studies in the world within a developing country—research that is lacking in the literature. Findings – Participants held different views on talent and talent management, supporting the lack of consensus on these topics and the lack of a standardised understanding. The findings highlight that talent management was mostly perceived to involve the correct positioning of people within the organisation and that talent involved skills, knowledge and abilities to perform their roles well. Organisational structure, processes, and the lack of leadership ability were perceived as the dominant factors affecting the effective implementation of talent management practices. Talent management was perceived as important by the middle and lower-level participants of the study and was perceived as not important by higher-level participants—a contrasting finding due to the fact that the higher-level candidates felt that it was important to retain staff, understood the consequences of staff loss and that it was difficult to replace talent. Theoretical and managerial implications – The findings correspond with previous studies that the understanding of talent management is still lacking and thus potentially jeopardizes shaping a competitive advantage. The leadership cadre at the case organisation failed to see the importance of talent management and failed to link talent management to competitive advantage and ultimately failed to strategise potential talent management practices and effective talent management implementation. The modern business environment is changing and the realisation that talent management is of crucial importance to sustained competitive advantage is becoming evident. Limitations – The main source of error was a potential bias of results and a lack of rigorous data analysis, which was overcome by attending to the reliability of the research. Future research – There is potential for further empirical research to be conducted in other industries while maintaining focus on smaller businesses. The focus must also be maintained on the perspectives of all stakeholders in organisations. / Business Management / M. Com.

The aim of this research is to investigate how succession planning can be used as a developmental tool in developing middle managers in the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The research shows that the DST has good strategies and policies in place for the development and retention of its employees, although there is no succession planning tool or system in place. Proposed interventions to address identified gaps in terms of succession planning include a quota system of positions that should be filled by internal candidates to encourage employees’ buy-in to succession planning; inculcating it in the institutional culture and therefore, preserving and retaining institutional memory; creating a robust reward management programme based upon a pay-scheme that seeks to reward middle managers for developing their competencies in line with institutional requirements / Public Administration and Management / M.A. (Public Administration)

The objectives of the study were to determine the relationship between the demographic variables, work-life balance (as measured by the Survey Work-Home Interaction - Nijmegen), job satisfaction (as measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire) and turnover intention (as measured by the Turnover Intention Scale); to determine whether the demographic variables and work-life balance significantly predict job satisfaction and turnover intention; and to determine the differences between biographical groups. A quantitative cross-sectional survey research design was applied to a stratified random sample of 79 employees in a South African IT company. Descriptive statistics, correlations, independent t-tests and regressions were used to analyse the data. Analysis revealed that job satisfaction has a significant negative relationship with turnover intention. Furthermore, the work-home interface sub-dimensions of work-life balance have both a positive and negative relationship with job satisfaction and turnover intention. There are significant differences between the various biographical groups. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology

Thesis (MTech (Human Resource Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / This study explored perceptions of twenty managers at the City of Cape Town Municipality regarding the challenges facing talent management. A detailed study of the literature was conducted on variables that are relevant in talent management in organisations. These variables included definitions of talent management, pay satisfaction, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, tenure, motivation, employee engagement, turnover and intention to turnover. This study adopted a qualitative research method as it was found from the literature that managers often prefer face-to-face interviews instead of questionnaires. An interview guide was developed for the twenty managers that were internally chosen by the City of Cape Town management. Data collected from the interviews was subjected to content analysis method with different themes emerging. The results revealed that the City of Cape Town is well on course in implementing talent management with it’s approximately 25 000 employees. The study revealed a plethora of challenges facing talent management at the City of Cape Town. One huge challenge facing this municipality is its size, which makes implementation of a talent management system difficult to implement at the City of Cape Town. The findings support the assumption developed for this study that poor talent management practices in the public sector lead to ever increasing staff turnover rates. The findings of this study contribute to both theory and practice. Theoretically the study contributes to the literature, as it is the first empirical study to use managers in a local government municipality to explore challenges surrounding talent management. Furthermore, local government managers can use the findings of this research to design strategies and policies to enhance talent management in local government municipalities, and subsequently ensure talent retention.

The main objective of the thesis is to explain and advocate the topic of career paths and construct career paths for technical professionals of the selected company. The thesis then has several secondary objectives.This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part provides a theoretical framework for career paths in terms of getting into the topic of career paths and explaining the purpose, and furthermore, provides a guide for career path framework construction. The second, practical part focuses on the selected technological company that wishes to remain anonymous. Based on the theory and partially extracted from the interviews with the company experts, the career paths framework for technical professionals is constructed. To ensure that the framework is valuable for the company, feedback for the proposed framework is gathered and implemented in the thesis.