Inaugural lecture gives perspective on talent management

One of the North-West University Mafikeng Campus researchers, Prof Nicolene Barkhuizen, presented her inaugural speech on 12 March. The lecture: "Talent Management: The catalyst for the 21st century business world", gave an insight into talent management as a concept, which is becoming increasingly important for 21st century business managers and practitioners. This can be attributed to the fact that it becomes more difficult to attract and retain talented employees in a fiercely competitive business environment.

In her lecture, she aimed to clarify ontological confusions relating to concepts of talent in organisations, and discussed the management side of talented employees and shared the focus on the interactive relation between talent management, individual and organisational outcomes. She concluded the lecture by giving a perspective on integrated strategic approaches to talent management in order to achieve sustainability and overall business success.

"This difficulty in attracting and retaining talent is, specifically, problematic in the South African context as the Global Competitiveness Report continues to rank the country low in terms of labour-market efficiency and people development. Moreover, without a skilled workforce, no organisation will be able to keep up with the competition and survive in an ever-changing business world," Prof Barkhuizen said. She also emphasised that, particularly in South African organisations, talent management does not enjoy priority status as a strategic and/or operational objective.

Currently, Prof Barkhuizen is also actively involved in the broader research community and served as the Chair of Human Resource Initiative of the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) during 2011 and 2012, as well as its executive board, among numerous other accolades.