Talent retention: evidence from a multinational firm in France

Purpose While multinational corporations appear to understand the importance of talent retention (TR) for maintaining their competitive advantage, they continue to struggle to identify and develop strategies to retain talent. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore how talent is identified, and more importantly, how it is retained within the context of a multinational firm in France. Design/methodology/approach This study is exploratory in nature and capitalizes on a case study methodology through which in-depth, open-ended interviews with partners and managers were conducted. Findings The findings suggest that TR is approached in an arbitrary and ad hoc manner. They also reveal that TR practices are mostly motivated by the direct costs associated with a failure to retain talent, and less with the indirect costs and loss of tacit knowledge. Of considerable interest is the finding that despite the use of utilitarian power via incentives to promote TR, the focus is mostly on normative power via workplace culture and organizational norms. Originality/value This study is the first to explore TR in the context of one of the Big Four accounting firms in France and among the few to extend the use of Etzioni’s (1975) model of compliance to TR research and to a French context. The originality of this study is also derived from its ability to explain the factors impacting TR, how talent is retained in practice, and the gap between the ideals and reality.

[1]  A. McDonnell,et al.  Developing Tomorrow's Leaders - Evidence of Global Talent Management in Multinational Enterprises , 2010 .

[2]  F. Dochy,et al.  Influence of learning and working climate on the retention of talented employees , 2011 .

[3]  Amitai Etzioni,et al.  A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations. , 1962 .

[4]  J. Hughes,et al.  Talent management: A strategy for improving employee recruitment, retention and engagement within hospitality organizations , 2008 .

[5]  Neil Conway,et al.  A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship between Career Management and Organizational Commitment among Graduates in the First Ten Years at Work , 2002 .

[6]  David G. Collings,et al.  European perspectives on talent management , 2011 .

[7]  Eva Gallardo-Gallardo,et al.  Towards an understanding of talent management as a phenomenon-driven field using bibliometric and content analysis , 2015 .

[8]  Chris Carter,et al.  Changing gender domination in a Big Four accounting firm: Flexibility, performance and client service in practice , 2010 .

[9]  A. Ariss,et al.  Global Talent Management in French Multinationals , 2014 .

[10]  R. Schuler,et al.  Global talent management: Literature review, integrative framework, and suggestions for further research , 2010 .

[11]  Barbara Sieben,et al.  How to safeguard critical resources of professional and managerial staff: exploration of a taxonomy of resource retention strategies , 2012 .

[12]  Soumaya Ben Letaifa,et al.  An Interview Study to Understand the Reasons Clients Change Audit Firms and the Client's Perceived Value of the Audit Service , 2013 .

[13]  Jean Hartley,et al.  Case study research , 2004 .

[14]  David G. Collings,et al.  Talent management decision making , 2012 .

[15]  Nicky Dries,et al.  What is the meaning of ‘talent’ in the world of work? , 2013 .

[16]  M. Thunnissen Talent management: For what, how and how well? An empirical exploration of talent management in practice , 2016 .

[17]  Brooks C. Holtom,et al.  How to keep your best employees: Developing an effective retention policy , 2001 .

[18]  Y. Sidani,et al.  Institutional and corporate drivers of global talent management: Evidence from the Arab Gulf region , 2014 .

[19]  J. Barney Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[20]  David J. Cooper,et al.  Case Study Research in Accounting , 2008 .

[21]  M. Festing,et al.  Generational challenges to talent management: A framework for talent retention based on the psychological-contract perspective , 2014 .

[22]  David P. Lepak,et al.  Examining the Human Resource Architecture: The Relationships Among Human Capital, Employment, and Human Resource Configurations , 2002 .

[23]  Matthew B. Miles,et al.  Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook , 1994 .

[24]  John W. Boudreau,et al.  Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital , 2007 .

[25]  Kamel Mellahi,et al.  Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda , 2009 .

[26]  Kerstin Neumann Ex ante governance decisions in inter-organizational relationships: A case study in the airline industry , 2010 .

[27]  A. Strauss,et al.  Basics of Qualitative Research , 1992 .

[28]  Bernard Pierce,et al.  Management control in audit firms¿Partners¿ perspectives , 2005 .

[29]  Peter Cappelli,et al.  Talent management for the twenty-first century. , 2008, Harvard business review.

[30]  David P. Lepak,et al.  The Human Resource Architecture: Toward a Theory of Human Capital Allocation and Development , 1999 .

[31]  Nigel King,et al.  Using templates in the thematic analysis of text , 2004 .

[32]  P. Dwyer,et al.  Globalization and Multinational Auditing: The Case of Gazprom and PwC in Russia , 2012 .

[33]  Rodger W. Griffeth,et al.  Practical retention policy for the practical manager , 2002 .

[34]  David G. Allen,et al.  Retaining Talent: Replacing Misconceptions With Evidence-Based Strategies , 2010 .

[35]  Robert E. Lewis,et al.  Talent management: A critical review , 2006 .

[36]  Amitai Etzioni,et al.  A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organisations , 1977 .

[37]  J. Mouritsen,et al.  ''When you make manager, we put a big mountain in front of you'': An ethnography of managers in a Big 4 Accounting Firm , 2011 .

[38]  Wayne F. Cascio,et al.  Talent management: Current theories and future research directions , 2014 .

[39]  M. Woerkom,et al.  The influence of underlying philosophies on talent management: Theory, implications for practice, and research agenda , 2014 .

[40]  M. Thunnissen,et al.  Standing on the shoulders of giants? A critical review of empirical talent management research , 2016 .

[41]  J. Cegarra-Navarro,et al.  Work life balance and the retention of managers in Spanish SMEs , 2012 .

[42]  Michael G. Alles Drivers of the Use and Facilitators and Obstacles of the Evolution of Big Data by the Audit Profession , 2015 .