Introduction
The terrible pandemic that came into our lives three years ago substantially altered the way we live, relate to others and work; triggering severe changes in our workplaces (Ayoko et al., 2021). The confinements, the transmission of the virus and the sanitary measures forced the vast majority of companies to change their management and management models in a very short time (Clauss et al., 2022). A new unpredictable environment appeared for which no-one was really prepared (Tarique and Schuler, 2010).
In a very short time, many workers began to work remotely from their homes and company offices ceased to be a meeting place. Companies had to change their behavior patterns. Until then, many organizations valued the physical attendance of employees, the hours spent in the company. Teleworking promoted responsibility, trust, work by objectives, telematic meetings etc., and several managerial challenges. For example, Prodanova and Kocarev (2021) found that motivation in remote work conditions is hindered by interruptions and technology-related anxiety, posing serious questions about managerial practices, organisational structures, and information systems.
In this context, companies face the challenge of knowing how to effectively manage their human capital, in such a way that they are capable of generating and maintaining sustainable competitive advantages (Becker and Huselid, 2006; Collings and Mellahi, 2009). Similarly, crises like the pandemic present a challenge to attachment security in leader–follower relationships (Hinojosa et al., 2020). For this reason, strategies for attracting and retaining valuable employees gained special importance for strategic decision-making.
The recruitment and selection techniques used until a few years ago no longer work; now a different employee profile is sought, with other skills and abilities. Many companies working in locations with worrying unemployment rates cannot find candidates with the characteristics they want. The shortage of talent is an obstacle that makes it difficult to implement successful strategies (Farndale, Scullion and Sparrow, 2010).
Many of these situations caused (or facilitated) by the pandemic are here to stay, either for cost savings or to improve the reconciliation of work and family life. Therefore, companies must redefine talent attraction and retention strategies, so that the best employees are hired and remain in their organization (Chatterjee et al., 2022).
At the same time, especially during the last decade, academic studies on "talent management" have increased exponentially (Gallardo-Gallardo and Thunnissen, 2016). Likewise, the interest of businessmen and managers in talent management has multiplied.
The first mention of the term "talent management" appears at the end of the 1990s (Chambers et al., 1998). Years later, with the work of Lewis and Heckman (2006), scientific and rigorous work began that sought to define the theoretical framework under study. These first works focused on establishing definitions and differentiating this concept from other phenomena such as strategic human resource management (Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2015). Until 2007, academic publications on talent management were almost non-existent. In 2009, Collings and Mellahi (2009) developed a conceptual model of strategic talent management. From 2010 to 2014, a gradual increase in studies analysing talent management is observed. From 2014 to the present there is a rapid growth, each year, of conceptual and empirical publications on Talent Management (Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2015).
In recent years, studies on talent management have increased significantly (Thunnissen, Boselie and Fruytier, 2013; Gallardo-Gallardo and Thunnissen, 2016; Luna-Arocas, Danvila and Lara, 2020). These studies indicate that the most effective companies in talent management offer better results, are more efficient, improve their value in the market and their employees rotate less and have greater commitment (Oladapo, 2014).
From this perspective, this special issue aims to study the strategies for attracting and retaining talent in organizations and the changes produced as a result of COVID in the recruitment, selection and loyalty processes of employees. Given the topicality of the subject under study, it is aimed at researchers who study the strategies for attracting and retaining talent necessary to successfully manage organizations today.
For this reason, we regard this special issue as an opportunity to advance knowledge on this subject and publicize works of interest to academics and those responsible for company personnel selection processes with the ultimate goal of being able to generate concrete recommendations and implementable practical instructions for corporate practice based on the latest scientific research results on the topic.
List of topic areas
This special issue aims to present original contributions that delve into talent attraction and retention strategies developed by organizations since the arrival of Covid-19. This is an area of research with numerous publications in recent years, but due to the short time that has elapsed it has yet to be completed. We are looking for both theoretical and empirical articles that offer new perspectives, models and concepts that help to understand the subject under study. The works presented must contribute to the theoretical frameworks on which the existing literature on talent management is based, addressing new problems, trying to overcome the limitations of previous studies, and marking future lines of research in this field. These works will generate a new body of knowledge that will facilitate the decision-making of managers and senior executives of companies.
The articles presented to this special issue can be approached from different perspectives and approaches that are related to the organization of companies (strategies, recruitment and selection processes, professional career development, performance evaluation, employee work control, business innovation, etc.). In this way, we hope to advance in the knowledge and understanding of the main characteristics that define talent attraction and retention strategies, as well as the skills and abilities that companies are looking for in the hiring processes.
Therefore, this special issue is primarily aimed at researchers who study talent management and especially talent attraction and retention strategies. Both exclusively theoretical articles that contribute to improving the body under study are accepted, as well as empirical articles that contribute with different methodologies to strengthen the principles on which the theory is based.
This special issue seeks the publication of original manuscripts that address the following topics, among others:
- Competencies and skills currently demanded by companies
- Talent attraction and retention strategies
- Talent loyalty strategies
- Changes in talent management due to the pandemic.
- Instruments used in the recruitment and selection processes of companies since the arrival of COVID-19.
- The socialization process of new employees in companies that work online.
- Theories on which talent management is based.
- Talent shortage problems
Guest Editors
Sascha Kraus
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
sascha.kraus@zfke.de
Andrea Caputo
University of Trento, Italy & University of Lincoln, UK
andrea.caputo@unitn.it
Daniel Palacios-Marqués
Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain
dapamar@doe.upv.es
Ignacio Danvila-del-Valle
Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
idanvila@ucm.es
Submission Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/md
When submitting please choose the special issue: "Talent attraction and retention strategies in the post-covid era" as the article type from the drop-down menu.
All papers must follow the guidelines outlined by the journal for submission, available at: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/md#author-guidelines
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
For any questions, interested authors can contact the guest editors.
Submission Deadline
Opening date for manuscript submissions: 15 March 2023
Closing date for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2023
Provisional publication date: August 2024
For additional information or queries about this special issue, contact the guest editors.
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