Online Class: Talent Management for Business

Just as business management is riddled with ethical considerations, talent management poses its own risks and questions when it comes to practicing ethics and integrity. Both seemingly superfluous topics as well as much more muddied ethical waters exist within talent management and, as both an employee and a business owner or manager, there are many things to consider. 

At the root of talent management is the understanding that your business is likely to include both talent employees as well as typical employees. Not every employee is likely to be critical to the long term strategies of a company and thus will be treated differently from those who are critical. While many first line employees understand and recognize that they will be treated differently from their supervisors and upper management, which will not be true of all employees. It may be very challenging for some employees on management levels to see managers, department heads, or other peers receive significantly more attention. Because talent management is focused on developing a small minority of employees who will be critical to the long term success of the company, it stands to reason that those employees who are not in this minority may feel left out, unimportant, or may even predict that they will soon be laid off (whether that is the case). 

A related issue is that of the ethics involved in selecting those people considered to be talent. Because these decisions are often made early in an individual's career or even their tenure with the company, there are some ethical considerations regarding those employees who may be overlooked unfairly. Oftentimes, many young men and women in the business world may not seem as aggressive, confident, and so forth due to a number of factors that may not actually relate to whether the individual has potential to contribute as significant talent. Sometimes it is difficult for a company to reevaluate its current employees to determine if any of them have become a person of talent when they are constantly looking outside for talent. 

Obviously, common business ethics apply to talent management as well. In fact, ensuring ethical business practices and an expectation of employee ethics may be even more necessary for a business or organization that has excellent talent. The individuals who are selected as talent typically end up being placed at very high levels within the company. Anyone in those types of positions has the potential to engage in unethical business practices; those who have been deemed talent may be slightly more of a risk due to both the level of trust a company puts in their talent as well as potential arrogance or entitlement stemming from being treated with more attention and respect than other employees. Obviously, many talented employees are going to engage in ethical business practice, but for those whom do not, then having a company that is efficiently run with a strong level of transparency can help lessen the likelihood of unethical or illegal behaviors.