Identifying talent in professional service firms: a qualitative study of internal talent selection processes

Talent Management is especially important in the context of professional service firms (PSFs), as the business of these firms heavily relies on their human assets. Despite the fact that the number of research publications within the field of Talent Management has steadily increased, research initiatives on Talent Management in the specific context of professional service firms have been relatively scarce. Professional service firms, however, constitute an interesting research setting since these firms possess various distinctive characteristics that differentiate them from other types of organizations. The objective of this study was to address the research gap identified by investigating how talents are identified in professional service firms. Out of various practices that are categorized under the concept of Talent Management, talent identification practices were given the main attention in this research. The specific aim of this study was to comprehend 1) How do the specific characteristics of professional service firms influence talent identification and why? Furthermore, the intention was to shed light on the concept of talent in the context of PSFs and to investigate what specific practices law firms employ for identifying their internal talent. This thesis is a qualitative interview-based study that was conducted between April and October 2016. Six organizations operating in the legal field participated in this study. Primary data was gathered from semi-structured interviews held with HR professionals representing the sample companies. The findings of this study strengthen the present understanding of the concept of talent; it was found that no formal, organization-wide definitions for talent had been formed and thus the concept remains vague. However, the findings of this research imply that within the specific context of PSFs the importance of potential becomes highlighted and all employees of the firm are generally considered talented (i.e. ’inclusive approach’). What is more, this research argues that talent is equated with partnership, which means that PSFs are obliged to seek for balance between considering everyone talented and concurrently paying special attention to identifying potential partner candidates. 360°-feedback systems and one-on-one performance appraisal interviews (PAIs) were seen to facilitate talent identification, and these talent identification processes were affected by the distinctive features of PSFs. The findings reveal that knowledge-intensiveness affects how professionals are assessed and how feedback on their performance is collected. PAIs on the other hand were seen as being influenced by the autonomous nature of professionals. Furthermore, the findings indicate that systematic replacement planning processes are not necessarily required since professionals’ career advancement is structured and based on seniority. Finally, this research suggests that talent pool arrangements do not necessarily serve the purposes of PSFs who have adopted an inclusive approach to talent