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Global talent: a double-edged sword?
A new study by Newcastle University Business School explores the concept of “global talent”, which refers to high-performing, globally-mobile individuals who excel at their job.
12 November 2021
Being good at your job can bring rewards but it can also have a huge effect on your personal life. A new study by Newcastle University Business School explores the concept of “global talent”, which refers to high-performing, globally-mobile individuals who excel at their job. It examines the disconnect between the company’s needs and the needs of its employees.
The findings from the study reveal the discomfort of many these senior leaders who are labelled “global talent” and highlights how their needs are often at odds with the needs of their employer. For example, there is pressure on global talent to be globally mobile, to travel to different destinations to fulfil the needs of their job.
The study also highlights how important it is for companies to look after “global talent” to ensure they remain motivated and productive.
As part of the study, interviews were conducted with 38 senior leaders within a large, multinational organisation which has a presence in 68 countries worldwide.
The senior leaders were uncomfortable with the “global talent” tag because they felt they had to constantly live up to high or unrealistic expectations. Others didn’t like the demanding nature of their role as it meant they couldn’t achieve a healthy work-life balance. One individual, a global mobility consultant, said: “It’s not sustainable. I mean, not just that it’s emotionally and physically draining but it’s also placing a strain on the home.”
Participants reflected on the regret they felt due to the demands of their job. For some, stress plus emotional and physical burnout were consequences of giving their all to their career. Others regretted not spending more time with family members who had subsequently passed away.
In comparison, some individuals who rejected the “global talent” label gained a sense of power and independence. One participant, a platform leader, described how he declined to accept a request to move to the USA and negotiated instead to become a global commuter, travelling from Geneva to Minneapolis every month. Although it was noted the stress and fatigue associated with constantly commuting cannot be underplayed either.
Dr Susan Kirk, Senior Lecturer in International Human Resource Management who conducted the research, said: “Those who feel that the label “global talent” has been imposed on them experience intense identity struggles that impact on both their work and personal lives. These individuals and their families also experience other mental and physical wellbeing issues that require organisational support.
“Companies want their best staff to be flexible and globally mobile, but may not sit well with the individuals themselves. The demands on global talent often result in a poor work-life balance that can have spill-over effects onto their families too.
“Companies need to recognise and account for the fact that individual and organisational mobility needs do not always align. To accommodate this mismatch and retain these valued individuals, organisations need to introduce flexible, global mobility”
“These findings have fundamental implications for the working lives of “global talent”. From an ethical perspective, there’s a moral obligation for employers to consider the needs of their employees and understand how the demands of their careers can affect their lives. Individuals engage in on-going identity work as a means of accommodating the demands of their globally mobile working lives. However, there are limits to the extent to which this can help them reconcile the tensions and conflicts inherent in such challenging careers.
“It would be useful to conduct a further study of “global talent” to explore how they make sense of the mobility choices they face at different stages in their lives. It would also be interesting to examine how names and identities play out in other work settings, such as healthcare, where, for example, the renaming of some senior nurses as advanced nurse practitioners may be seen to challenge the power of doctors.”
Dr Kirk’s research has also questioned whether companies can expect their staff to be globally mobile in the current climate. She says: “There are many factors that have restricted travel in recent years. These include the increased risk of terrorist threats, the need to reduce unnecessary travel to combat climate change, the increased cost of travel and the Covid pandemic. After Covid, will people and companies change their ways – by hosting more events and meetings remotely, for example – or will they just revert to acting as they did before the pandemic? Will employers be willing to compromise in their quest for global mobility? Indeed, will they make more efforts to consider the needs of their staff?"
“My research also has implications for academia. Universities rely heavily on global mobility and have built partnerships with organisations all over the world. Some academics live abroad and commute to and from universities in the UK and some of these organisations may be in breach of tax laws due to how they’re paying these academics for their work. The “Big Four” accountancy firms work with the private sector to ensure they’re compliant with the laws but many educational institutions haven’t broached this important issue yet. Due to tax legislation, universities may find they can’t be as globally mobile as they were previously. They may have to re-evaluate their relationships with workers who come here from other countries.”
Dr Susan Kirk is Deputy Subject Group Head of the Leadership, Work and Organisation Subject Group within Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University. She is a Senior Lecturer in International Human Resource Management and the Research, Scholarship and Impact Co-Lead for the Subject Group. Susan is also the Co-Lead for the Transport, Society and Place theme in the Transport and Mobility NuCore. Susan's areas of research interest are; global mobility, talent management, identity studies and, more broadly, organisation studies and international human resource management.