A Proposed Talent Management Model for Leader-Managers in State-Owned Enterprises in China

Due to the continued reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China, SOE leaders face many challenges competing in a rapidly changing global marketplace. Not only are leaders tasked to manage change, but they must also deliver results and increase revenue through human capital. The need for stronger human capital and human resources (HR) must play a stronger role in SOEs by adopting new strategies for talent management. The purpose of this study explores the experiences and perceptions of leader-managers as it relates to talent management in SOEs in China. Upon conducting phenomenological interviews with 11 state-owned companies and 17 leader-manager participants, analysis was completed to determine themes related to leadership-management selection, development, and practices in SOEs in China. Themes emerged from the data analysis including organizational structure and its influence on leader-manager selection; an overview of the leadership pipeline present in SOEs including the recruitment and selection process and succession planning strategies; HR’s role within the recruitment and selection process; leadership-management development through experience and other development strategies; influence of Chinese and Western culture and on talent management and leader-manager practices. The findings were synthesized to introduce a proposed talent management model for SOEs in China. The proposed model provides HR practitioners a framework to manage talent within their organizations, in particular in the areas of recruiting, developing, and retaining successful leader-managers within SOEs in China.