Becoming a talent environment:A case study on effects and implications of applying a process view on leadership talent development programs

In public and private organizations around Scandinavia the complexity of work has grownin the last two decades. Easier access to more knowledge, more competition in a globalizedworld, more complex solutions demanded by costumers, more demand on services from thepublic etc. In this case study taking place in a global production environment, the above hasresulted in high turn-over among first-line managers, more reluctance towards managementcareer opportunities and fewer outside candidates interested in management. In HR, we redesigned routines around leadership talent development, into a program set toproduce stronger leadership talents (reduction of turnover). This was done in an environmentcovering 12.000 employees and 1000 managers on all levels, in France, USA, China, Braziland Denmark. The program resulted in: Significant reduction of turnover among 1st line managers and more employeesinterested in leadership. Growth of cross national talents, who became a part of the larger company culture, “the whole”. Source: Internal data 2016. The above success is described in Noerlem & Willert (2018b). In this paper, we became curious on one thing. Why did the change of routines into thisprogram become a success? The process of producing the new program was anything butsmooth. We decided to look into data from the process and our objective in this paper became: Objectives: In this case study, we explore the impact on organizational culture, when developing a new talent program by introducing a process view on leadership talentdevelopment in a global production environment (Pharma). Methods: We used a narrative approach, because “The usefulness of the narrative approach to data collection and analysis, is the richness of the context that it communicates”. (Langley1999). This to collect and document data and to describe the analysis. These via participantobservation, field notes and semi-structured interviews. Outcome: The production process in producing a talent program, produces talentenvironments.