The Talent Imperative

A Grounded Theory Study on Accelerating the Impact and Sustainability of Social Enterprise Organizations

Abstract

This article is a summary of a dissertation research study to investigate the state of talent management within the context of social enterprise organizations, through the lived experiences of organizational leaders and teams in 15 diverse organizations across North America. I used a qualitative grounded theory approach to address the research question: to what extent are nonprofit social enterprises using talent management philosophies, principles, mindsets, and practices? Semi-structured interviews, conducted with 26 participants from 15 organizations, were the primary source of data for the study. Study findings led to a grounded theory of talent management that included four concepts: (1) social enterprise is an organizational construct unto its own, resulting from the symbiotic program and business relationship; (2) talent management in the social enterprise construct is in an evolving state; (3) the goals are deeply rooted in social impact values; and (4) as talent management mindsets and practices coalesce within organizations, people borrow and replicate strategies and practices from both the nonprofit and the private sectors, resulting in a web of formal and informal approaches. Implications for practice were presented within the context of a Talent Management Imperative Model for the field of social enterprise, which emphasizes humanness and inclusion in the workplace and organizational effectiveness. It includes four principles: alignment with strategy, leadership engagement, inclusion upfront, and consistency and continuity, and seven practices: recruitment and selection, professional development, compensation planning, strategic workforce planning, performance management, retention, and succession planning.