Can Talented Employees Drive Strategic Renewal? The Role of Talent Management in Strategic Renewal

We report a qualitative study of a TM program in a Finnish-Swedish MNC undergoing major strategic renewal. Our findings reveal that the role of talented employees in strategic renewal is to act as self-initiated change agents who contribute to the organization’s strategic renewal by conceiving and designing new business development and internal improvement initiatives, by identifying and creating key positions, and by cultivating a culture and proactive mentality for renewal across the organization. Next, our findings highlight that the role of TM in strategic renewal is to provide the conditions for the self- initiation and identification of potential change agents and for the development of the talented employees to perform in their role of change agent. Last, our results reveal that the process of TM implementation during strategic renewal involves the identification of key projects – which deferentially contribute to the organization’s strategic renewal, the identification of talented employees to execute these key projects, and the identification and creation of key positions.