Open Access

Nathan Schirmaier

• Due to an increasing talent shortage, many organizations have started professionalizing their corporate approach on talent in recent years, as the contribution of talent to future corporate success is considered to be critical (cf. Michaels, Handfield-Jones & Axelrod 2001). This thesis will explicitly address and discuss questions and problems regarding talent identification. The identification of talent in a corporate environment is of strategic significance in order to function as a solid foundation regarding matters such as succession planning and strategic staffing as well as talent and competency development as part of a strategy-driven approach on talent management. By conducting numerous interviews regarding the current talent review process at KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG with key stakeholders, central problems have been identified and will be discussed throughout this thesis in a constructive and problem-oriented manner. Furthermore, results and findings of active participation in talent reviews as well as analysis of talent review-related data will be used as a basis for potential solution approaches. The main findings include a lack of strategic alignment of the process with the corporate strategy, insufficient feedback and process-related transparency from the process owner as well as an imbalance of the cost-benefit ratio.