Problematising the ‘war for talent’: using Sen’s Capability Approach as a new framework for thinking about talent management

This article uses Sen’s Capability Approach primarily to conceptualise an evaluative framework for organizational talent management strategies but also to suggest a more human basis for identifying and recognising talent. Challenges presented by the Capability Approach to organizations in relation to workforce development are elaborated and are used to frame the development of a set of principles and questions that corporate leaders and human resource practitioners can use to evaluate proposed or existing talent programmes from a practical and ethical standpoint. The article provides an early contribution to the social and ethical evaluation of talent programmes and provides a basis for new theorizing in the field.