The effect of social relationships on employee retention in a remote working context : A qualitative case study on which Talent Management practices an organisation use to retain talented employees in a remote context

Abstract: Talent Management (TM) is a well-used practice to identify, attract, develop, and retain the most valuable resource in an organisation: talented employees. The concept TM emerged when organisations started to detect increased demands and technological changes in the business market. Additionally, due to the retirement of baby boomers, organisations have started to experience a shortage of talents creating “The War for Talent” (Chambers et al., 1998). However, ethical aspects create a demand for an inclusive approach of TM which includes all employees, as opposed to only focusing on a selected few. Responsible Talent Management (RTM) considers talent to be obtained and developed within the organisation. Employees who experience job satisfaction and commitment are more likely to stay in the organisation (Deery, 2008), whereas work-life balance, employee well-being, leadership, and learning have become important factorsfor increasing job satisfaction and commitment as well as employee retention (Radda et al., 2015: Deery, 2008). Especially due to new challenges associated with the working environment and social relationships in this new remote working context. Researchers express the need for further research regarding RTM as well as the inclusive approach. This thesis, therefore, aims to understand how an organisation work with TM practices to retain talented employees in a remote working context. Based on the scientific issue and the purpose, a qualitative case study was conducted. Eight employees within the HR department were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the empirical data identified a great need for genuine social relationships. Regardless of which TM retainment practices used, supporting employees with tools and opportunities to build and nurture social relationships may be an instrumental driver to retain talented employees in a remote working context.