Phrase guide

talent management

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Human capital management of the entire employee lifecycle. Companies that are engaged in talent management are strategic and deliberate in how they source, attract, select, train, develop, promote, and move employees through the organization. This term also incorporates how companies drive performance at the individual level (performance management).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

This expression gained popularity in the late 1990's as technology companies engaged in a 'war for talent'. McKinsey and company coined the term 'war for talent' following a 1997 study and then it was the title of a book by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod.