Lee 2019

13.
Talent management strategies in the

public sector: A review of talent
management schemes in Southeast Asia*
Celia Lee and Shahamak Rezaei
INTRODUCTION
Recruiting individuals capable of making the biggest difference to organi-

zational performance (also known as ‘talents’) is one of the most important
managerial preoccupations of this decade (Stahl, Fardale & Morris, 2012;
Ulrich & Allen, 2014; Thunnissen & Buttiens, 2017). Confronted with a
chronic shortage of talented people within the current global landscape of
skills shortages, changing demographics, increasing austerity and uncer-
tainties, public sectors around the world are facing intensified competition
for talents (Glenn, 2012; Macfarlane et al., 2012). Moreover, the public
sector is not the most sought-after employer according to the World’s
Most Attractive Employers research of 2016 conducted in 57 countries
– Google, Apple and Microsoft were listed as the world’s most attractive
employers (Universum, 2016). Governments face fierce competition for
talent with the higher-paying private sector and when governments cannot
recruit and retain capable individuals, it adds to the vicious cycle of weak
governance (Poocharoen & Lee, 2013; Boselie & Thunnissen, 2017). In
the new era of post–New Public Management, which is primarily focused
on new organizational arrangements and relationships that govern the
operational context of public agencies (Bourgon, 2011; Ho, 2012), coupled
with cuts in government spending and increasing digitalization, means the
war for talent in the public sector with skillsets and capabilities equally
attractive to the private sector has further intensified (Accenture, 2015;1
GAO, 20152).
Since the term ‘war of talent’ was first coined in 1998 by McKinsey
(Chambers et al., 1998), talent management (TM) research has come a
long way and has mainly focused on large organizations in the private
sector for the past decades (Thunnissen, Boselie & Fruytier, 2013; Buttiens
& Hondeghem, 2015; Gallardo-Gallardo & Thunnissen, 2016). Despite
the increasing call to pay attention to talent management in the public
sector (Boselie & Thunnissen, 2017), it is still an underexplored research
area (Poocharoen & Lee, 2013; Thunnissen et al., 2013; Gallardo-
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Talent management strategies in the public sector 365
Gallardo & Thunnissen, 2016). Most of the empirical studies are also
based on a Western context. Hence, TM in the public sector remains
largely underexplored in an Asian context (Yarnal & Annapoorna, 2017).
As we witnessed the rise of Asia in contrast to the declining confidence
in the Western powers (Schwarzer, 2017; Mahbubani, 2018), it is timely
to explore the contextualized lessons of Asian countries’ TM practices to
uncover emerging talent management models in Asia. Given the ongoing
public sector reform efforts in Southeast Asia, the aim of this chapter
on TM strategies in the public sector is to shed light on the impact of
institutional emphasis, organizational configuration and characteristics of
the workforce on TM frameworks. This is done by systematically compar-
ing the different public sector TM practices in Asia with regard to talent
attraction, talent development and talent retention strategies to provide
scholars and practitioners with a framework of thinking so that better
TM strategies can be developed to suit the uniqueness of institutional and
cultural contexts.
This chapter is organized as follows: first to review the developments of
TM studies in the public sector based on the literature reviewed in order to
offer definitions of talent management; second, to describe the TM schemes
in four countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia); third,
to assess the schemes in terms of the exclusivity–inclusivity continuum;
fourth, a look at implications for a future research agenda on this topic.
DEFINING TALENT MANAGEMENT IN THE

PUBLIC SECTOR
Some examples of the frameworks used to study talent management

include the competency approach adopted to study senior public service
leaders (Bhatta, 2001; Mau, 2009); self-selection approach (Delfgaauw &
Dur, 2010); and the talent management approach (Frank & Taylor, 2004;
Lewis & Heckman, 2006). The majority of publications on TM in the
public sector do not offer a formal definition of their central concept (Dries,
2013) and the approaches to conceptualizations of talent and TM that are
being put forth in academic literature today differ significantly from each
other (Armstrong, 2007; Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2013; Thunnissen et al.,
2013). Textbooks on TM in general – for example, Cappelli (2008) and
Berger and Berger (2010) – do not explicitly cover the public sector, while
textbooks on public sector human resource management – for example,
Berman et al. (2009) and Pynes (2009) – do not adequately discuss talent
strategies and surrounding issues. The scant literature has mostly focused
on TM in specific public or non-profit organizations such as health care,

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366 Research handbook of international talent management
and education institutes – for example, Davies and Davies (2010), Groves
(2011), Powell et al. (2012), Van den Brink, Fruytier and Thunnissen
(2013) – and specific practices and approaches in different countries – for
example, Kim and Scullion (2011), Poocharoen and Lee (2013), Buttiens
and Hondeghem (2015) and Thunnissen and Buttiens (2017). Taking a
slightly different approach to TM in the public sector, Devine and Powell
(2010) identify six ‘strategic perspectives’ (competitive, process, human
resource, developmental, cultural, and change management perspectives)
to managing talent in the UK civil service, while on a more practical
level the guide to developing talent produced by the Government of
Newfoundland reinforces the need for an evidence base for the develop-
ment of a talent management programme (HR Policy and Planning
Division, 2008).
Moreover, empirical studies on TM in the public sector have also been
limited to surveys of what is done in practice. For example, Pollitt and
Bouckaert (2004) studied how the top civil servants and ‘high fliers’ of
seven European countries were trained. Most studies have focused on
single-country cases. Duggett (2001), for example, studied four decades of
the British civil service training institute and its priorities, Bhatnagar (2007)
studied talent management in an Indian public agency, and Macfarlane’s
study in 2012 showed that TM in the UK National Health Service is
rationalistic, bureaucratic, centralized, standardized, and performance
managed. However, these studies did not take into consideration the
organizational context. Considering that the preference of an organiza-
tion for a certain aspect of talent management can be placed within the
contingency or best-fit model (Garrow & Hirsh, 2008; Vaiman & Collings,
2013), studies were conducted via in-depth interviews and Poocharoen and
Lee’s (2013) study of TM schemes in three countries identified structure
and scope of authority of the responsible agencies, flexibility of incentives
and that differing performance appraisal systems can lead to varying TM
practices. Buttiens and Hondeghem’s (2015) research on talent manage-
ment in the Flemish government presented an overall picture of the
specific approaches, goals and human resources (HR) processes of talent
management in a public-sector context, which is primarily influenced by
the social/cultural/legal dimensions by considering the viewpoints of vari-
ous stakeholders. Most recently, Thunnisen and Buttiens (2017) clarified
how public-sector organizations conceptualize TM, especially with regard
to what contextual factors influence the adoption of an inclusive or a more
segmented approach when identifying talents in the public sector.
This points to specific tensions that may arise in the process of imple-
menting talent management practices within well-embedded organiza-
tional approaches to equality and diversity in public-sector organizations

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(Harris & Foster, 2010). Dries’s (2013) review of TM resulted in the

identification of five tensions regarding the operationalization of talent,
namely: inclusive vs exclusive, objective vs subject, innate vs acquired,
input vs output, and transferable vs context dependent. The study also
reflects differences in the meaning of ‘talent’ across different cultures,
that is, the Anglo-American stance of positioning talent as relatively
high performance may not be shared in cultures that are more collec-
tive and less performance oriented. Developing from this, Boselie and
Thunnissen’s (2017) chapter on talent management in the public sector
discusses further the tensions and dualities regarding TM in the public
sector due to conflicting interests and outcomes of stakeholders by adopt-
ing a multidisciplinary approach to talent management, using human
resource management, public administration, and public management.
Later studies that look into inclusive or exclusive approaches to defining
talents – for example, in Meyers’ ‘Talent management: Towards a more
inclusive understanding’ (2016) – also suggest a trends towards a more
inclusive approach to address overall talent scarcity and hard-to-predict
market dynamics. Buttiens and Hondeghem’s (2015) study of the Flemish
public sector also concluded that the inclusive approach to talent manage-
ment is the prevalent approach. The evolution and development of TM
research in the public sector is summarized in Figure 13.1.
Approaches to studying Empirical research Implications of contexts

TM in the public sector and tensions
• Competency • Country case studies • Contextualization of

approach (Bhatta, of TM practices TM (Poocharoen &
2001; Duggett, 2001; (Pollitt & Bouckaert, Lee, 2013; Buttiens &
Mau, 2009) 2004; Bhatnagar, Hondeghem, 2015;
• Talent management 2007; Kim & Scullion, Thunnissen &
approach (Frank & 2011; Macfarlane, Buttiens, 2017)
Taylor, 2004; Lewis & 2012; Poocharoen & • Identification of
Heckman, 2006; Lee, 2013; Buttiens & tensions (Harris &
Armstrong, 2007) Hondeghem, 2015; Foster, 2010; Dries,
Thunnissen & 2013; Meyers, 2016;
• Self-selection
Buttiens 2017) Boselie & Thunnisen,
approach (Delfgaauw
& Dur, 2010) • Studies of public 2017)
sector organizations
• Developmental
(Garrow & Hirsh,
approach (Devine &
2008; Davies &
Powell, 2010)
Davies, 2010;
Groves, 2011; Powell
et al., 2012; Van den
Brink et al., 2013;
Vaiman & Collings,
2013)
Figure 13.1 Evolution of TM studies in the public sector

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Tension Between Inclusive and Exclusive Perspectives on Talent
As defining talent tends to evoke the tension between the inclusiveness or

exclusiveness of the TM practices in the public sector, and later studies
(Buttiens & Hondeghem, 2015; Meyers, 2016; Thunnisen & Buttiens,
2017) also point to the prevalent tension between inclusive and exclusive
approaches in the public sector, therefore we will only focus on this. To
understand TM in the public sector, we first need to define ‘talent’. Talent
can be defined as ‘the sum of a person’s abilities. . .his or her intrinsic gifts,
skills, knowledge, experience, intelligence, judgement, attitude, character,
and drive. It also includes his or her ability to learn and grow’ (Michaels,
Handfield-Jones & Axelrod, 2001). Ulrich takes a more holistic view to
define talent as a combination of competence, commitment, and contri-
bution (2006). In a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development (CIPD, 2016) on the future of talent in Singapore 2030, the
term ‘talent’ was explored extensively and the high-level conceptual defini-
tion that was proposed revolved around the following themes:
● ability to learn, evolve and adapt;

● ability to create and innovate;
● ability to deliver excellent results in the present and potential for
future performance.
In general, there are two approaches. First, there is the exclusive

perspective whereby some people are deemed to be more talented than
others, while for the inclusive perspective one starts from the premise that
all employees are talented. The ‘exclusive’ or ‘elite high-potential’ mode
of talent management is ‘characterized by a concentration of those in the
one or two segments (or talent “pools”) of the workforce who are either
at the top or who are identified as having the potential to get to the top
by demonstrating high levels of potential or performance’ (Tansley et al.,
2006). These top-level employees are the ‘best and brightest’. Conversely,
the ‘inclusive’ or ‘whole workforce’ approach ‘recognizes that there are
various key positions to fill in any organization as well as future pipelines
for the appropriate skills to fill all these positions’ (Tansley et al., 2006,
p. 3). As a consequence, depending on the position an organization is
taking on the inclusive–exclusive continuum, the talent management
policy of an organization will be more or less aimed at a specific employee
group in the organization. Concentrating merely on key strategic posi-
tions or those groups of employees that occupy these strategic positions
can be considered as a one-dimensional focus on organizational goals.
Incorporation of an inclusivity-oriented talent management approach

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in the personnel policy of an organization, however, makes it possible

to acquire a multidimensional view on performance (the individual and
societal level as well as the economic goals of the organization) and hence
acknowledge that everyone possesses strengths and competencies.
Talent can therefore be constructed as capital, as giftedness, as identity
and individual strength, differentiating individuals of high value to organi-
zations or individuals with high potential, and materially shapes practices
in people management (Dries, 2013, Boselie & Thunnissen, 2017). All these
attributes can be encapsulated to define TM as ‘the systematic attraction,
identification, development, engagement/retention, and deployment of
those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an
organization, either in view of their “high potential” for the future or
because they are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles’ (CIPD, 2012).
The plethora of definitions, and the breadth of the CIPD’s (2012) defini-
tion reflects one of the most central debates in TM, that is, whether TM
is an inclusive approach that focuses on the talents and abilities of all
employees or an exclusive approach focused on attracting, developing,
rewarding and retaining specific groups of employees (Tansley, 2011;
Dries, 2013; Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2013; Poocharoen & Lee, 2013;
Boselie & Thunnissen, 2017). Table 13.1 summarizes the different relevant
definitions of talent from the literature surveyed.
However, talent as a construct is problematic, that is, talent as capital,
talent as individual difference, as giftedness, as identity and individual
strength (Dries, 2013), but it materially shapes practices in people man-
agement. The terminological ambiguity around the definitions of talent
has serious implications for organizations attempting to design and
implement TM practices (Tansley, 2011). Hence this leads to a tension
between definitions of talent as high-potential versus high-performance
individuals (Thunnissen et al., 2013; Collings, 2014; Boselie & Thunnissen,
2017) particularly in the public sector whereby performance is a diffuse
construct (Ulrich & Ulrich, 2010) and public service and public value are
often not offered alone but are rather the result of a team effort (Boselie &
Thunnissen, 2017).
In the public sector, the definition of talent seems to shift towards the
exclusive approach and the conceptualization of talent is highly influenced
by the tension between equality and differentiation (ibid.). Employee
differentiation is a key feature in the exclusive approach that is against
the principle that all employees should be treated equally and given equal
opportunities in the inclusive approach. In the exclusive talent manage-
ment approach, there is a strict distinction between talent and non-talent;
however, it is not clear on what basis the distinction is made (Dries, 2013;
Boselie & Thunnissen, 2017), unlike specialists and professionals whereby

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Table 13.1 Definitions of talent
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References Suggested Definition of Talent
Michaels et al. (2001) Talent is the sum of a person’s abilities – his or her intrinsic gifts, skills, knowledge, experience,
intelligence, judgement, attitude, character and drive. It also includes his or her ability to learn
and grow
Tansley et al. (2006) Talent can be considered as a complex amalgam of employees’ skills, knowledge, cognitive
ability and potential. Employees’ values and work preferences are also of major importance
Tansley et al. (2007) Talent consists of those individuals who can make a difference to organizational performance,
either through their immediate contribution or in the longer term by demonstrating the highest
levels of potential
Tansley (2011) Talent tends to be specific to an organization and highly influenced by the nature of the work
370
undertaken. Therefore, a shared organizational language for talent is important
CIPD (2012) Talents refer to individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an organization
either in view of their ‘high potential’ for the future or because they are fulfilling business/
operation-critical roles
Ulrich and Smallwood (2012) ‘Talent = competence [knowledge, skills and values required for today’s and tomorrow’s job;
right skills, right place, right job, right time] × commitment [willing to do the job] × contribution
[finding meaning and purpose in their job]’ (p. 60)
Poocharoen and Lee (2013); Talent refers to the exclusive elite/specialized individuals vs the inclusive whole of workforce
Swailes and Blackburn (2016)
Dries (2013); Boselie and Talent can be constructed as capital, as giftedness, as identity and individual strength,
Thunnissen (2017) differentiating individuals of high value to organizations or individuals with high potential and

materially shapes practices in people management
14/06/2019 14:03
employee differentiation is generally accepted because of the specific skills

and knowledge they possess in addition to recognition by professional
institutions. However, when it is applied to functions that are less special-
ized and more administrative this might cause tensions in the selection of
individuals into fast-track talent schemes.
TM programmes or talent schemes are key features of TM practices
in the public sector (Poocharoen & Lee, 2013; OECD, 2017). Specific
recruitment programmes and talent schemes seek to identify the best
and brightest for enrolment in higher-intensity development and faster
progression schemes (Neo & Chen, 2007; Quah, 2010; Poocharoen & Lee,
2013; OECD, 2017). In a review of talent management practices in OECD
countries (OECD, 2017), there were fast-track, high-flyer programmes
in 17 countries (e.g., United States’ Senior Executive Service, the United
Kingdom’s Fast Stream, South Korea’s Senior Civil Service, Singapore’s
Administrative Services, Thailand’s High Potential Performers, and
Malaysia’s Administrative and Diplomatic schemes). There is a great
diversity across these programmes, as some focus on bringing in new talent
while others look within to identify promising individuals for promotion
and succession. These programmes are specific public service schemes that
adopt an exclusive approach, which implies that a selected few are being
identified at an early stage of their career and are groomed further through
training and postings to maximize their potential and become future
leaders (Dries, 2013; Poocharoen & Lee, 2013; McNulty & Kaveri, 2019).
Drawing from the above discussion, by describing the TM practices
in terms of recruitment, development and retention, specifically looking
at the talent schemes of four countries in Southeast Asia,3 this chapter
seeks to explore factors that explain the variations among the schemes.
The research questions are the following: (1) what kinds of schemes are in
place; (2) how do these governments define talent – exclusive or inclusive;
(3) why are the schemes different; and (4) what can we derive from the
institutional and cultural contexts of the four countries that influence the
talent practices in the public sector?
TALENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN

SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA, THAILAND AND
CAMBODIA
Table 13.2 gives the size of the public-sector workforce and summarizes
the TM practices in the four countries into three stages of talent recruit-
ment, development and retention.
All four countries have bonded scholarship schemes, albeit different

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Table 13.2
Summary of talent management practices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia
Singapore Malaysia Thailand Cambodia
M4735-LIU_9781786437099_t.indd 372
Employment About 145 000 officers in 16 1.6 million public Consists of about 2.19 million There were over 200 000
size ministries and more than servants serving in personnel, working in civil servants across
50 statutory boards. Within 722 government 20 ministries and 166 the country in 2016,
the public service is the agencies (including departments. Of these, about including 38 543
civil service, comprising local authorities and one-third are ordinary civil national civil servants
about 84 000 officers in the teachers) as of 2017 servants under the jurisdiction and 162 475 at
ministries (Public Service (Malaysian Digest, of the Office of the Civil subnational levels
Division [PSD], 2018) 2017) Service Commission (OCSC) (Khmer Times, 2017)
(Yavaprabhas, 2018)
Central Public Service Commission Jabatan Perkhidmatan Office of the Civil Service Ministry of Civil
institutions (PSC): responsible for Awam (JPA): Commission (OCSC):
Service (MSC): policy
372
selecting and developing the Public Service designated by the implementing arm of
scholarship holders, appointing Department of Prime Minister with the the Royal Government
senior management, and Malaysia that leads commissioners appointed of Cambodia (RGC)
maintaining discipline the development of by the king to oversee all and mandated to carry
Public Service Division (PSD): public service human human resource issues in the out administrative
directly under the Prime resources service. Its specific mandate reform in the country
Minister’s Office, manages National Institute of is to provide proposals to
the human resource and Public the cabinet on HR issues;
development policies of public Administration supervising and monitoring
service officers (INTAN): the HR management by ministries;
Civil Service College: established training arm of and manage government
as a statutory board under the Public Service scholarships

PSD, is the central training Department, Office of the Public Sector
institution for civil and public Malaysia to design Development Commission
officers in Singapore programmes to train (OPDC): mainly responsible
14/06/2019 14:03
the public-sector for performance management
workforce systems and some human
resource developments in the
Thailand public sector
Talent Open recruitment (fresh Open recruitment Open recruitment (fresh Open recruitment through
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recruitment graduates and mid-career (fresh graduates and graduates) examinations (fresh
entrants) mid-career entrants) Pre-service bonded scholarships graduates and mid-
Pre-service bonded scholarships Pre-service bonded Public-sector innovation career entrants)
Green harvesting Scholarships scholarships Pre-service scholarships
Scouting/head-hunting Scouting/head-hunting Public Service Executive (for teachers only)
Transfers between departments/ Development Programme Conversion of contract to
organizations permanent staff
Talent Allocated training hours Allocated training Allocated training hours Based on selection criteria
development Roadmaps for special schemes, hours High-potential performance Relevance to the public
i.e., Management Administrative and system (HiPPS) scheme finance management,
373
Associate Programme (MAP), Diplomatic scheme New wave leadership public administration,
Administrative Service (PTD) development public decentralization
scheme (AS) High-performing reforms
Public Sector Leadership officer scheme Career path for Grade A
programme Fast Track Programme scheme officers
High potential (director level to
Bonded in-service scholarships secretary of state)
Talent Competitive pegged-to-market Base pay coupled with Fast Stream Track Basic pay sufficient to
retention pay structure types of allowances Performance-based system meet daily needs
Performance-based Both seniority- and Higher pay (about 1% for high Set of allowances targeted
remuneration (salary and performance-based potentials) at priorities (e.g.,
bonus) promotions Perks in health care and pension teachers, senior
Performance-based promotions Opportunities for schemes management)

High-pay structure for AS postgraduate studies
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Table 13.2 (continued)
Singapore Malaysia Thailand Cambodia

Fixed pay increment Revision of pay
structure based on reform and
Royal Government
recommendation
Promotions through
374
selection or seniority
Bonded scholarships to
pursue PhD offered to
senior officers (Grade
A) supported either
by government of
development partner
Source: Modified from Poocharoen and Lee (2013, p. 6).

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criteria, to attract and select very young candidates who exhibit academic
excellence at the high-school level. They also have in-service schemes to
develop high performers further and accelerate promotion processes. And
they all use extra monetary incentives in the form of performance-based
bonuses, scholarships, perks and extra allowances to retain top performers.
A close look at these schemes reveals that there are significant variations
on how these schemes are designed and implemented, leading to varying
levels of effectiveness. The key schemes identified in the four countries
are classified as: pre-service scholarships, career/leadership development
schemes, in-service high potential schemes, and are described as follows.
Pre-service Scholarship
Singapore
The Singapore government believes that offering pre-service scholarships
is the best way to attract the best and brightest young men and women
to serve the government (Quah, 2010). Since 1962, about 60 scholarships
administered by the Public Service Commission (PSC) are granted annu-
ally to ensure talents in the succession pipeline. The PSC scholarships are
targeted at recruitment for critical high-level public service functions (Neo
& Chen, 2007). There is a variety of scholarships with no stringent restric-
tions in the field of study designed to cater to candidates with different
abilities and interests and no quota on the number of scholarships to be
awarded. Candidates are assessed primarily based on their high-school
academic results – leadership potential, and the desire to serve the public
are secondary criteria. The candidates go through a few rounds of inter-
views and psychometric tests administered mainly by the PSC. Scholars
have to serve a five- to seven-year bond to the government upon return and
will be deployed throughout the service through a four-year Management
Associate Programme (MAP) before they are considered for the admin-
istrative service (Poocharoen & Lee, 2013; Davie, 2014). Besides the PSC
scholarships, respective agencies also offer scholarships based on their cri-
teria and organizational needs. Recipients will also be bonded to the agen-
cies for about two to five years upon their return. For example, the Smart
Nation Scholarship was launched in 2018 to attract and groom a pool of
deep technological talent and leaders for the Government Technology
Agency (GovTech), the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) and the
Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA).4
Malaysia
The Malaysian government offers pre-service scholarships and notably
the Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) scholarship is one of the most

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sought-after government scholarships in Malaysia for students to pursue

tertiary education abroad. Successful recipients undergo a pre-university
programme or prepare for pre-university examinations such as A-levels at
a local college. Upon completion, he or she will then apply individually to
a university, taken from a list of universities in the country agreed upon
in the scholarship agreement. High concentrations of scholarships are
offered for disciplines deemed critical such as medicine and pharmacy
(Mukherjee et al., 2017). Coupled with strong academic achievement,
family socio-economic status and ethnicity is a major criterion. Further
outlined in the Revised Budget 2016 and to ensure the country gets the
optimum returns and benefits from substantial investments earmarked
for the sponsorship programme, the government has introduced a new
model of JPA sponsorship schemes that funds the scholarship with a
loan repayable upon graduation. As job availability in the government
is not guaranteed, if the scholar is not able to secure a job within a year
upon return, he or she is allowed to apply for employment in the private
sector. JPA has also initiated the Scholarship Talent Attraction and
Retention (STAR) programme, which is a joint initiative between JPA
and TalentCorp. STAR enables scholars who are interested in working in
the private sector to service their bonds by working in leading companies
(mostly government-linked companies), pre-identified by the government
as in the key sectors to drive the economic growth.
Thailand
There are several types of government scholarships available to high-
school students and bachelor degree holders. Two main ones are the
King’s Scholarship and Royal Thai Government Scholarship for non-
specific agencies and allocated upon agencies’ requirements. For the
former, scholars know exactly where they are bonded to upon graduation,
while for the latter the scholar chooses where they wish to serve after they
return from their studies. Provided there are openings, their wish is often
granted. There are cases where scholars return without a relevant agency
to accommodate them, causing frustration among scholars due to the
mismatch of acquired skills and agencies’ needs. About 300 scholars are
selected each year (Sivaraks, 2011). Contrary to the Singapore scholarship
scheme, these scholars are neither put on a special track nor are they
provided with different incentive structures to excel in the system but they
are bonded. Scholars must serve twice the amount of time taken to study.
The Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) also collaborated with
the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to introduce
the One District One Scholarship (ODOS) in 2004 to provide a chance of
international education to outstanding students from poor families with

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the aim of broadening opportunities for local development. Recipients

will be contractually obliged to work for the Thai government upon
returning from abroad. To grow the science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) sector, OCSC also offers two science and technol-
ogy scholarships, namely, the Development of Science and Mathematics
Talented Project (DPST) and Ministry of Science and Technology (MST)
scholarship schemes, for top-performing students to study science and
technology subjects in local and overseas universities (Sumonta, Finley &
Kaweekijmanee, 2018).
Cambodia
Unlike the above three countries, government scholarships in Cambodia
are not open to high-school leavers but successful applicants to the Grade
A scheme of service (for bachelor degree and above) who graduated from
elite universities will be offered scholarships to pursue a PhD. These schol-
arships are supported either by the government or development partner
– for example, UNDP, World Bank, ASEAN. Upon completion of their
studies, they will be bonded for five years and are required to work for the
government. To sustain Cambodia’s economic development and enhance
its competitiveness, scholarships are also provided to eligible teacher-
candidates from disadvantaged areas to undertake a one-year pre-service
training at the National Institute of Education (NIE). As increasing the
pool of upper secondary graduates is critical to improving the quality
of the workforce and expanding the tertiary sector, the scholarships are
offered to recruit teachers to teach in rural and acute-shortage areas. This
scholarship is sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and
is wholly administered and implemented by the Ministry of Education,
Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and the Directorate General of Education
(DGE), Directorate General of Policy and Planning (DGPP), and the
National Institute of Education (NIE) (Asian Development Bank, 2016).
The scholarships will be spread over four years and proportionally dis-
tributed among the science and mathematics subjects. Upon completion
of the pre-service training, the trainees are assigned by the government to
the schools.
Career/Leadership Development Scheme
Singapore
There are two distinctive career development schemes in the Singapore
public sector to groom and develop officers through their career in the public
sector. They are the Management Associate Programme (MAP) and the
Administrative Service (AS). The MAP is a career development programme

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established in 2002 that is designed to give fresh university graduates a

management track career. Pre-service scholarship holders also join the MAP
upon their completion of studies and return. There are also open recruit-
ments through a central website (www.careers.gov.sg) to attract mid-career
individuals to join the scheme. Through the MAP, officers are rotated
through the parent ministry (they were recruited under) and external min-
istries, agencies as well as private organizations within four years. During
this period, the Management Associates (MAs) will be given opportunities
to participate in a wide range of training and development programmes to
broaden their perspectives on public-sector issues and deepen their manage-
rial and leadership capabilities, which covers visits to ASEAN countries,
cross-ministry project teams, policy forums, overseas conferences, and study
visits. At the end of the four-year MAP, officers will be interviewed for entry
into the AS. The statutory boards’5 MAPs, on the other hand, are designed
according to their requirements. For example, the Singapore Tourist Board,
Enterprise Singapore MAPs are designed as a 12-month programme instead
of four years. Over the span of 12 months, officers will be rotated among
departments and functions within the same agency and will be offered
opportunity to undertake short-term overseas attachment.
The Administrative Service (AS) scheme marks the cream of the crop
of Singapore’s civil servants – currently there are only about 200 in the
scheme (McNulty & Kaveri, 2019). The majority of officers in the AS are
scholars who at the end of the four-year MAP are interviewed for entry
into the AS. The Administrative Officers (AOs) are centrally appointed by
PSC and their deployment designations and career paths are managed by
the Public Service Division (PSD). The AOs are responsible for developing
and implementing national policies in consultation with the political lead-
ership. The AOs are posted to jobs in different sectors of the public service
and also get to participate in project teams such as in whole of government
collaborations like the Singapore Youth Olympic Games (Lee, 2018).
Milestone programmes are planned for AOs at every stage of their careers
and they are pushed to take leadership roles very early. Thus, directors of
the departments in Singapore are relatively young in their mid-30s when
compared to Malaysia and Thailand. The top-performing AOs will take
up permanent secretary positions in the end. By their mid-30s, if the AO’s
estimated potential is less than deputy secretary of the ministry, he or
she would usually be asked to leave the service (Neo & Chen, 2007). A
clear benefit of the Administrative Service is that Administrative Officers’
remuneration sits in a different, higher pay scale, and is not tied to any
particular ministry, hence facilitating a tight network of high-calibre
talented officers enabling effective inter-ministry and inter-agency coordi-
nation (McNulty & Kaveri, 2019).

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Malaysia
The Administrative and Diplomatic scheme, or better known in Malay as
the Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik (PTD) scheme is the earliest ‘premier’
public service track, going back to 1904. Like Singapore, PTD officers are
the pillar of the Malaysian civil service. Not everyone in the civil service
belongs to the PTD category but usually many top government posts, in
Malaysia and abroad, are held by PTD officers. There are currently about
9000–10 000 PTD officers engaged in diverse levels of employment in the
Administrative and Diplomatic Service and they hold strategic and key
leadership roles (Chin, 2010). They also have opportunities to be trans-
ferred to different organizations as well as seconded to private organiza-
tions. Unlike Singapore, the scheme is open to all and candidates must go
through numerous exams and assessments. The Public Service Commission
(PSC) uses assessment centres and evaluates candidates through physical
and intellectual activities (Siddiquee, 2013). Candidates need to undergo
four processes: early screening; PTD’s IQ examination; competency
assessment; and last, an interview. The National Institute of Public
Administration (INTAN) is responsible for developing and conducting
assessments for the candidates of the PTDs as well as the in-service PTDs
through comprehensive training exercises and evaluation. After being
appointed, the recruit will go through a ten-day foundation course (Manaf,
2010). Upon completion, they will be informed of their job assignments
and agencies to be attached to. After undergoing a six-month on-the-job
training and another six-month diploma course in Public Administration
at INTAN, they will be officially appointed as PTD officers.
Thailand
The Public Sector Executive Development Programme (PSED) is a career
scheme that aims to attract excellent young individuals to join the public
sector at mid-level entry point. The PSED is led by the Office of the Public
Sector Development Commission (OPDC), the officers are recruited
and trained for 22 months and upon graduation they are sent to work in
strategic departments and provinces. The participants go through not only
intensive theory or classroom-based training on public management and
leadership, but they are also trained in practice by being seconded to three
groups of public-sector leaders and one private-sector leader for about two
years. The programme offers a mentorship system exposing participants
to mentors, coaches, and advisers, all of whom play different roles in the
training programme. The objectives of the scheme are: to develop highly
effective change agents who have the abilities to be visionary thinkers,
developers, planners, and operators; and to deploy change agents to the
strategic units and drive their strategic plans into action.

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Cambodia
In Cambodia, there is no specific career development or fast-track scheme
available in the public sector. All candidates are required to take the
entrance examinations for grades A, B and C. Grade A is for fresh gradu-
ates, B for candidates who attained an associate degree of a vocational
qualification and Grade C is for high-school leavers. However, there
are also candidates who become contract staff under internship who are
eligible to become full-time officials without taking the exam, subject to
approval from a minister of the civil service. Mid-career entrants from the
private sector are also exempted from the exams except for those applying
to the Ministry of Education.
It is noted that in line with the Upper Secondary Education Sector
Development Programme sponsored by Asian Development Bank, to
strengthen STEM education there are training and professional devel-
opment opportunities offered to STEM teachers and administrators.
Training is provided to equip them with full technical knowledge and
pedagogical skills and an 18-days’ leadership training course designed for
school principals. To improve deployment of teachers in disadvantaged
provinces and in schools with a shortage of teachers, additional hardship
allowances and other teacher incentives are provided to teachers who
teach in rural and remote areas. In addition, teaching housing units will
also be constructed in areas of high need. This includes disadvantaged
provinces, upper secondary schools with a shortage of teachers, schools
with teachers transferring from other areas (especially female teachers),
schools with long teaching hours and so on.
In-service High-potential (HiPo) Scheme
Singapore
Responding to the need for grooming specialist leaders in the public
sector, the Public Service Leadership Programme (PSLP) was introduced
by the Public Service Division (PSD) in 2013 (total number of offic-
ers selected to be onboard was about 700 as of 2015) as a structured
programme that focused on cultivating and developing talent in five key
sectors within the public service, that is, central administration, economy
building, infrastructure and environment, security, and social, through
two phases: the general phase and the sectoral phase. The general phase is
for those with little or no experience and officers will be rotated through
two or more roles in different sectors of the public service. For the sectoral
phase, officers are rotated to different agencies in a chosen sector as well
as provided with training programmes to expose officers to key develop-
ments and cross-cutting issues within the sector to be developed as a

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specialist leader. Candidates will be nominated by their reporting officers

through assessment of their performance and potential. The programme
replaces the former high-potential (HiPo) programme and is administered
by the PSD. The PSD has worked with five government agencies and
the Civil Service College to develop common competency frameworks to
curate relevant training programmes to cater to officers’ development at
different milestones.
Malaysia
High-performing in-service officers who have the capacity to assume
higher leadership roles are identified based on the annual performance
appraisal process. Identified officers are given more challenging projects,
assignments, or sent for prime postings. They can also be offered study
sponsorships for higher education at the master’s or doctoral levels.
However, there is no explicit roadmap for this group of officers and they
are not guaranteed higher positions upon completion of their studies
or assignments. The fast-track system was introduced in 2016 and aims
to identify high-potential public servants to be placed in leadership
positions. Moving away from the seniority-based promotion practice,
under the fast-track system, the Promotions Board can promote any
individual over a senior officer if he or she demonstrates potential to lead
(Zainal, 2011). To qualify, candidates must score at least 90 per cent in
their annual appraisals for three consecutive years and score a Band 5
in the Middle Management Leadership Assessment Programme or the
Advanced Leadership Development and Assessment Programme. The
candidate would also be required to undergo psychometric and physical
fitness tests. In addition, candidates in the Professional and Management
group must score at least a Band 4 in their English Language Proficiency
Assessment (ELPA) test conducted by INTAN.
Thailand
The OCSC has developed the High Performance and Potential System
(HiPPS) as a human resource development plan in order to systematically
prepare high-potential government officials. The main objective of HiPPS
was to prepare the government officers with high work performance and
potential for development and experience learning through workplace
learning strategies: job rotation, coaching, mentoring, job delegation,
in-house training, centre training, secondment, shadowing, joint train-
ing, short-term attachments, and discussion group. In 2006, HiPPS was
extended to all civil service departments, which included training for
developing key leadership skills as well as coaching skills for the mentors
assigned to each HiPPS individual. The supervisors in the bureaus and

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agencies must identify high-performing individuals to take part in the pro-

gramme and develop a clear experience accumulation framework (EAF)
for the candidate. Candidates must perform outstandingly throughout to
receive higher pay of about 1 per cent of his or her usual monthly income.
Candidates from the Public Sector Executive Development Programme
(PSED) need to pass the English exam in order to enter the programme.
The New Wave Leadership Development Programme (NWLDP) is
a one-month training programme designed for high-calibre mid-level
bureaucrats. The stated objective is to promote a network of high-potential
officials in various departments (Sivaraks, 2011, p. 128). Officers are sent
for overseas study visits to ASEAN countries – for example, Singapore –
to attend workshop on leadership. The programme aims to build networks
among civil service officers among different ASEAN countries to share
knowledge and experience in areas such as e-learning, governance, leader-
ship, organizational development and performance improvement.
Cambodia
Promotion in the Cambodia public sector is largely based on seniority and
working experience. Although there is no established in-service structured
scheme that identifies high-potential officers in the Cambodia public
sector, there is a separate scheme for in-service senior officials with a
PhD degree. These officials either have already attained a PhD from elite
schools or they are nominated by the respective ministries to be offered
scholarships to pursue PhDs overseas. These scholarships are supported
by either the government or a development partner such as United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank, ASEAN and so
on. The officers will be bonded for three years to the current ministry upon
completion and they will be promoted to director level or, at the highest,
to secretary of state level. After three years, they are free to move to
other ministries and are bonded for another two years. Sponsored ad-hoc
overseas training opportunities are also offered to these officers in accord-
ance with the needs of the reforms – for example, the executive training
programme sponsored by the Temasek Foundation. Since 2014, about 200
high-ranking officials including vice-ministers and director-generals from
various ministries at central and provincial levels were sent to Singapore
for executive training programmes at the Nanyang Centre for Public
Administration. The two-week training programme in collaboration with
Cambodia’s Ministry of Economics and Finance was conducted in both
Phnom Penh and Singapore, straddling one week each, to equip them with
the latest knowledge and skills to enhance their capabilities in the areas
of governance and public sector management. Based on a preliminary
survey conducted with about 30 alumnis of the training programme at

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the Nanyang Centre for Public Administration, most of the trainees were
promoted to the next level or an even higher level upon completion of the
programme.
ASSESSING THE TALENT MANAGEMENT

SCHEMES USING THE EXCLUSIVITY–INCLUSIVITY
CONTINUUM
From the above discussion, there are largely three levels of TM schemes
in the four countries’ public sectors, that is, pre-service, executive and
leadership, and senior management fast-track schemes. The literature
shows both inclusive and exclusive approaches in the public sector (Stahl
et al., 2012; Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2013; Boselie & Thunnissen, 2017;
Gallardo-Gallardo & Thunnissen, 2017). According to Glenn (2012),
an inclusive approach is more likely to occur in collective bargaining
environments, therefore formalized TM programmes that are usually
exclusive are largely limited to executives and non-bargaining groups. The
schemes mentioned above are mainly to attract executives and to groom
them to become leaders in the public sector. Due to increased numbers of
retirements and a labour market shortage, the public sector also shows
a tendency to favour such an exclusive approach to recruit high-calibre
candidates to fill and replace the leadership pipeline (Delfgaauw & Dur,
2010; Glenn, 2012; Poocharoen & Lee, 2013). This is also confirmed by
the schemes at the senior management/administrative level, where only
the identified few are selected through their performance, experience or
stringent assessment to join the senior management or administrative
service. Although TM schemes are an exclusive approach, from the assess-
ment of the schemes in the four countries, there are varying degrees along
the inclusive–exclusive continuum among countries and among levels of
scheme (Figure 13.2).
Overall, Singapore is the most exclusive among the countries, which
also could be attributed to the highly institutionalized talent management
in Singapore, overseen by central institutions such as the PSC and PSD
under the direct purview of the Prime Minister’s Office, which could pro-
vide ease of rotation within the public sector. In this part of the chapter,
I will address the tension between the inclusiveness and exclusiveness of
talent definitions at each level of the TM schemes by discussing the duality
and ambiguity of talent in these schemes (Buttiens & Hondeghem, 2015;
Meyers, 2016; Thunnisen & Buttiens, 2017).

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Senior
management
fast track
schemes
M4735-LIU_9781786437099_t.indd 384
Executive and
leadership
development
schemes
384
Pre-service
scholarships
Talent being inclusive

Talent being exclusive • Open to all officers
• Limited to certain individuals and • Generic career roadmap and
groups package
• Specific career roadmap and package • Opportunities and development
• Closed oppoutunities and • Open opportunities and
development for the chosen few development (usually based on
seniority)

Figure 13.2 he exclusivity–inclusivity continuum of talent management schemes in Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia
T
and Thailand, respectively
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Talent in the Pre-service Scholarship Scheme: Equity vs Differentiation
Based on the studies of the respective TM schemes in the four Asian

countries, I concur that defining talent is first and foremost in the public
sector (Poocharoen & Lee, 2013; Swailes & Blackburn, 2016; Thunnisen
& Buttiens, 2017). Defining and conceptualizing talent is highly influenced
by the factors of differentiation – in the pre-service scheme the definition
is dominated by academic achievements. As suggested by Lepak and Snell
(1999), differentiating groups of employees is likely to cause tension with
the principle of equity. The principles of equity (equal opportunity) try
to ensure that the most capable person is selected as well as the right of
every individual to be given fair consideration for any job for which they
are skilled and qualified. From the assessment of pre-service schemes,
the preferred practice of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand is to recruit
high-school leavers through scholarships, whereas Cambodia offers schol-
arships to fresh graduates from elite schools to pursue PhDs. These
scholarship recipients will eventually be bonded to serve in the allocated or
selected organizations. Due to the scarcity of resources and budget in the
public sector, the scholars will inevitably be differentiated and provided
with more opportunities and exposures when they join the organizations
as they are the ‘best and brightest’ (Neo & Chen, 2007) and expected to
out-perform other non-scholars. This differentiation hence leads to the
tension of inequality as not all employees at the same ranking will have
equal opportunities to perform.
Among the countries, Singapore’s approach to selection of scholars
is also more exclusive than the other three countries, as the scholarship
system is tightly connected to grooming individuals to become part of
the elite civil service that works between politicians and mainstream civil
servants (Neo & Chen, 2007; Poocharoen & Lee, 2013). The Singapore
government approaches specific high schools for lists of the top students
to administer a test and the scholarships can be offered conditionally
based on the tests and their preliminary A-level results even before they
have finished high school (Poocharoen & Lee, 2013). Similarly, for
Cambodia, scholarships to pursue PhDs are only offered to graduates
from elite schools. Such special preference for schools creates bias and
is deemed not to give equal opportunities to candidates from other high
schools or universities. In Malaysia, although there is no such preference,
ethnicity and income level form 80 per cent of the evaluation weighting.
Although the intention is to achieve representativeness in the population
of the community, it also invites criticism of race favouritism, as the
majority of scholarship recipients are Malays. Compared to the other
three countries, Thailand does not confine talents based on past academic

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achievements and ethnicity. Scholarships are open to all and candidates

are required to sit for standard entry examinations, therefore providing
fair opportunities for all who are interested and qualified (Poocharoen
& Lee, 2013). However, the Development of Science and Mathematics
Talented Project (DPST) and Ministry of Science and Technology (MST)
scholarship schemes are reserved for candidates who demonstrate special
flair for science and technology disciplines.
Talent in the Executive and Leadership Development Scheme: General vs

Specialization
Another inclusive–exclusive talent tension is over the principle of profes-

sionalism (Noordegraaf, 2016) and it is argued that many professionals
receive special treatment or have a special position within public sector
organizations as they are considered to be among the most valuable
workers there. Overall, the executive and leadership development schemes
are perceived to be inclusive, as the public sector does not favour certain
specializations. Recruitments are open to all fields and candidates are
groomed to assume general management or leadership positions through
exposure to different domains by job rotations (MAP), mentorships
(PSED) and training. The MAP, PSED and PTD schemes are all designed
for officers interested in general administration and once enrolled onto the
schemes, they will receive the same training, development, rewards and
benefits. There is no special treatment for officers in specialized professions
since the emphasis is to groom the most competent managers in the public
sector (Delfgaauw & Dur, 2010; Day et al., 2014). However, the special
scheme for the teachers and teaching administrators in Cambodia does
suggest that there is a gap in the current system and so special incentives,
allowance and training are provided to attract more teacher-candidates
than other fields. This is also to address the shortage of upper secondary
school teachers in rural areas in order to support public sector reform.
The relatively new Public Service Leadership Programme (PSLP) in
Singapore is also an exclusive approach as it favours specialized fields and
suggests the importance of recognizing professionals in the public sector.
The HiPo scheme was seen to be non-transparent as the criteria were not
stated clearly (Poocharoen & Lee, 2013). In replacement, the PSLP had
well-defined competencies based on fixed competency frameworks for
each specialized field, that is, central administration, economy building,
infrastructure and environment, security and social (Bhatta, 2001; Mau,
2009). This offers more clarity to both the officers and reporting superiors
when assessing their performance and determining training needs, hence
improving transparency in the scheme for high potentials.

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Talent in the Senior Management Fast-track Scheme: High Performers vs

High Potential
The high performers vs high potential tension is prevalent to the fast-track

programmes that parachute high-calibre officers to senior positions
without going through the usual seniority-based promotion system (Neo
& Chen, 2007; Scullion, Collings & Caligiuri, 2010; CIPD, 2012). Based
on the premise that officers chosen for these fast-track programmes have
demonstrated higher levels of competence and performance, only a small
group of selected in-service officers in the four countries are recommended.
However, the operationalization of organizational goals in relation to
individual performance is complex in the public sector (Ulrich & Ulrich,
2010; Hasnain, Manning & Pierskalla, 2012). Given that the public sector
has multiple and often conflicting goals that need to satisfy diverse groups
of stakeholders, it is hard to determine performance in the context of the
public sector (Collings, 2014). Although TM schemes designed to attract
and retain high-achieving individuals emphasize individual performance,
public service and value are often achieved as a team effort and not alone
(Thunnissen & Boselie, 2017). Therefore, all employees desire to be treated
fairly, as determined by the rewards (monetary and non-monetary) they
receive compared to others in the organization and by how the organiza-
tion comes to the decision concerning the reward. From an employee’s
perspective, fair procedures may be in place but it is the practice of fairness
by supervisors that demonstrates whether justice actually occurs or not.
There are two approaches to ensure fairness. One is to judge a person
by his or her competencies and the other is to look at his or her actual
performance. The candidates in all these four countries are nominated by
their direct reporting officers and recommended by the organizations to
be enrolled into the fast-track schemes. Candidates in Cambodia not only
need to have adequate experience and have performed consistently, they
are also required to have attained a PhD before they can be enrolled into
the fast-track scheme. In Malaysia, high-potential officers need to have
performed very well for the past three years and also need to pass addi-
tional tests before admission into the fast-track scheme. Thailand takes
the most inclusive approach, as the HiPPS and NWLDP only provide
accelerated training and exposure with some small bonus as incentive but
both schemes do not guarantee promotion. Among the four countries,
Singapore has the most defined performance appraisal system, which runs
on a quota-based curve, of which the top performers only make up 15 per
cent of the distribution (Quah, 2010; Poocharoen & Lee, 2013) and it also
has the most exclusive approach to the fast-track schemes. The ranking
system has two components: performance ranking and potential ranking.

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The potential ranking component is largely determined by an individual’s

currently estimated potential (CEP) score, which is based on competencies
such as educational merits, intellectual and leadership qualities. Scholars
are usually rated with higher CEP scores and will be exposed to high-
profile projects – therefore, they are deemed to be performing better than
the rest of the officers and so will be enrolled into the AS scheme (the
majority of the AOs are scholars).
AGENDA FOR TALENT MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
The above review demonstrates that talent management is at the top of

many governments’ agendas. However, ambiguities and dualities in the
definition of talent creates tensions that affect talent management policies
and practices in the public sector (Thunnissen, 2016). Dries’s (2013) review
of talent management in the public sector, resulted in the identification of
five tensions regarding the operationalization of talent, namely: inclusive
vs exclusive, objective vs subject, innate vs acquired, input vs output,
transferable vs context dependent. This chapter has attempted to dem-
onstrate the inclusive–exclusive conundrum of TM schemes in the public
sector but future talent management research should consider paradox
theory.
The rapidly expanding field of organizational paradox and dialectics
offers insights into the nature and management of these tensions (Putnam,
Fairhurst & Banghart, 2016; Schad et al., 2016). These varying literatures
all share a common focus on multiple demands that are both contradic-
tory as well as interdependent. Rather than depict competing demands as
problems that require immediate solutions, these literatures describe ten-
sions that are embedded and persistent over time. Scholars have adopted a
paradox lens to understand tensions across levels and across phenomena,
including tensions in leadership (Owens, Wallace & Waldman, 2015; Lee,
2018).
The increasing adoption of the paradox approach presents opportuni-
ties to expand the value of this lens. First, accumulated research has
predominantly examined organizational-level approaches to leveraging
these tensions. But as our world becomes more complex, paradoxical
tensions critically emerge at the individual and team levels of analyses.
Newly developed theories and instruments may enable more micro-level
research of paradoxes. Second, theorizing on paradox, dualities and
dialectics has predominantly stressed perspectives centred in Western
thinking. Yet Eastern philosophical traditions offer additional, expansive,

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or even contradictory perspectives about the nature and implications of

paradox (e.g., Li, 2014). Researchers then can benefit from addressing
and comparing cultural differences and similarities to expand insight into
the way individuals and teams cope with tensions in different cultures, as
well as in multicultural settings. In this perspective, we recommend more
cross-country comparisons, especially between the East and West.
Finally, in today’s highly globalized environment, paradoxical tensions
can also exist at the transnational level as cross-border learning experience
has a powerful impact upon decision-makers within the public sector. As
part of talent development, learning from the experiences of others is a
proactive approach towards governance, which emphasizes learning, fore-
sight, and adaptability to policy-making and implementation, also known
as ‘dynamic governance’ (Neo & Chen, 2007). Therefore, education and
training of public officials overseas has become a powerful mechanism for
policy learning and transfer through the bringing back of international
‘know-how’ and good practice (Common, 2012). Since the 1950s, the
University of Manchester in the UK has been involved in the training
and professional development of public administrators from developing
countries such as India, Thailand, and Greece (Clarke, 1999). Chinese
officials have also gone to the United States, Canada, UK, Singapore and
Switzerland for training in a wide range of disciplines (Tong & Straussman,
2003). This development of internationalization has only intensified with
new transnational education opportunities opening up within China and
an ever-larger group of Chinese students going abroad to study. However,
part of the development suggests a new trend, where students seem
prone to travel along the Belt-and-Road Initiative, not just to learn from
overseas best practices but also to engage in what best practice is (Rezaei
& Mouritzen, 2019). During the ten-year period between 1990 and 2000,
China’s central government had spent more than 100 million yuan (about
US$13 million) per year to train civil servants overseas and more than
40 000 Chinese officials have been trained (Jiang, 2002). There are also
about 15 000 public administrators from Africa being trained in countries
like China, Germany and Japan (Tugendhat & Alemu, 2016).
With more collaboration and cooperative learning among countries in
the Southern Hemisphere, transnational knowledge transfer that used to be
predominantly from the North to the South has also shifted to amongst the
countries in the South (UNDP, 2013). Many countries in the South have
shown signs of economic gains, which made them potential role models
for the rest of the developing countries. Countries such as Singapore
and China are exemplary examples that have achieved rapid growth and
development within a short period of time. Their successes and experiences
have become an inspiration to their striving counterparts in the South and

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have since drawn policy-makers to learn about the ‘Singapore model’ and
the ‘China model’. As a beneficiary of learning from developed countries,
Singapore has helped to transform itself from a Third World country into
a modern city-state of the First World and has since been sharing and
transferring its developmental experience with countries in Asia, Africa,
Middle East, and Latin America in areas such as public governance, social
management, and public housing policy. Training in the Singapore public
sector is integral to the country’s success and has established a career
training roadmap for its administrative officers (Poocharoen & Lee, 2013).
The approaches to training are products of the overall approaches to the
pragmatic, clean and effective public service that Singapore has internal-
ized over the years, which is also embedded in its administrative structure,
and socio-cultural and political milieu that contributes to the country’s suc-
cesses and its resilience against external threats (Quah, 2010). With more
than 7000 government officials from other countries, including Cambodia
and Thailand, coming to Singapore to learn about the country’s public
sector policies, reforms and management practices coming through various
learning institutions annually (Singapore Cooperation Programme, 2016),
studying talent management within a transnational knowledge transfer
framework is becoming more relevant to the occurrence of transfer of
talent management practices across borders that might be culturally and
politically contradictory and challenging.
CONCLUSION
Competency building and talent management among public servants have

become an imperative, one that aims to provide competent managers
to conduct government operations in the transformative management
and governance context. While talent management as a field of study is
evolving from its infancy to adolescence, literature concerning talent man-
agement is biased towards a managerialist and unitarist view. Despite a
conceived lack of empirical research, a dominant focus on (multinational)
organizations in a for-profit context can be observed (Collings & Mellahi,
2009; Thunnissen et al., 2013). This chapter contributes to the limited
discussion on talent management in the public sector by reviewing the
various talent management schemes in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and
Cambodia, addressing the tension between the exclusivity and inclusivity
approach of recruiting, developing and retaining talents in the public
sector. Further research on the issues raised in this chapter would add
value to the debate on how to best design talent management schemes for
the public sector. This study is limited to four countries in Southeast Asia

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and uses only qualitative methods. For a rigorous comparative analysis,

future studies should include studies of talent management schemes across
different countries beyond Southeast Asia.
NOTES
* Acknowledgements: The chapter is part of an ongoing research agenda on the

‘Transnational Knowledge Transfer and Dynamic Governance’ project, a Tier 2 research
project funded by the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
1. A study by Accenture (Accenture, 2015) shows that 64 per cent of 70 public sector leaders
across 18 states report difficulty attracting and retaining talent. Similarly, a recent Pew
Research study (2014) found that state HR organizations were challenged to recruit and
retain skilled workers.
2. In 2015, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO, 2015) identified skills
shortages in various government occupations, including cybersecurity and information
technology.
3. The four countries, that is, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, are chosen
because of their close geographical proximity and similar, particularly colonial, back-
ground or similar development paths.
4. Kwang, K., 2018. New Smart Nation Scholarship targets Singapore students keen
on public sector careers. Channel NewsAsia, 2 March 2018. Accessed 19 March 2019
at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-smart-nation-scholarship-tar
gets-singapore-students-keen-on-10002322.
5. Statutory boards are a distinctive feature of Singapore’s government. In law, a statutory
board was an autonomous government agency established by an Act of Parliament that
specified the purpose, rights, and powers of the body. It was separate from the formal
government structure, and the employees are referred to as public servants.
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13.

Talent management strategies in the

Recruiting individuals capable of making the biggest difference to organi-

Celia Lee and Shahamak Rezaei - 9781786437105

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DEFINING TALENT MANAGEMENT IN THE

Some examples of the frameworks used to study talent management

Celia Lee and Shahamak Rezaei - 9781786437105

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(Harris & Foster, 2010). Dries’s (2013) review of TM resulted in the

Approaches to studying Empirical research Implications of contexts

• Competency • Country case studies • Contextualization of

Figure 13.1 Evolution of TM studies in the public sector

Celia Lee and Shahamak Rezaei - 9781786437105

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Tension Between Inclusive and Exclusive Perspectives on Talent

As defining talent tends to evoke the tension between the inclusiveness or

● ability to learn, evolve and adapt;

In general, there are two approaches. First, there is the exclusive

Celia Lee and Shahamak Rezaei - 9781786437105

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in the personnel policy of an organization, however, makes it possible

Celia Lee and Shahamak Rezaei - 9781786437105

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via University of Exeter

employee differentiation is generally accepted because of the specific skills

TALENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN

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Singapore Malaysia Thailand Cambodia

via University of Exeter

via University of Exeter

Singapore Malaysia Thailand Cambodia

Source: Modified from Poocharoen and Lee (2013, p. 6).

via University of Exeter

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sought-after government scholarships in Malaysia for students to pursue

Celia Lee and Shahamak Rezaei - 9781786437105

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the aim of broadening opportunities for local development. Recipients

Career/Leadership Development Scheme

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established in 2002 that is designed to give fresh university graduates a

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In-service High-potential (HiPo) Scheme

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specialist leader. Candidates will be nominated by their reporting officers

Celia Lee and Shahamak Rezaei - 9781786437105

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agencies must identify high-performing individuals to take part in the pro-

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ASSESSING THE TALENT MANAGEMENT

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