For nearly 10 years, many HR and business leaders have believed in the war for talent and strategies that emphasise attracting, retaining and nurturing a group of people with a supposed “talent gene”.

Talent management is clearly crucial, but there are major problems with “the war for talent”. It assumes that employees who aren’t classed as “talented” can only make a limited contribution – and most employees are likely to find this demotivating. It also means that organisations focus too closely on a small number of high-potential employees and not enough on harnessing the latent talent in their entire workforce.