According to research published in the International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, talent management is crucial to the success of Turkey’s container shipping industry. The study carried out by Ramazan Ozkan Yıldız, Sedat Bastug, and Soner Esmer of Iskenderun Technical University in Iskenderun, Hatay, Turkey, opens a porthole on practices and offers new insights for practitioners and researchers alike. The work suggests that understanding the local context and tailoring talent management practices can help attract, retain, and develop good people in a fiercely competitive industry.
The team carried out an extensive literature review, collected data, and undertook interviews to help them define talent management functions. Fundamentally, their work moves away from the conventional Western approach and opens up new channels for understanding the shipping industry in the context of a country that sits on an important axis between east and west. The research reveals that talent management in terms of recruitment and training, performance evaluation and career development are markedly different from their counterparts elsewhere. The differences arise through cultural norms, labour market dynamics, and regulatory requirements.
Talent acquisition and retention strategies have to be carefully crafted to ensure a skilled workforce that can navigate the complexities of global trade and meet the ever-evolving demands of customers around the globe. They have to focus on building specialist skills and knowledge in container handling, logistics operations, and supply chain management, all of which are critical to the success of the container shipping business.
The findings could have implications for companies beyond the container shipping industry in Turkey by allowing companies to see how they might adapt to the local context and go full steam ahead in their ventures.
Yıldız, R.O., Bastug, S. and Esmer, S. (2023) ‘Talent management functions: a qualitative research on container shipping industry’, Int. J. Shipping and Transport Logistics, Vol. 16, Nos. 3/4, pp.320–359.