Talent development as one of Danish companies' paths to growth has almost become a mantra in recent years, and talent development is often one of the most prioritized HRM tasks. Many might even say that there has never been as much focus on talent as there is today. Despite this focus, however, many companies still face significant challenges when it comes to talent development. To meet these challenges and create new knowledge about the field, DEA established a think tank for talent development in the spring of 2009.

We have certainly been reassured that there is a need for new knowledge in this area. For example, it is paradoxical that - despite a broad consensus that companies' talents consist of many different kinds of people - the majority of all talent development is still directed towards those who want to be leaders. Or that talent development work often focuses on large companies when the vast majority of Danish companies are small or medium-sized.

To learn more about the topic, the think tank has chosen to focus on the challenges and dilemmas that Danish companies experience when working with talent development. We have started with 'the hard part', so to speak. Part of the mapping work consists of interviews with a number of different organizations - private as well as public, small as well as large. These interviews are now presented in this case collection, which provides insight into both challenges and valuable experiences. As talent development work takes place on many different levels and with many different purposes in mind, the case collection reflects great diversity. A diversity that creates a good basis for a discussion of what talent development is and what the talented organization looks like.