Transitioning from a proprietary to vanilla HRIS: The resulting implications for talent

There is an increasing awareness of the significance of talent and talent management to an organisation’s performance and competitive advantage. Similarly there is increasing recognition that human capital and talent issues permeate throughout most segments of an organisation. Accordingly, when an organisation decides to change its processes and the way that it conducts its business, talent management will be affected. Based on an in-depth case study, this paper shows that the decision to transition from a proprietary to a vanilla HRIS, significantly affected the way in which the organisation viewed and managed its talent. By applying a social construction of technology based approach (SCOT), this paper further argues that it is important for academics, practitioners, consultants and organisations to be mindful of the potential positive and detrimental talent management implications of altering technology.