Under the leadership of Professor Alma McCarthy as Principal Investigator, this Science Foundation Ireland funded project (grant number: SFI 17/SPR/5334) examines the Human Resource Management (HRM) and Talent Management (TM) practices in science funding agencies in a study of Ireland, New Zealand, Finland and Hong Kong, China.

Many of the world’s leading science funding agencies significantly impact their nation’s economic and social development.  Their ability to do so as efficiently and effectively as possible is largely determined by the knowledge, skills and abilities of their most important asset – their human capital.  The project will identify opportunities, challenges and recommendations regarding funding agency HR and talent management policy and practice.

 

Effectively Managing Human Resources and Talent in Science Funding Agencies: Lessons, Recommendations and Future Directions. Insights from Ireland, Finland, Hong Kong, China and New Zealand

 

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This report is part of a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funded research project exploring the Human Resource Management (HRM) and Talent Management (TM) practices in science funding agencies in a study of Ireland, New Zealand, Finland and Hong Kong, China.  Data collection methods included high-level interviews with the executive team, senior management and those with human resource (HR) responsibility in each funding agency and an anonymised employee on-line survey targeted at all employees.  The survey focused on employee perceptions of the effectiveness and impact of HR and TM policies and practices in the participating science funding agencies.  Interviews were also conducted with relevant external stakeholders who impact HR policy in the respective agency.  Data was collected between March 2019 and March 2020 and sources included 172 respondents to the employee survey and 33 interviewees across the four agencies.  Read the key findings and recommendations here.

Report citation: Bohle Carbonell, K., McCarthy, A. Holland, D., Virtanen, T., O’Kane, P., Burns. J and Van Wart, M. (2020). Effectively Managing Human Resources and Talent in Science Funding Agencies: Lessons, Recommendations and Future Directions. Insights from Ireland, Finland, Hong Kong, China and New Zealand. Galway, Ireland: NUI Galway Whitaker Institute. ISBN: 978-1-908358-84-4

 

Best Conference Paper Award

During the 2019 Irish Academy of Management conference, the NUI Galway Human Resources and Talent in Science Funding Agencies project team won the Best Paper Award in the Healthcare and Public Sector Management track, sponsored by Trinity College Dublin. The award was given for the paper A Bibliometric Analysis of the Intellectual Structure of Talent Management Research: Accounting for Context. The paper combines a structured literature review with content analysis and expert insight to investigate the conceptual relationships between talent management research in public sector and private sector research

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