Macro Talent Management in The Netherlands: A Critical Analysis of Growing and Retaining Talent in the Netherlands

The annual rankings of the GTCI and HCI indicate that the Netherlands belongs to the 10% of countries in the world that offer organizations and individuals an excellent context to attract, identify, develop and deploy their talents. This chapter shows that the country excels in developing or growing talent through its educational system. Yet, the in-depth and critical analysis of this system also points at some weaknesses which may threaten a sustainable talent development. The Netherlands has a strong profile regarding the attraction and retention of talent on the Dutch labor market. The workforce is well educated and highly productive. However, there is tension between the insiders and the outsiders on the Dutch labor market, indicating a qualitative and quantitative ‘underutilization’ (in the case of groups such as women, ethnic minorities and older workers) and ‘overutilization’ (leading to excessive workload and time pressure) among large groups of workers. This situation can be a hindering factor for being a sustainable ‘breeding ground’ for talent in the future. Yet, research is presented which shows that this can be addressed through local collaboration between educational and knowledge institutes, the business community and local government.