Challenges of Managing Talented Students as Distinguished Future Human Capital in the Iranian...

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013

237 [email protected]

Challenges of Managing Talented Students as

Distinguished Future Human Capital in the

Iranian Medical Universities

Reza Dehnavieh 1 ; Mina Salajegheh1 ; Elaheh kavosi2 ; Somayeh Noori Hekmat2

1: Research Center for Health Services Management, Institute for Futures Studies in Health,

Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

2: Research Center for Modelling in Health , Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman

University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Abstract:

Introduction: The Iranian medical universities offer special opportunities for

talented students. If the system functions properly, talented students can play an

important role as distinguished human capital in the future.

The present study aimed to identify challenges the medical universities face

through the training of talented students as future human capital and also to

provide some recommendations for policy-makers in this issue.

Method: This was an applied study conducted using a qualitative method in

2012. The respondents included clear-sighted people in Talent Offices of Iranian

medical Universities. Selecting a purposive sample, we interviewed 18 persons

asking some open questions concerning the challenges they faced in their job as

the experts of talented students. Data were analyzed after reaching saturation,

using Framework Analysis method.

Results: The main themes as the challenges of Talent Offices were identifying

talented students, students’ motivation, empowering student members of the

office, policy-making for Talent Offices, organizational communications, and

finally organizational resources, structure and culture.

Conclusion:The challenges we found were more fundamental than expected.

Development of a comprehensive talented student management program in

Iranian medical universities requires a systematic approach

Key Words: Talented students; Education management; Universities of Medical Sciences; Medical Education; Iran

Corresponding Author:

Name: Somayeh Noori Hekmat

Address: Research Center for Modelling in

Health,Somayeh Crossroads, Kerman, Iran [email protected]

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


Introduction

Today’s world is the world of competition and development, and leading

countries look for achieving the highest possible level of knowledge and

technology. Effective utilization of distinguished workforce and susceptive

human capital is the main secret of facing business challenges and success in this

competition (Goodarzi and Hoseini, 2008). In the competitive environment, the

successful side is who identifies its prone human assets accurately and

efficiently, and use their talent effectively (O’Tuel and Apogee, 1994).Hence,

the central question of many organizations is what strategies are more efficient in

attracting and leading talented people to achieve organizational goals ( Moali,

2009).

Exploration and enrichment of latent talent have been one of the best

developments for leading organizations in recent years (Pfeiffer, 2008).

Considering the importance of this issue, today’s competitive organizations

require a holistic approach to manage their capacities (Moali and Tajadin, 2009).

Therefore, management thinkers have asserted a concept called "talent

management" in recent years (Goodarzi and Hoseini, 2008) .

Talent management is an effective tool in organizations, defined as a system of

identifying, recruiting, training, promoting and keeping prone people, with the

aim of optimizing the organization’s throughput ( Tajadin, 2010). Setting

accurate definitions of talents, and defining methods to identify and apply their

capabilities in different areas, as well as the methods to keep and lead them in

organizations are important issues in this area (O’Tuel and Apogee, 1994).

Therefore, talent management system includes four main elements of identifying,

attracting, keeping and managing talented people. The concepts of this system

can be used at both organizational and national levels. Paying no attention to

talent management in all countries can lead to disillusionment of these people

and brain drain phenomenon. In brain drain, although the society needs some

scientifically or intellectually distinguished people, such people prefer permanent

or temporary migration to other countries (Carrington, 1999). This phenomenon

is considered as one of the forms of capital flight (ZakerSalehi et al , 2008) and

causes people with lower expertise to undertake specialized jobs in their country

(Khosravi, 2004).

Due to certain considerations (Karimi, 2003)in the health sector, the importance

of competent and capable manpower in this sector is far more important than that

in other sectors. Utilization of such assets in the health sector requires the proper

planning of human force. ( Asefzadeh, 1997). Health sector elites' migration in

recent years has been one of the concerns across all nations, especially

developing countries such as Iran (Willis-Shattuck, 2008 ; Omar, 2004; Noori

Hekmat et al, 2009)

In Iran, Universities of Medical Sciences working under the supervision of

Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) are in charge of educating

human forces for health sector (Turani et al, 2011). Therefore, these universities

play an important role in promoting and applying prone human force’s

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


capabilities in the form of talent management programs. The quality of prone

students, as university system inputs, should be examined through entering,

studying, and leaving the university (Mohammadi et al,2009). Development of

talented students is discussed in many countries and has aroused different beliefs

considering common values of communities (HERP, 2006).

In Iranian universities of Medical Sciences, the Talented Students Office

manages talented students’ programs. Although the issue of talented people has

been one of the important topics in Iran during recent years (HERP, 2006; Dashti

et al, 2005; Policy making Council, 2007 ) it still seems that there are many

problems in the management of these people in Iranian medical universities. For

example, a minimal funding is dedicated to identifying, keeping and training

talented people at universities affiliated with the MOHME. In addition,

supplying and allocating the credit to talented students have not followed a

special pathway through past years, indicating that policymakers lack enough

intention in this issue (HERP, 2006).

It seems that Talent Student Offices in Iranian medical universities are mainly

engaged in day-to-day activities and lack a coherent plan to guide the students.

By developing such a program, we can enjoy magnificent impact of these people

on Iran’s health care system. Considering the importance of this issue, in this

paper, we have tried to inform the main challenges causing ineffective use of

talented students in the Iranian medical universities.

Research Method

This is an applied study conducted using qualitative method in 2012. The

research population included clear-sighted people and experts of the Talented

Students Offices across Iranian medical universities. We interviewed these

people until data reached a saturation point when 16 were interviewed. 8 other

people were interviewed based on their experience and related expertise. All

interviews were recorded and transcribed. The length of interviews varied

between 35 and 50 minutes. Data were analyzed using framework analysis

method which included five stages of identifying, identifying a Thematic

Framework, indexing, charting and mapping and interpreting ( Lacey and Luff,

2001).

All interviews were separately indexed and a list of coded were developed to fill

the pre-developed thematic framework. At this stage, one or two indices were

assigned to all parts containing related information in interviews. Then holding

meetings with other researchers, these indices were investigated and changed if

necessary. Then charting stage was conducted to compare interviewees’ opinions

about each component of thematic model and to determine the relationship

between thematic model’s components and their subgroups. Thematic model’s

components were interpreted in a process similar to indexing stage. All above-

mentioned stages were conducted without the use of software. Thematic

framework was frequently revised through the process of analysis.

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


Results

Talent management challenges in Iranian medical universities were

classified in the form of 7 basic themes and 21 sub-themes (see table 1).

Theme I: Inappropriate identification: experts mentioned that first; there must

be an agreement on the appropriate definition of talents and its judgment

criteria. "Firstly, it is better to have a clear definition of talented students and to

determine what features a talented student should have" (P 2).

Approaches to the definition and the ways of dealing with talented student

were so diverse that some respondents opposed separation of this group

from the rest of students. “Basically, separation of a group of students and

identification of them as talented students is controversial and I am opposed to

have this separation" (P 1).

According to the experts, one-dimensional view to the Office

entrance requirements for students and merely considering fixed

requirements are weaknesses of the current process of identifying talented

students. "Achieving a high rank in tests (such as entrance exam of universities,

tests held in the Ministry, etc.) is not an accurate index. Determining a

particular rank, for example 500 or less in university entrance exam and 1-3 in

Master test are not acceptable criteria to reject next-ranked people"(P21).

Some students are capable in research, or cultural or artistic activities.

They may not be identifies as talented students due to the current

inappropriate definition of talented students and its one-dimensional

criteria. "Considering factors such as research, educational, artistic interests,

and other capabilities are also required to support talented students" (P 16).

Some distinguished students are not motivated enough to register at

the Talent Office due to various reasons. This leads to problems in

identifying these individuals. "Lack of enough motivation in some prone

students makes their identification difficult and deprives the Office from such

individuals" (P 17).

Some interviewees believed that the activities of Talent Office were not

properly introduced. "At university, there is no mechanism across the Offices to

identify talented students, except for short printed announcements and recently

the universities' website" (P 19). Some respondents asserted that providing

more extensive mechanisms at universities are required to correctly

identify prone students. "Lack of a stable organization and a strong position in

the universities as well as lack of a diligent administrator lead to missing to

identify talented students" (P 17).

Theme II: Low Motivation: Low motivation among prone students was one

of the problems mentioned by experts. This could be due to the students'

belief that the system was not supporting them.. "Talented students must

believe that the ministry and the university are concerned about leading and

supporting them" (P 8). In addition, participation of faculty members and

students' families is essential to motivate them. "In this regard, head of

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


departments and faculty members in all fields should pay special attention to

these students and help them to achieve a good level of self-esteem, self-

confidence and motivation" (P 13).

Unfortunately, learning environment of talented students does not make

them familiar with real problems of society. "If they do not know what's

going on in the society, they will be frustrated after graduation when faced with

society's problems, and consequently isolation or brain drain phenomenon will

occur" (P 2).

According to the experts, although there were many concessions in

regulations for granting privileges to talented students, they were not

practically granted these concessions. "Cases such as participation in

international seminars and support for research projects are mentioned in the

regulation, but indeed, there are many problems in their implementation and no

proper funding is predicted to grant them" (P 13). Some respondents believed

that the needs of students when awarded are not considered. "Unfortunately,

we see all students as same and want to award all of them, so we award them

something, for example a USB flash drive" (P 10).

Theme III: Lack of a coherent empowering plan for students: According

to the respondents, there was no coherent plan in the ministry and medical

universities to empower students. "The ministry has no special plan to

empower talented students. The ministry just pays some money to the universities

and gives them total authority over this budget, with no clear strategy.

Universities can spend this money at any programs based on their own taste,

with no feedback to the ministry about where they have spent the budget."(P 11).

According to the experts, there were some regulations and programs about

where the universities should spend their budget, but these programs were

not properly implemented at universities for certain reasons. "If these

programs are correctly implemented, problems will be partly solved, but they are

not correctly implemented at some universities" (P 8).

Ignoring talented students’ opinions was another weakness

mentioned by the respondents. "Workshops such as teaching methodology,

English language, etc. are held, but these are not enough. To achieve good

results, some courses should be added to students' fixed curriculum based on

their needs" (P 13).

Theme IV: Faulty policy-making: lack of an assigned administrator in charge

of policy making considerations was one of the serious problems. "Different custodians for talent management with different views (MOHME,

Ministry of Science, National Elites Foundation, etc.), who provide different

policies and partial implementation of policies frustrate students" (P 1). In

respondents’ opinion, there was no coherent and holistic policy established

about Talent-Students offices’ performance. "The ministry is more focused on

codifying regulations such as offering talented students some facilities for

studying at postgraduate levels rather than the strategic planning for the Talent

Office" (P 6). “It is the case at all universities. We do not know why we invite

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


talented students, for what, and what we want to do with these students. This is a

chronic pain that we need its remedy" (P 2).

According to the interviewees, the universities' and experts' opinions were

not systematically adopted to make policies in guiding talented students'

issues. "The opinions of experts or Talent Offices are not collected and analyzed

in the universities. Usually, an individual or a group of individuals makes

decisions in a special council through a few limited meetings" (P 9). In addition,

policies were updated, although the universities were experiencing rapid

environmental changes. "It is better to hold meetings periodically and clearly

with more participation from universities and keep them updated" (P 14).

Theme V: Improper organizational communications: There were little

communications between the Offices all around the country and the

ministry. "There is no continuous and active communication between Offices

and the ministry" (P 17). There were also no suitable communication

between Offices across universities. "The MOHME cannot provide university-

specific procedures, because it is not directly connected to the students and their

problems. Therefore, if the Offices communicate with one another, major

problems will be specified and solved by cooperation" (P. 18). "We have no

common meeting and can get informed of programs only by visiting other

offices’ websites which do not show Offices' activities well" (P 15).

Theme VI: Problematic resources and structure: Lack of a proper structure

and a defined formal organizational post is one of the problems of Talent

Offices at universities. "Currently, there is no structure for Talent Offices at

universities and people in charge of talented students at universities have no

official post" (P 8). This leads to more managerial changes in these offices

having a negative effect on the office’s performance. The offices'

financially poor status weakens them in supporting prone people. "Unfortunately, we have problems with financial support and cannot suitably

support a student having a new idea" (P 10). “Some programs, such as holding

training classes, workshops for talented students, performing research projects

require adequate funding and funding deficiency is a major problem in the

implementation of guidance and support programs" (P 1).

Theme VII: Improper organizational culture: There was no appropriate

organizational culture to support prone students. “This positive attitude

should be created at all levels, from the ministry to the university to understand

the importance of talented student and to support them when needed" (P 13).

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


Discussion

There were many problems, concerning talent management in

Universities of Medical Sciences, involved in identifying prone students,

students’ motivation, empowering students as Offices’ members, offices’

policy-making, organizational communications, organizational resources

and structure and culture.

Findings of this study showed that there was no agreement on

definition of key concepts among managers of the talent program. In other

words, all people and universities use “talented students” term, but their

views to this term are very different. This problem, i.e. lack of agreement

on key issues is observed in some other areas of Iranian health system

(Dehnavieh et al, 2011).

After properly defining this group, we should determine suitable

criteria to identify them. Identifying these people as the most effective

resources and national assets of each country is one of the most important

tasks of the society ( Hofman and Berg, 2000) According to our findings;

low motivation among students causes some problems in appropriately

identifying them. Similar studies show low motivation among medical

students (Shakibai, 2005).

It seems that there are serious problems in empowering talented

students concerning coherent planning by the ministry and universities.

Moreover, the existing programs were implemented imperfectly. Talent

programs should identify all capabilities and talents among students in

different areas and prepare a suitable condition to empower them. Such an

approach should be performed with a special attention and comprehensive

planning ( Dalvy and Abzary, 2009) In addition, these programs should be

determined through students’ participation. Since participation causes

people to comment, it leads to better implementation of decisions, and

consequently optimization of organizational activity ( Zareian, 2007).

Problems of policy-making for leading talented students include

unilateral movement towards policy-making, outdated policy-making,

improper mixed of policy-making group and unassigned policy-making

custodian. Generally, a suitable policy-making can prevent many future

problems and mismatches, but unfortunately, it sometimes causes serious

problems at operational levels (Dehnavieh et al, 2011). To codify a

comprehensive talent management, we should firstly determine the basis

and the trend of decisions leading to policy-making ( Momeni, 2010).

Communication problem at all levels associated with Talent Offices

in the country was another major problem is this regard. Communications

in the organization are very important so that we can say the first task of

manager is to develop communication system inside and beyond the

organization ( Iran-Nejad and Sasan-Gohar, 2003). Similar studies show

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


inter-part communications problem in Iranian medical universities

(Ibrahimi pour et al , 2012). In addition, some structural problems and

resource shortcomings and lack of appropriate culture increased the

challenges.

The following figure shows the relationship between problems

identified in this study.

Figure 1: Relationship between talent management challenges in Iranian medical universities

This was a qualitative study aiming to identify talent management

challenges in Iranian medical universities. The present study had some

limitations, most importantly ignoring talented students’ opinions in order

to identify the problems.

Conclusion

"Talent management" policy-making in Iran should be performed

with more stability, with a holistic planning and more cooperation between

Talent Offices across universities. Inter-part communications between

offices and the ministry should be enhanced by taking actions such as

holding meetings and other communication tools. Offices’ structures at

universities should be revised, and repeated managerial changes in this

unit should be avoided. Considering financial problems of the offices may

culture

Resources

shortcomings

and problematic

structure

Low-motivated

students

Communication

problems

Correct

identification

Empowering

students

imperfectly

policy-

making and

management

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


be useful in this regard. Finally, it is recommended to create an appropriate

culture between all related layers affecting this talent management.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Authors thank all people giving the researchers their valuable time for

interview.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

FUNDING

Kerman University of Medical Sciences grant.

ETHICS COMMITTEE APPROVAL

Ethic Committee of Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


References

- Asefzadeh S. Medical Education and Health Services. Tehran: Cultural

and Sciences Co, 1997.[In Persian]

- Carrington WJ, Detragiache E. How extensive is the brain drain. Finance

and Development;1999, 36 (2).

- Dalvy, MR, Abzary, M . To achieve excellence (Excellent) by

strengthening the organizational culture.Journal of Applied Sociology

University of Isfahan, 2009, 33 .[In Persian]

- Dashti MH and et al . maintaining Index of talented in medical students of

Shahid Sadoughi Yazd. Iranian Journal of Medical Education, 2005, No.

14.

- Dehnavieh R, Rashidian A, Maleki MR. Challenges of Determining Basic

Health Insurance Package in Iran. Payesh, 2011. 10.[In Persian]

- Goodarzi, AM. Hoseini, SJ . Talent Management. New view to human

resources development. Tehran: Rasa Cultural Co,2008.[In Persian]

- Higher Education Research and Planning. .(2006) Iran's national report on

higher education. Tehran, 2006

- Hofman A, Berg MVD. Determinants of study progress: The impact of

student, curricular and contextual factors on study progress in University

education. High Educ Eur, 2000, 110-93(1)25

- Ibrahimi pour H, Dehnavieh R, Jafari M , Esmailzadeh H, Noori Hekmat

S. The Role of Research and Development Units in University

Management Information Systems: A Comparative Study. Health

Information Management; 2012,9 (1):1-11.[In Persian]

- Karimi I . Health Economy.Vol 1. Tehran:Gap, 2003.[In Persian]

- Khosravi F. Brain Hunt or Brain Drain. Tehran: Faslname Ketab, 2004.

.[In Persian]

- Lacey A, Luff D Trent focus for research and development in primary

health care: an introduction to qualitative analysis. Unpublished

manuscript: Trent Focus, 2001

- Moali M. Attracting talent in a competitive market. Tadbir.2009, 198 .[In

Persian]

- Moali M. Tajadin M. Substitutes for husbandry; a good way in the talent

crisis. Tadbir,2009, 199.[In Persian]

- Mohammadi R and et al .Quality assessment in higher education concepts,

principles, methods and criteria. Tehran: Publications of the National

Education Assessment Center, 2009.

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


- Momeni, A. Elite training or talent development for all? Sun

Journal,2010, 25 .[In Persian]

- Iran-Nejad M, Sasan-Gohar P .Organization and management from theory

to practice. Tehran: Iranian Institute of Banking , 2003.[In Persian]

- Noori Hekmat S, Malek MR, Baradaran HR, Dehnavieh R. Factors

Influencing Genius Immigration from Iran University of Medical Sciences

Students’ Point of View. Strides in Development of Medical Education.

2009 ; 6 (2):181-184.[In Persian]

- Omar B. Brain drain: the flight of human capital .Bull World Health

Organization, 2004,.82(10)

- O’Tuel, F. S. APOGEE: Equity in the identification of gifted and talented

students. Gifted Child Quarterly,1994, 38, 75–79.

- Pfeiffer SI. Handbook of Giftedness in Children. Psycho-Educational

Theory, Research and Best Practices. New York: Springer, 2008.

- Policy making Council of Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

Map of Science in Health (necessities, experiences and activities). Tehran:

Ministry of Health and Medical Education, 2007.[In Persian]

- Shakibai D and et al . The motivation of medical students to their field of

study at different levels. Tebo Tazkiye,2005, 14. 15-10 .[In Persian]

- Turani S, Haghdoost AK,Maleki MR,Ravaghi H, Dehnavieh R, Noori

Hekmat S.The Backgrounds, consequences, and future of the integration

of Medical Education and Health Service Delivery System. HealthMED

2011; 5,6: 1847-1856

- Tajadin M. Talent management processes for human resource

development. Tadbir,2010, 202.[In Persian]

- Willis-Shattuck M, Bidwell P, Thomas S, Wyness L, Blaauw B and

Ditlopo P.Motivation and retention of health workers in developing

countries: a systematic review . BMC Health Services Research 2008,

8:247

- ZakerSalehi G, Dortaj F, Rezai P. Brain Drain phenomenon to reflect.

Kerman: Kerman University of Medical Sciences ,2008.[In Persian]

- Zareian H. The participation; top steps for managers, Journal of

Management solution, 2007.[In Persian]

Vol 20, No. 8;Aug 2013


Figures and Tables

Table 1. The most significant challenges identified

Theme and Subgroups

Theme 1: inappropriate identification

Disagreement over the definition of talented people

Lack of comprehensive identification criteria

students’ motivational problems in communicating with the office

Lack of proper cooperation to identify students

Theme 2: Low-motivated students

No belief in system support

Diminishing role of masters and entourages in motivating students

Failure to inform students

lack of proper management of talent offices

Ignoring student’s need to choose an incentive

Theme 3: Lack of a coherent empowering plan for students

Lack of coherent planning by the ministry and university

Incomplete implementation of existing programs

Lack of students participation

Theme 4: Faulty policy-making

Unassigned policy custodian

Unilateral movement in the direction of policy

Outdated policy-making

Disproportionate combination of policy-making team

Theme 5: Improper organizational communications

Problems of offices in communicating with the ministry

Interoffice communication problems

Theme 6: Problematic resources and structure

Unspecified structure of offices

Problems associated with sources

Theme 7: Improper organizational culture

Organizational culture problems

Challenges of Managing Talented Students as Distinguished Future Human Capital in the Iranian...

Documents

Transcript of Challenges of Managing Talented Students as Distinguished Future Human Capital in the Iranian...