Integrating Three-Wide Education into HRM for talent development in Chinese enterprises

The present research examines the role of incorporating Three-Wide Education (TWE), whole-process, whole-staff, whole-environment amalgamation of moral, intellectual, and practical learning, in the human resource management (HRM) in the Chinese enterprises to promote talent development. Inspired by Ability-Motivation-Opportunity theory, Job Demands-Resources, Self-Determination Theory and HRM system strength, we theorize that enterprise level integration of TWE (independent variable) would yield better results on talent development (dependent variable) in two complementary ways; employee engagement in learning and perceived effectiveness of the HRM system. We also suggest, that organizational learning culture and leadership development facilitate these respective connections, and transform educational structure into the embodied growth of capability, employability and inward mobility. We assess both the measurement and structural models with mediation, moderation, and specific indirect effects using a multi-city survey of full-time employees and partial least squares structural equation modeling on SmartPLS. Findings suggest that incorporating TWE in HRM is linked to significant gains in talent development, which operates directly and, more noticeably, via behavioral and perceptual channels which are reinforced by culture and leadership. The paper highlights the fact that education becomes economically consequential in the sense that it is entrenched as a coherent HR system to activate long-lasting learning behavior and give honesty to the development paths. The strength of this study is that TWE is operationalized as a firm-level HRM capability, and a dual-mechanism, moderated model is validated in China in the enterprise context, which provides practical advice on how to develop systems that are innovation-based in terms of talent Management.