Whether they are pop stars who insist on all-white dressing rooms or bankers with inflated bonus demands, gifted people have a reputation for awkwardness. A new strand of human resources theory, known as talent management, is evolving to cope with them.

There is more to it than just appeasing prima donnas, according to Rebecca Clake, a consultant at the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the UK. She said: "Talent managers ask what an organisation should be delivering down the line. Then they develop people's abilities to help it get there."