Abstract

Recent survey-based studies across the U.S.A. and Canada document that talent development is the number one priority in majority of organizations (LinkedIn, 2017, 2018, 2019), and most research on talent management (TM) presumes a positive relationship between TM and organizational performance. However, despite the growing interest in TM (McDonnell, Collings, Mellahi, & Schuler, 2017), literature reviews have repeatedly documented weak evidence base on the relationship between TM and organizational performance (Collings, 2014, 2015, 2017; Gallardo-Gallardo & Thunnissen, 2016; McDonnell et al., 2017). Moreover, research on individual outcomes of TM practices and talent designation suggests there are positive and negative effects on “talents” and “non-talents”, but the evidence is inconclusive (De Boeck, Meyers, & Dries, 2018). Therefore, how the individual-level effects of TM affect organizational outcomes remains uncertain.