The influence of talent management on the perception of psychological contracts: Analysis between two groups

Abstract

Talent management is gaining a notable attention among HR practitioners as an HR activity for supporting organizational competitive advantage and for developing the future needs of organizational leaders. As the concept of talent management is noted as a relatively new, the consequences of its application on employees remain underexplored within the literature as well as in practice. The application of talent management within the organization implies different management approaches towards employees based on their status within the talent pool. These differences in employee management can affect the perception of the psychological contract in terms of the employment relationship between the employee and the employer as well as their mutual obligations. Therefore, the aim of this non-experimental correlational study was to investigate and examine the consequences of the application of talent through the lenses of the psychological contract between two different groups of employees: those identified in the talent pool versus those not identified in the talent pool. The study collected data using the services of SurveyMonkey Audience from 255 participants representing the two groups of employees. The findings of the study revealed that the perception of the psychological contract does not differ between the groups of employees as a result of the application of talent management. In addition, the research found that the application of talent management projected a positive influence on the perception of the psychological contract of employees regardless of their status within the talent pool. The research provided twofold implications: a theoretical implication in terms of bridging the gap related to the consequences of the application of talent management on employees. The second implication was from the practical perspective in terms of highlighting the influence of the application of talent management in supporting the ongoing efforts of the HR department to increase the level of motivation and commitment among employees and minimize the potential perception of breach in their psychological contracts.