Talent designation as a mixed blessing: Short- and long-term employee reactions to talent status

Abstract

Talent management (TM) continues to attract considerable attention from both practitioners and academics. Existing research investigating employee reactions to being awarded talent status has not elucidated the processual nature of such reactions. This study extends TM research by providing a nuanced understanding of how employees react to talent designation over time and why. Specifically, it distinguishes between short- and long-term reactions and uses the lenses of psychological contract (PC) theory and social identity theory (SIT) to unpack mechanisms underlying immediate positive, and delayed negative, employee reactions to talent designation. Results from qualitative analysis of interviews with talents in three organizations show how—as time elapsed and no identity-relevant events occurred—perceptions of “talent emptiness” and “indeterminacy” developed. The study unfolds the complex interaction between SIT and PC (including breach and violation) to explain talents’ evolving reactions over time. As such, it contributes to TM literature by providing a nuanced understanding of the processes underlying employee reactions in exchanges involving socioemotional resources.