ABSTRACT
This chapter synthesizes theoretical perspectives and empirical accounts on the relationship between Talent Management (TM) and individual and organizational performance. The majority of studies focusing on individual-level outcomes of TM are concerned with positive employee reactions to talent designation. Talent has been shown to surpass non-talent on a wide range of work attitudes and behaviors. A key theme of qualitative studies on responses to talent status is a mismatch in the perceived mutual obligations between employers and talent. Owing to the cross-sectional nature of the survey studies on individual outcomes of talent status, the observed differences in work attitudes and behaviors between talent and non-talent could have existed prior to talent designation and caused talent designation in the first place, such that the effects of talent status are likely overestimated. Evidence on the complexity of social comparison processes suggests that non-talents may not necessarily engage in (unfavorable) comparisons with talents.
