Background

Despite the ongoing discussion on talent management (TM) over the past few decades the question that still remains unanswered is: How TM affects employees’ attitudes and behavior? Our study implies the social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and positive organizational scholarship (Cameron et al., 2003) to human resource management in order to develop and test hypotheses concerning employees’ reactions to TM.

Aims

The aim of our study is to identify the consequences of TM for talented employees. Specifically, following the theoretical model of strategic TM (Collings & Mellahi, 2009), as part of these consequences we examine motivation to work, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of talented employees as attitudes and behaviors associated with positive organizational performance in previous research. Furthermore, to better understand employees’ reactions to TM, we explored the psychological process that is involved in shaping attitudes and behavior of talent pool members. We also make an attempt to contextualize the employee-related effect of TM by verifying the moderating role of mindful organizing (MO) in the examined relationships as mindful thinking and action allows employees experience positive emotions related to safety in the workplace.

Method

We surveyed 830 respondents, including 730 participants of TM programs and 100 managers from 33 companies, each with its own well-developed TM program. A series of hierarchical multilevel regression analyses and structural equation models were performed to test our hypotheses.

Results

The results indicate that TM has a direct and indirect (via perceived organizational support) positive impact on motivation, commitment, and OCB of talented employees. We also found that MO seems to be successful in enhancing the results of TM at employee level.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that organization would likely benefit from matching TM with MO to enhance individual outcomes. Although TM positively affects employees' attitudes and behavior in all companies regardless of the extent of MO, the results suggested that more mindful companies could benefit most from TM.