Walking the tightrope of talent management: differential employee reactions and justice perceptions

Implementing a talent management program is like walking a tightrope, one needs to find a balance in striving for positive reactions among the élite group of 'high potentials' (i.e. employees identified as making extraordinary organization-level contributions) while at the same time avoiding negative reactions among the rest of the workforce. This is not an easy task as employees who are not poart of the 'lucky few' might not perceive the talent management practices as fair and therefore show negative attitudes and behaviors. Using seven empirical studies (e.g. surveys, experiment, and vignette study), this dissertation focuses on high potentials' and non-high potnetials' differential justice perceptions and reactions. In doing so, we deal with the reoccuring guestions: 'Do talent management practices generate desired employee outcomes?' and 'How should we implement talent management practices to increase fairness and create overall beneficial outcomes?'. In particular, via in-depth and focus group interviews with HR practitioners, we noticed that talent management procedures are often not well-thought through and that organizations withhold information and are afraid to openly communicate about their talent management practices. This dissertation amplifies the importance of implementing fair procedures that are, for instance, consistent and free of bias (i.e. procedural justice) and the importance of providing adequate and open communication (i.e. informational justice) in the context of talent management.