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.