What's in a Name? Talent: A Review and Research Agenda

There has a significant increase in the volume of research on the management of talent over recent decades; however, the question of what talent is remains under debate. How talent is understood and defined has significant implications for its management within organizations, yet these aspects are often overlooked in the extant literature. Through a review of 192 articles in the sub-disciplines of talent management (sub-stream of strategic human resource management), stars (human capital), and high potential (organizational behavior/-psychology), we offer guidance for research on talent. Our findings suggest that the current research adopts an overly binary conceptualization of talent, as illustrated in five relevant dimensions: inclusive–exclusive, innate–acquired, transferable–context dependent, subject–object, and input–outcomes. We call for a more nuanced approach to the topic and build insights from paradox theory, encouraging a transition from “either/or” perspectives to “both/and” perspectives. Matching theory is identified as a useful lens to guide future research, and we offer suggestions for a more nuanced approach in practice by encouraging organizations and their stakeholders to embrace the paradoxes of talent.