The currency of talent management—A reply to “talent management and the relevance of context: Towards a pluralistic approach”

• Commentary on the Special Issue paper on the relevance of context in TM
• The need for a more critical, pluralist approach is highlighted.
• Links talent management to the social and moral development of society
• Future areas of research for talent management are suggested.
• Identifies the particular importance of strategic exchange, identity, and ethics

In this paper we provide a commentary on the article in this Special Issue by Thunnissen, Boselie, and Fruytier on the relevance of context to the field of talent management. We concur that a more critical, pluralist approach to talent management scholarship is needed, that talent management should go beyond a mere economic exchange between talent and their employer, and that further research is needed to explore the link between macro, meso and micro level considerations. Thunnissen, Boselie, and Fruytier pose insightful questions about the contribution of talent management to the social and moral development of society and legitimating talent management at meso level. For us, these questions raise issues about the extent to which individual agency in ethical issues is possible in environments designed to regulate and control talent. We suggest that underexplored notions of strategic exchange and individual identity provide a richer picture of the talent employment relationship and raise a number of possible directions for future talent management research.