The role of perceived organizational justice in shaping the outcomes of talent management: A research agenda

• Integrates the HR and the OB literature relating to talent to develop new insights.
• Relates perceived organizational justice to talent management.
• Focuses on the psychological effects of workforce differentiation on employees.
• Develops a research agenda containing falsifiable propositions.
• Concludes with suggestions for researchers and HR practitioners.

Talent management is in need of a theoretical foundation and empirical research at the level of the individual. To address these gaps, the current paper relies on the literature on workforce differentiation and provides a research agenda by introducing perceived organizational justice as a key mediator between talent management practices and differential employee reactions. We discuss employees' varying reactions to talent management on one hand and their underlying perceptions of organizational justice, on the other hand. In particular, we propose that, amongst others, an employee's high potential status serves as an antecedent for different distributive justice perceptions, while procedural interventions and relationship building can provide organizational latitude in shaping employee reactions to talent management. Research methods, challenges, and practical implications are discussed.