The influence of talent management practices on talents’ intention to stay: an empirical study from China
| Date | 18 June 2024 |
| Pages | 895-912 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2024-0007 |
| Published date | 18 June 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Hui Wang,Xiangqing Li,Jian Zhu,Xueshuang Chen |
The influence of talent
management practices on talents’
intention to stay: an empirical
study from China
Hui Wang, Xiangqing Li, Jian Zhu and Xueshuang Chen
Business School, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, China
Abstract
Purpose –Drawing on cognitive-affective personality system (CAPS) theory, this study proposes a chained
multi-mediation model to examine the impact of talent management practices on talents’intention to stay from
the integration of cognitive perspective and affective perspective.
Design/methodology/approach –Three-wave data collected from 268 talents of Chinese organizations
supported the research model. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the direct effects and the
Bootstrap method was used to test the chain multi-mediation effects.
Findings –(a) Talent management practices positively affect talents’intention to stay. (b) Perceived
overqualification and perceived no growth mediate the relationship between talent management practices and
talents’intentionto stay from a cognitiveperspective.(c) Affectivecommitmentmediates the relationship between
talent management practices and talents’intention to stay from an affective perspective. (d) “Perceived
overqualification-affective commitment”and “perceived no growth-affectivecommitment”act as chainmediators
between talentmanagement practices and talents’intention to stay,with the latter showinga stronger effect.
Originality/value –This study provided a comprehensive framework that examines the relationship
between talent management practicesand talents ’intentionto stayfrom cognitive and affective perspectives. It
contributes to deepen the understanding of the effectiveness of talent management practices and offer valuable
management instructions for organizations to retain talents.
Keywords Talent management practices, Perceived overqualification, Perceived no growth,
Affective commitment, Intention to stay
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The current global issue of talent attrition is increasingly severe, and talents’intention to stay
has become an important measure of organizational competitiveness (Luna-Arocas and
Danvila-del-Valle, 2022;Tarique and Schuler, 2010). Intention to stay refers to the extent to
which employees are inclined to continue working in an organization (Binu Raj, 2021).
Pareto’s law states that 80% of an organization’s value is generated by 20% of employees
(Kwon and Jang, 2022). Talents, representing the essential 20%, are distinguished by their
high-performance and high-potential attributes (Bhatia and Baruah, 2020), possessing
strategic value for the organization (Chami-Malaeba and Garavan, 2013). Given that talents
are relatively scarce and difficult to replace, how to enhance talents’intention to stay has
become a focus of organizational management practices (Cajander and Reiman, 2024).
Talent management practices, which encompass a specific set of human resource
practices aimed at attracting, deploying, developing, and retaining high-performing or high-
potential employees in pivotal organizational roles (Bhatia and Baruah, 2020;Collings and
Mellahi, 2009;Gelens et al., 2013), has become popular in more and more organizations.
Employee
Relations: The
International
Journal
895
This research was funded by Education Science Planning Project in Hunan Province, China (Grant No.
ND211784).
Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 4 January 2024
Revised 25 April 2024
29 May 2024
Accepted 29 May 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 4, 2024
pp. 895-912
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-01-2024-0007
Considering that talents are crucial source of organizational competitive advantages, how
talent management practices affect talents’intention to stay has triggered a new wave of
research (Hombalimath and Kinange, 2020;Narayanan et al., 2018;Younas and Bari, 2020).
For example, Chami-Malaeba and Garavan (2013) verified that affective commitment
mediates the relationship between talent management practices and talents’intention to stay.
Narayanan et al. (2018) explored the direct impact of talent management practices on talents’
intention to stay and the mediating role of organizational justice and talent perception
congruence. Mensah (2019) discussed the negative influence of talent management practice
on intention to quit of talents through perceived organizational support. However, existing
studies have predominantly analyzed the mechanism of talent management practices on
talents’intention to stay from a single cognitive or affective perspective (De Boeck et al., 2017),
failing to fully explain the relationship between talent management practices and talents’
intention to stay.
To fill this research gap, this study tends to construct a holistic theoretical framework by
integrate cognitive and affective perspective to deeply explore the multiple mechanisms of
talent management practices on talents’intention to stay. CAPS theory suggests that external
stimuli influence individuals’behavioral intentions through cognitive appraisals and
affective responses (Kammrath and Scholer, 2013). CAPS theory integrates cognitive and
affective units to provide a comprehensive framework for further exploring the mechanism of
talent management practices on talents’intention to stay.
First, according to CAPS, the impact of talent management on talents’intention to stay
will be transmitted through cognitive appraisals. Perceived overqualification and perceived
no growth can be seen as individuals’cognitive variables (Khan and Morrow, 1991).
Perceived overqualification refers to individuals’perceptions that their education level, work
experience, and abilities exceed job requirements (Maynard et al., 2006), reflecting their
subjective perceptions of the gap between the actual and ideal states (Ye et al., 2017).
Perceived no growth places emphasis on assessing individuals’perceptions of learning,
growth, and job development opportunities (Maynard et al., 2006;Fine and Nevo, 2008). Thus,
we argue that talent management practices can enhance talents’intention to stay by
weakening talents’perception of overqualification and perception of no growth. On the one
hand, talent management practices enhance the value of talents by thoroughly assessing
their knowledge, skills, and abilities and placing them in suitable positions (De Boeck et al.,
2017). Consequently, talents perceive an alignment between their competencies and job
requirements, they will have low perception of overqualification, and are more inclined to
remain (Chen et al., 2021;Khan and Morrow, 1991). On the other hand, talent management
practices prioritize the needs and development of talents, offering engaging work content and
abundant growth opportunities (Bhatia and Baruah, 2020;Chami-Malaeba and Garavan,
2013). By addressing talents’concerns regarding limited growth prospects, talent
management practices effectively decline talents’perception of no growth, then increase
talents’intention to stay (Khan and Morrow, 1991;Pandita and Ray, 2018).
Second, according to CAPS, the impact of talent management on talents’intention to stayis
transmitted through affective responses. Affective commitment, which refers to individuals’
sense of attachment, identification, and involvement with the organization, is an affective
variable (Atrizka et al., 2020;Meyer et al., 1993;Pevec, 2023). Thus, we hold that talent
management practices can strengthen talents’intention to stay by enhancing individuals’
affective commitment. Specifically, talent management practices strategically allocate limited
organizational resources to talents and recognize talents for their contributions to the
organizations, thereby motivating them to develop feelings of gratitude, loyalty, and trust
towards the organization, known as high organizational commitment (Khoreva et al., 2017;
Kwame Mensah et al., 2016;Luna-Arocas et al., 2020). Consequently, these positive affectivity
play pivotal roles in strengthening their commitment to staying within the organization.
ER
46,4
896
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