Talent management practices and the influence of their use on employee outcomes via perceived career growth

Purpose Talent management can provide an organization with a competitive advantage. However, little is known about how human resource practices pertaining to talent management drive positive outcomes. Drawing on social exchange theory, this study investigates the effect of talent management practices usage on employee commitment and intention to leave. Integrating social exchange theory and the theory of met expectations facilitated predicting the mediating role of perceived career growth in the talent management practices usage-employee outcomes relationship. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a survey from 268 employees from eight organizations from the financial and services industries in Jordan. Findings Talent management practices usage has a significant direct positive effect on employee commitment but no direct effect on employees’ intention to leave. Further, there is pioneering evidence that perceived career growth mediates the following relationships: talent management practices usage and commitment and talent management practices usage and intention to leave. Originality/value The study provides unprecedented evidence of the effect of TM practices usage on employee outcomes and the role of perceived career growth in the TM practices usage-employee outcomes relationship from an underexplored context of Jordon. Our research results contribute to theory development in TM by supporting, extending and integrating social exchange theory and the theory of met expectations.