To Be Unique and to Belong: Cross‐Level Effects of Talent Management Practices on Talent Job Performance From a Dual‐Need Perspective

Talent management (TM) is essential for stimulating talent vitality and enhancing organizational performance. Prior studies have largely been conducted in Western contexts and focused on same‐level analyses of TM effects, limiting our understanding of how TM functions in transitional economies such as China. Drawing on optimal distinctiveness theory, this study investigates the multi‐level impact of TM on talent job performance and the underlying mechanism. Using a four‐wave time‐lagged design, we collected data from 367 talented employees, 55 human resource managers, and 55 immediate supervisors across 55 companies in China. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that TM is positively related to both task performance and relationship performance; uniqueness need satisfaction and belongingness need satisfaction play mediating roles in the above relationships, respectively. Organizational justice climate positively moderates the relationship between TM and uniqueness need satisfaction. Furthermore, individuals' talent status awareness and the organizational justice climate jointly and negatively moderate the effects of TM on both uniqueness need satisfaction and belongingness need satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature on TM and job performance and provides practical insights for Chinese firms to optimize TM and activate talent value.