No more war (for talent): the impact of HR analytics on talent management activities

Purpose Despite talent management’s (TM) importance for improving organizations' competitiveness and resilience, the pandemic highlighted the weakness of organizational-level TM strategies. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the moderating impact of HR analytics on the relationship between TM and its individual outcomes (talent motivation and quality of hires) and subsequently, their impact on organizational outcomes (talent retention). Design/methodology/approach The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to analyze 219 online questionnaires administered to HR managers from European companies. Findings A positive relationship exists between TM activities and talent motivation as well as the quality of hires. Furthermore, HR analytics positively moderates these relationships. Finally, talent motivation and the quality of hires are positively related to talent retention. Research limitations/implications This study offers several contributions to theory, as it analyzes TM from an individual perspective and provides further empirical confirmation of the potential benefits of HR analytics and additional grounding to the contingency theory. Practical implications Our results will allow practitioners to better orient their HR investments, with positive effects for their organizations and their employees. Social implications This study demonstrates that HR analytics can help organizations adopt a human-centric approach to TM, thus increasing the chances for talents to fully express their potential. Originality/value This study takes a step forward toward considering TM outcomes from an individual perspective, responding to new generations' need to pay more attention to their individualities. HR analytics can be a suitable tool to do so, as it can provide insights and suggestions based on the actual organizational context, making TM a more data-driven process.