Employee reactions to perceived ‘non-talent’ designation: a social comparison perspective
从社会比较视角研究员工对感知到的非人才标签的反应，发现反应取决于人才身份的相关性、未来可达性及多层面情境因素，可能表现为激励或嫉妒。
Talent designation is one of the most sensitive and controversial topics in talent management. As organisations adopt workforce differentiation practices, a subset of employees is often considered ‘talent’, while other employees may implicitly perceive ‘non-talent’ status. Taking a social comparison perspective, we examine under which conditions employees are more likely to respond positively or negatively to perceived non-talent designation. Specifically, we draw on research on personal goals and extend the self-evaluation maintenance model. We argue that, contrary to common assumptions, perceived non-talent designation may not universally cause negative responses. Comparison can be experienced as inspiration or envy – depending on the relevance of talent status to one’s identity, attainability of talent status in the future, and a multitude of micro-, meso-, and macro-level contextual factors. This, in turn, shapes both employees’ approach motivation to gain talent status and self-serving attributions to defend non-talent status. In doing so, we provide a more nuanced understanding of employee reactions to perceived non-talent designation and highlight the value of dynamic talent designation in organisations.