{"title":"The talent burden—Identity threats and threat responses in the context of an early‐career talent program","authors":"Pernilla Bolander, Jennie Sumelius, Andreas Werr","doi":"10.1111/emre.12674","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Although previous research has mainly assumed that talent designation “buoys” individuals' identities, current research is increasingly pointing at the mixed blessing of being identified as a talent. Adopting an identity work perspective, we examine what identity threats talents perceive in the context of an early‐career talent program and how they respond to these perceived threats. Our study builds on qualitative interviews conducted in a large Swedish MNC during three different phases of a talent program. Our findings advance the literature by developing a deeper understanding of the “identity struggles” early‐career talents face during their talent journeys. We conceptualize these struggles as identity threats and identify and analyse specific threats as well as how talents respond to these threats. Our findings show a strong willingness to protect the talent identity, but responses vary over time and between individuals. The study sheds light on how different sources of identity threat and different critical experiences, especially regarding career progress and perceived social support, lead to different responses and outcomes of talent designation.","PeriodicalId":47372,"journal":{"name":"European Management Review","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Management Review","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12674","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although previous research has mainly assumed that talent designation “buoys” individuals' identities, current research is increasingly pointing at the mixed blessing of being identified as a talent. Adopting an identity work perspective, we examine what identity threats talents perceive in the context of an early‐career talent program and how they respond to these perceived threats. Our study builds on qualitative interviews conducted in a large Swedish MNC during three different phases of a talent program. Our findings advance the literature by developing a deeper understanding of the “identity struggles” early‐career talents face during their talent journeys. We conceptualize these struggles as identity threats and identify and analyse specific threats as well as how talents respond to these threats. Our findings show a strong willingness to protect the talent identity, but responses vary over time and between individuals. The study sheds light on how different sources of identity threat and different critical experiences, especially regarding career progress and perceived social support, lead to different responses and outcomes of talent designation.
期刊介绍:
The European Management Review is an international journal dedicated to advancing the understanding of management in private and public sector organizations through empirical investigation and theoretical analysis. The European Management Review provides an international forum for dialogue between researchers, thereby improving the understanding of the nature of management in different settings and promoting the transfer of research results to management practice. Although one of the European Management Review"s aims is to foster the general advancement of management scholarship among European scholars and/or those academics interested in European management issues.