talent management thesis

Talent Management in a multigenerational workforce

The impact of Talent Management practices on the psychological contract and the

moderating role of generations.

Thesis

Master Human Resource Studies

Sanne Klifman

Rentmeesterlaan 70

5046 MK TILBURG

ANR: 908146

Supervisor: dr. Mariëlle Sonnenberg

Second assessor: dr. Marc van Veldhoven

Period: February 2009 – December 2009

Theme: Talent Management

___________________________________________________________________________ Talent Management in a multigenerational workforce

2

“Talent is the engine of the modern organization”

- Peter Cheese-


3

Table of content 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 5

1.1 Research question ......................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Relevance ...................................................................................................................................... 7

2. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................................................ 8

2.1 Talent Management ....................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 What is talent? ....................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 What is Talent Management? ................................................................................................ 8 2.1.3 Talent Management as part of the strategy ............................................................................ 9 2.1.4 Conclusion Talent Management ............................................................................................ 9

2.2 Psychological contract .................................................................................................................. 9 2.3 How are Talent Management practices related to psychological contracts? ............................... 10 2.4 Generations ................................................................................................................................. 11 2.5 Generational differences as moderator ........................................................................................ 12

3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 14

3.1 Research design and procedure ................................................................................................... 14 3.2 Sample statistics .......................................................................................................................... 15 3.3 Instruments .................................................................................................................................. 16

3.3.1 Independent variable: Talent Management practices .......................................................... 16 3.3.2 Dependent variable: Psychological contract fulfilment ....................................................... 16 3.3.3 Moderator: Generations ....................................................................................................... 17 3.3.4 Control variables .................................................................................................................. 17

3.4 Preliminary data analysis ............................................................................................................ 17 4. Results ............................................................................................................................................... 18

4.1 Correlations ................................................................................................................................. 18 4.2 Exploring analysis ....................................................................................................................... 19 4.3 Hierarchical multiple regression analysis ................................................................................... 20 4.4 Regression equation .................................................................................................................... 22 4.5 Hypotheses testing ...................................................................................................................... 22 4.6 The impact of Talent Management per generation ..................................................................... 23

5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 26 6. Discussion ......................................................................................................................................... 27 7. Limitations and implications ............................................................................................................. 29

7.1 Limitations .................................................................................................................................. 29 7.2 Implications for future research .................................................................................................. 30 7.3 Practical implications .................................................................................................................. 31

References ............................................................................................................................................. 33 Appendix I English questionnaire ......................................................................................................... 38 Appendix II Dutch questionnaire .......................................................................................................... 42 Appendix III Talent Management practices .......................................................................................... 47 Appendix IV Psychological contract scale: fulfilment of employer obligations ................................... 48 Appendix V Elaboration of regression equation (Generation X as reference category) ....................... 50 Appendix VI Elaboration of regression equation (Baby Boom generation as reference category) ...... 51


4

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between Talent Management and

psychological contract fulfilment. Based on signaling theory it was hypothesized that Talent

Management practices are positively associated with the fulfilment of the psychological contract, and

that this relation is moderated by generations. In this research three generations are distinguished:

Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Millennial generation. To investigate our hypothesis data was

collected within 7 large organizations. First, exploring interviews were held with the Talent

Management executive of each of the organizations to get insight into the Talent Management strategy

of that particular organization. In addition to these interviews a questionnaire was conducted and

spread among employees that are pinpointed by the organization as talented. In total 340 respondents

participated in this research. The results reveal a positive relation between the amount of Talent

Management practices and psychological contract fulfilment and this relation is moderated by

generations. The Baby Boom generation reacts slightly less positive on Talent Management in terms

of psychological contract fulfilment compared to Generation X. Talent Management practices seem to

be a key tool for organizations in fulfilling the obligations as an employer, but also to manage the

expectations employees hold towards the organization. Besides, this research gives insight into the

most effective Talent Management practices per generation. Since employees from different

generations tend to respond differently to Talent Management practices in terms of psychological

contract fulfilment. The present research adds to the existing Talent Management literature, given that

this is one of the first empirical researches concerning Talent Management.

Key words: Talent Management, psychological contract, signaling theory, generations.


5

1. Introduction

CIPD (2006a) research found that 51 percent of organizations undertake Talent Management activities

and 94 percent of organizations agree that well-designed Talent Management development activities

can have a positive impact on the performance of the organization. Due to the financial crisis and the

economic downturn, organizations need savings. This could bring Talent Management in a difficult

position. Cheese, Farley and Gibbons (2009) argue that the talent strategy deserves the same attention

as all the other strategic issues, but because of the downturn Talent Management does not get what it

deserves. Next to the financial crisis, organizations need to deal with other influencing factors, such as

the globalization of the labour market, the changing workforce demographics and skill shortages

(Accenture, 2009). Scholars and practitioners acknowledge that talent is harder to find and retain, and

easier to waste and lose than ever before (Cheese, Thomas & Craig, 2008). Cheese et al. (2008, p. 9),

offer a solution in these harsh times: “The secret to sustained competitive success in the new economic

world is to build a talent-powered organization that sustains and builds all the skills needed to

compete”. Organizations realize that people, intellectual capital, and talent are ever more critical to

organizational success (Boudreau & Ramstad, 2005). Therefore, Talent Management seems to be a

critical success factor in the changing environment. Talent Management is defined by the CIPD as

(2007, p.3) “the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/ retention and

deployment of those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an organization”.

This definition highlights that Talent Management contains different stages from attracting talent to

retaining talent.

Based on the signaling theory (Spence, 1973), it can be argued that the organization sends signals to

its employees by offering Talent Management practices. These Talent Management practices represent

a choice by the organization of what the organization believes is important behaviour and what the

organization offers to the talented employees. Rousseau (1995) uses the term structural signals for

“vehicles people use to convey commitments and offer inducements for present and future behaviour”.

Previously, Spence (1973, p. 357) defined the term signals as “observable characteristics attached to

the individual that are subject to manipulation”. Rousseau (1995) stated in her definition of structural

signals, that signals are inducements for present and future behaviour. For instance, job applicants use

signals from the organization to draw conclusions about an organization's intentions, actions, and

characteristics because they do not have perfect information about the organization (Rynes, in Suazo,

Martínez & Sandoval, 2009). These signals provide information about what life might be like in the

organization (Turban, 2001). From this angle it can be said that Talent Management practices are

creating expectations by employees about the organization and the way the organization deals with its

talented employees. In other words, Talent Management practices influence the employment


6

relationship. The psychological contract is seen as an important framework for understanding the

employment relationship (Bal, de Lange, Jansen & van der Velde, 2008), and will be used as such in

this research. Psychological contracts are defined as “an individual’s beliefs in reciprocal obligations

between employees and employers” (Rousseau, 1990, p. 389). The assumption is that organizations

sent relevant signals to their employees by its Talent Management practices. This will provide

employees better clarity in understanding the employment relationship, i.e. the perceptions of what is

expected of them and what they can expect from the organization in return. These clear perceptions

and expectations will lead to less broken promises and to a higher fulfilment of the psychological

contract.

Another question that comes to mind is whether the relation between Talent Management practices

and the psychological contract will be the same for all employees. Today’s workforce is more diverse

than ever (Arsenault, 2003), and one way of explaining differences between people is by generation

(Crampton & Hodge, 2007). Understanding generational values and attitudes within the workplace can

be strategically useful for the organization (Crumpacker & Crumpacker, 2007). Research shows that

each generation has its own characteristics, values, and attitudes towards work (Jenkins, 2008).

Because of these generational differences, it can be argued that employees from different generations

will not respond the same to Talent Management practices and as a consequence will evaluate the

employment relationship differently. This research assumes that Talent Management practices are

positively related with the psychological contract, but that the strength of this relation will be different

for each generation. The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between Talent

Management practices and the psychological contract and whether this relation will differ for

employees from different generations.

1.1 Research question In this research the following research question will be studied:

To what extent are Talent Management practices associated with the fulfilment of the psychological

contract of talented employees, and to what extent does this relation differ for employees from

different generations?


7

Figure 1 Conceptual model

The sub questions that will be answered in this research are:

- What is talent?

- What is Talent Management?

- What is meant with the psychological contract and how is this contract related to Talent

Management practices?

- What is meant with generations?

- What is the influence of generations on Talent Management and the psychological contract?

1.2 Relevance The term Talent Management becomes increasingly more common (CIPD 2006a). More and more

attention is paid to Talent Management but there is not much empirical research on the subject apart

from specific studies done on Management Development. From a theoretical perspective, findings

from the angle taken in this research are therefore a contribution to the literature in that this research

gives insight into the relation between Talent Management and the fulfilment of the psychological

contract. In addition, this research will answer whether Talent Management practices are a tool to

manage the psychological contract of employees. From a practical perspective, this research is

interesting for organizations that are already involved in Talent Management as well as for

organizations that want to develop a Talent Management strategy. The present research will give

insight into the effect of Talent Management practices on the fulfilment of the psychological contract

and the differences in fulfilment per generation. Organizations can use the findings from this research

to develop a Talent Management strategy that matches the needs of employees from all generations.

By doing this, the organization has the best suitable and effective Talent Management approach.

Talent Management practices

Psychological contract fulfilment

Generations


8

2. Theoretical framework

2.1 Talent Management

2.1.1 What is talent? The starting point for any research into Talent Management must inevitably be an exploration of what

is meant by ‘talent’ (CIPD, 2007). Scholars and practitioners differ in their definition of talent and the

characteristics that a talent should have. For example, Cheese et al. (2008, p. 46) write the following

about talent:

“The traditional use of the word ‘talent’ usually refers to a special gift (…). In business it has

come to encapsulate all the various attributes of people today. Essentially, talent means the

total of all experiences, knowledge, skills, and behaviours that a person has and brings to

work. Talent therefore is used as an all-encompassing term to describe the human resources

that organizations want to acquire, retain and develop in order to meet their business goals.”

According to Michaels, Handfield-Jones and Axelrod (2001, p. XII) talent is seen as “the sum of an

individual’s abilities, which includes ‘his or her intrinsic gifts, skills, knowledge, experience,

intelligence, judgement, attitude, character, and drive’”. They add that it also incorporates the

individual’s ability to learn and grow. Another definition is of the CIPD (2007, p.3), they argue that

“talent consists of those individuals who can make a difference to organizational performance, either

through their immediate contribution or in the longer-term by demonstrating the highest levels of

potential”. Although there are differences in the definition of the term ‘talent’, in this research talents

are the employees that are valued by the organization as talented. In the sense that these employees are

pinpointed by their employer as talents based on their added value to the organization.

2.1.2 What is Talent Management? Talent Management is seen as a difficult and complex phenomenon to study (CIPD, 2006b), one of the

main reasons is that there is no agreement on the precise meaning (Lewis and Heckman, 2006).

Although these difficulties, Blass (2007, p.33) defined Talent Management as “the additional

management processes and opportunities that are made available to people in the organization who

are considered to be ‘talent’”. Blass and April (2008) add that Talent Management is thus about the

additional elements that are afforded to high potentials/high performers, not about the general

processes that are available to every member of the organization. Another definition is of SHRM (in

Lockwood 2006, p.1), they stated that Talent Management is “the implementation of integrated

strategies or systems designed to increase workplace productivity by developing improved processes

for attracting, developing, retaining and utilizing people with the required skills and aptitude to meet

current and future business needs”. In this research, Talent Management is used to describe the

additional practices that are aimed at the talented employees. These practices are provided to the

talented employees in order to develop them. Hence, the focus of this research into Talent


9

Management is Talent Management practices that are offered to talented employees with the purpose

to develop the skills and knowledge of the talented employees.

2.1.3 Talent Management as part of the strategy Although many organizations have begun to recognize the important role talent plays in their success,

few are managing talent strategically (Cheese et al., 2008). In the literature quite a lot of attention is

paid to the link between Talent Management and strategy (Boudreau & Ramstad, 2007; CIPD, 2008;

Heinen & O’Neill, 2004; Lewis & Heckman, 2006). In her inaugural lecture, Van der Sluis (2008)

stated that Talent Management from a strategic perspective means: ‘enabling employees to develop

their talents in the direction of the organization’s strategic goal, in a way that adds value to the

organization’. SHRM (in Lockwood, 2006) stated that Talent Management is a primary driver for

organizational success as well. The ultimate purpose of Talent Management is to secure the continuity

of the organization. According to Hiltrop (1999), superior talent is increasingly recognised as the

prime source of sustainable competitive advantage in high performance organizations. Cheese et al.

(2008) argue that building a talent-powered organization is the secret to sustained competitive success.

They defined a talent-powered organization (p.10) as:

“An organization that invests in building distinctive capabilities in managing talent to

produce extraordinary results for the organization. Talent-powered organizations are adept at

defining talent needs, discovering diverse sources of talent, developing the organization’s

individual and collective talents, and deploying talent in ways that engage and align people

around a compelling set of objectives.”

2.1.4 Conclusion Talent Management Talented employees are the employees that are identified by the organization as talented because of

their added value to the organization. These employees are part of the Talent Management process

which includes different steps like attracting, developing and retaining talent. Talent Management is a

very important tool in the changing environment and having the right talent in place can make an

organization more competitive. Talented employees are hard to imitate and could lead to sustainable

competitive advantage. In order to achieve this, the Talent Management strategy needs to be aligned

with the business strategy.

2.2 Psychological contract The psychological contract is defined by Rousseau (1990, p. 390):

“Psychological contracts are an individual’s beliefs regarding reciprocal obligations.

Beliefs become contractual when the individual believes that he or she owes the employer

certain contributions (e.g. hard work, loyalty, sacrifices) in return for certain inducements

(e.g. high pay, job security). As perceived obligations, psychological contracts differ from

the more general concept of expectations in that contracts are promissory and reciprocal.”


10

A psychological contract consists of three aspects: perceived employee obligations, perceived

employer obligations, and perceived fulfilment or violation of employer obligations (Schalk & Freese,

1997). The perceived obligations employees and employers hold to each other are reciprocal and will

be evaluated by the employee. According to Rousseau and Tijoriwala (1998), evaluations address

individual judgments about organizational experiences against the contract itself. The outcomes of the

evaluation are fulfilment, breach or violation of the contract. Psychological contract fulfilment is

defined as the degree to which a contract party is perceived as keeping its contract terms (Rousseau &

Tijoriwala, 1998). When the organization does not fulfil its obligations, employees may experience

psychological contract breach. Contract breach is defined as the cognitions of an employee that the

organization has failed to deliver its obligations (Morrison & Robinson, 1997). Contract breach may

result in contract violation. Violation occurs when one party in a relationship perceives the other to

have failed to fulfil promised obligations (Robinson & Rousseau, 1994). Violation is distinct from

breach (unmet expectations and perceptions of inequity) in that the responses will be more intense

than in the case of unmet expectations (Robinson & Rousseau, 1994). The signals that the organization

sends provide better understanding and clarity of the employment relationship, i.e. the employee

knows both what the organizations expects and what the organization offers to its employees. Because

of this clarity it is assumed that the contract will be more fulfilled. Therefore, the focus of this research

is on the fulfilment of the employer obligations. The psychological contract is a reciprocal contract

which takes into account both the employer and employee obligations, but will not be used as such in

this research. The centre of attention of the present research is the fulfilment of the employer

obligations, hence the focus of this research is on one part of the reciprocal psychological contract.

2.3 How are Talent Management practices related to psychological contracts? Signaling theory can be used to examine how HR practices can create psychological contracts (Suazo

et al., 2008). A signal is an interaction between two parties (Sonnenberg, 2006). There is an informed

party, the signaller, and an uninformed party, the signal receiver (Sonnenberg, 2006). Here, the

organization is seen as the signaller and the talented employees are the signal receivers. Suazo et al.

(2008) found that HR practices influence psychological contracts, furthermore Sonnenberg (2006)

concluded that based on signaling theory there is a relation between HR practices and the

psychological contract. This line of reasoning regarding HR practices can also be used with regard to

Talent Management. Spence’s signaling theory (1973) is used to explain that Talent Management

practices create or influence the psychological contracts of talented employees. The organization is

sending signals with its Talent Management practices to employees about the way the organization

attracts and develops their talented employees. As a consequence of these signals, employees will

draw conclusions about organization’s intentions, actions and characteristics (Rynes, in Suazo et al.,

2008). The implementation of Talent Management practices show the talented employees that the


11

organization values their talented employees and that the organization is willing to invest in them.

Besides, these signals provide a good indication of the extent to which the employer meets his

obligations. Therefore it can be expected that more Talent Management practices will lead to more

fulfilment of the psychological contract.

Hypothesis 1: The more Talent Management practices perceived, the more psychological

contract fulfilment of talented employees.

2.4 Generations Many demographers and social commentators have drawn attention to the shift in attitudes across

generations. Understanding these shifts is vitally important in understanding how to manage and

attract different generations (Cheese et al., 2008). In the paper of Papenhausen (2006, p. 161 based on

Strauss and Howe (1991)), a generation is defined as “a cohort-group whose length approximates the

span of a phase of life and whose boundaries are fixed by peer personality”. Others define a

generation as “people passing through time who come to share a common habitus, hexis and culture, a

function of which is to provide them with a collective memory that serves to integrate the generation

over a finite period of time” (Eyerman & Turner, in Arsenault, 2004, p. 127). Although scholars use

different definitions of a generation, there is general agreement that each generation has distinct

values, attitudes, behaviours, expectations, habits, motivational buttons, view of authority and

expectations of leadership (Crampton & Hodge, 2007). There are two important factors that

characterize a generation, namely birth rate and events of the time (Crumpacker & Crumpacker, 2007).

In other words, the fluctuation of birth rates (stagnation or a growth in the population) and events that

have big impact (e.g. war) result in groups of people that look alike. The society started generational

labelling in the 20th century (Smola & Sutton, 2002) but the labels and the years those labels

represents are inconsistent in the literature. Table 1 shows some of the labels that are used to describe

the generations and their time range. Although these labels are a bit arbitrary, there is a common

agreement but differences are visible.


12

Table 1: Division of generations

Division of generations Author(s)

Veterans (or Traditionalists): born between 1920 and 1940

Baby Boomers: born between 1947 and 1967

Generation X: born between 1970 and 1980

Generation Y (or Nexters or Millenials): born between 1980 and 1990

Crampton & Hodge (2007, p. 16)

Veterans: born between 1922 and 1943


Generation Xers: born between 1961 and 1980

Generation Nexters: born between 1981 and 2000

Arsenault (Adapted from Zemke et

al. 2003, p. 129)

Silents: born between 1925 and 1945


Generation-Xers: born between 1965 and 1980

Millennials: born after 1980

Jenkins (2009, p. 19)

Baby boomers: born between 1940 and 1960

Generation X: born between end of 1960s and end of 1970s

Generation Y: born after 1980

Cheese et al. (2008, p. 37)

In the present research three generations are distinguished, namely the Baby Boom generation (born

between 1944 and 1967), Generation X (born between 1968 and 1980) and the Millennial generation

(born after 1980). Since the literature leaves room to manoeuvre these cohorts are chosen because

these cohorts present the three generations in the sample the best. In the Netherlands it is (still) normal

to retire when the age of 65 is reached; therefore the starting point of the Baby Boom generation is at

1944.

2.5 Generational differences as moderator According to Cheese et al. (2008) understanding generational differences is crucial to understand

engagement, motivational issues, career direction and the expectations employees hold towards the

organization. Several studies demonstrated that differences in attitudes towards work are explainable

because of generational differences (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008; Smola & Sutton, 2002), career stage

and generational differences (Conway, 2004; Hess & Jepsen, 2009). Companies need to attract,

motivate and retain the best talent and therefore need to change the way they recruit, provide benefits

and create a corporate culture that actively demonstrates respect and inclusion for workers from all

generations (Jenkins, 2008). In other words, organizations need to keep in mind generational

differences when the organization is dealing with its employees. The organization is sending signals

with its Talent Management practices and it is argued that the amount of Talent Management practices


13

is positively associated with the fulfilment of the psychological contact of talents. As each generation

has its own values and attitudes towards work (Jenkins, 2008), it is likely that talented employees will

respond differently, due to generational differences, to Talent Management practices and will therefore

evaluate their psychological contact differently. The generation to which a person belongs is derived

from the year in which someone is born (Crumpacker & Crumpacker, 2007). Therefore it is important

that this research investigates whether differences between employees can be explained by

generational differences or that the differences are explainable because of age differences. The focus

of this research are the generational differences and for that reason age is taken into account as a

control variable. Discussed is that an increase in the amount of perceived Talent Management

practices is positively associated with psychological contract fulfilment of talented employees.

Generations will moderate this relation; the relation will be stronger for one generation than another.

Hypothesis 2: Generations moderate the relationship between Talent Management practices and

psychological contract fulfilment of talented employees.

Baby Boomers are highly competitive and have a positive attitude towards personal and professional

growth (Crumpacker & Crumpacker, 2007). They are loyal to their employer (Crampton & Hodge,

2007) and change jobs and working practice infrequently if at all (Cheese et al., 2008). The painted

portrait of Generation X is often more negative (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008), e.g. Generation X is

generally sceptical towards authority (Crumpacker & Crumpacker, 2007) and is less loyal than the

Baby Boom generation (Crampton & Hodge, 2007). In contrary to these negative descriptions,

Generation X is characterized to be very adaptable to job instability, willing to develop its skill sets

and take on challenges (Jenkins, 2008). Generation X may prefer to work for organizations that value

skills development as very important (Smola and Sutton, 2002) and have a stronger desire to be

promoted than the Baby Boom generation (Smola and Sutton, 2002). The Millennial generation is the

most educated generation (Jenkins, 2008). The Millennial generation is highly confident and

optimistic, expect immediate feedback and almost continuous recognition (Crumpacker &

Crumpacker, 2007). This generation has a great willingness to work hard and set goals (Jenkins,

2008). They seek personal development and rewards (Vaiman & Vance, 2008), expect and demand the

maximum opportunity for personal fulfilment (Cheese et al., 2008) and value career development

more than other generations (Zemke et al., in Cennamo & Garner, 2008).

Since Millennials are very eager to develop themselves and as they value tools for personal and career

development more than other generations, it is hypothesized that this generation will respond the

strongest on Talent Management. In other words, the relation between Talent Management and

psychological contract fulfilment is stronger for the Millennial generation compared to the Baby


14

Boom generation and Generation X. Since Generation X has a stronger desire to be promoted

compared to the Baby Boom generation and because Baby Boomers are in a more advanced career

stage, it is argued that the relation between Talent Management and psychological contract fulfilment

is weaker for the Baby Boom generation compared to the other two generations.

Hypothesis 3: The relation between Talent Management practices and psychological contract

fulfilment will be weaker for the Baby Boom generation compared to Generation X.


fulfilment will be stronger for the Millennial generation compared to Generation X.


fulfilment will be weaker for the Baby Boom generation compared to the Millennial generation.

3. Methodology

3.1 Research design and procedure The purpose of this research is to measure the relation between the amount of Talent Management

practices and the fulfilment of the psychological contract and whether this relationship is moderated

by generations. The research design is quantitative and explanatory and the research is cross-sectional

since the data was gathered at a single point in time (Baker, 1999). The unit of analysis is the

individual, i.e. talented employees from different organizations.

First, exploring interviews were held with a Talent Management executive. These interviews were

used to discuss the context of Talent Management, i.e. to find out what Talent Management means

within their organization, which employees are marked as talents and what the organization does in

order to develop their talented employees. The Talent Management executive was asked to select

talented employees to take part in the research and afterwards the questionnaire1 was spread. The

organization was able to choose whether they wanted to send the questionnaire or that they preferred

the author to do this. In order to increase the response rate two reminders were sent. Each selected

talented employee received an email with a link to the questionnaire, so the data was collected

electronically. This type of data collection enables respondents to fill out the questionnaire anonymous

which decreases social desirability.

1 English questionnaire in Appendix I and Dutch questionnaire in Appendix II.


15

3.2 Sample statistics CIPD (2006a) stated that 75 percent of private sector and 46 percent of public sector organizations

employing over 500 employees undertake Talent Management activities. Hence, the seven

organizations that participated in this research are big national and multinational organizations that

have at least 500 employees. In total 344 talented employees took part in this research, which results

in a response rate of 43 percent. Only 4 respondents were deleted from the sample since these

respondents did not fill in at least 80 per cent of the questionnaire items. Table 2 shows the

characteristics of the sample. In total 77.6 percent of the respondents is male and 22.4 percent is

female. The average age is 37.31 and the average work experience is 14.86 years. The average tenure

is 12.78 years, 95.9 percent of respondents has a fulltime position and 62.1 percent has a management

position. The educational level is rather high, most respondents have a higher educational level (63.8

percent upper-level tertiary certificate (university degree) and 20.9 percent lower-level tertiary

certificate (in the Netherlands: HBO)). Since there are no statistics available of the characteristics of

talented employees, a comparison could not be made. As a consequence, it is unknown whether the

sample of the present research is representative for the talented employee.

Table 2: Sample statistics

Mean SD Percentage N = 340 43.0% Age 37.31 8.35 Work experience 14.86 9.93 Tenure 12.78 10.68 Gender - Male 77.6% - Female 22.4% Educational level - Inadequately completed elementary education 1.2% - Completed (compulsory) elementary education - - (Compulsory) elementary education and basic vocational qualification 0.6% - Secondary, intermediate vocational qualification 3.5% - Secondary, intermediate general qualification 4.1% - Full secondary, maturity level certificate 5.9% - Higher education - lower-level tertiary certificate 20.9% - Higher education - upper-level tertiary certificate 63.8% Employment contract - Part-time 4.1% - Full-time 95.9% Position - Manager 62.1% - Non-manager 37.9% Organizational type - American 52.6% - Bank/insurance 12.9% - Military 34.4%


16

3.3 Instruments

3.3.1 Independent variable: Talent Management practices At the time of this research, there was not an existing scale to measure Talent Management practices.

The main reason for this is that organizations have their own approach to Talent Management. The

CIPD (2006a) made a list2 with 16 Talent Management practices that are commonly used by

organizations. This list was used and each Talent Management executive was asked to make the list

specific for their organization in order to make it easier for the respondents to recognize the Talent

Management practices. The respondents were asked to indicate whether their employer offers or

offered them the opportunity to make use of the Talent Management practices. The answer categories

of the Talent Management scale were ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Don’t know’. Thus, the talents were asked

whether they perceive the Talent Management practice as available for them. The answer category

‘Yes’ was used to calculate the amount of Talent Management practices that the employee perceives.

Concluding, the score on the scale reflects the number of Talent Management practices perceived by

the talented employee. The higher the score, the more perceived Talent Management practices.

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was done to test the developed scale. First, the Talent

Management scale was assessed on suitability of the data for PCA. Second, the criteria (correlation,

KMO and Barlett’s test of sphericity) were checked, which were in favour of Principal Component

Analysis. The author has chosen to do a PCA with one component extracted, including all 16 Talent

Management practices. Next, a reliability analysis was done and Cronbach’s Alpha of the Talent

Management scale is 0.720, which represents a reliable scale.

3.3.2 Dependent variable: Psychological contract fulfilment Psychological contract fulfilment was measured with the revised Tilburg’s Psychological Contract

Questionnaire (Freese, forthcoming) based on Freese (2007) and contained 70 items. The scale

contains the employer obligations, the employee obligations, the fulfilment of these obligations and

violation. In the present research fulfilment is measured as the fulfilment of the employer obligations3.

The employer obligations are distinguished in six areas including job content, career development4,

social atmosphere, organizational policies, work-life balance and rewards. The employees’ fulfilment

of each of these components was measured with the question “To what extent did your employer fulfil

previous obligations?”. Principal Component Analysis and a reliability analysis were done.

Psychological contract fulfilment has an Alpha of 0.803, which represents a reliable scale.

Respondents were asked to answer on a five-point rating scale (1 = not at all; 5 = to a very great

extent), reflecting the extent of the fulfilment of the psychological contract. Concluding, the score on 2 Complete list in Appendix III. 3 Scale psychological contract fulfilment in Appendix IV. 4 This part of the psychological contract scale measures the fulfilment of the employer obligations in the area of career development. Although career development is similar to Talent Management, the author chose to keep this part of the scale as well in order to maintain the reliability of the scale.


17

the scale reflects the fulfilment of the psychological contract, i.e. the higher the score, the more

fulfilment of the psychological contract.

3.3.3 Moderator: Generations The moderating variable, generation, is measured with one item in the questionnaire. The respondent

was asked to fill out in what year he or she was born. The year of birth was translated into the

generation the employee is part of. The Baby Boom generation is represented by respondents born

between 1944 and 1967 (N=109), respondents born between 1968 and 1980 are labelled as Generation

X (N=179), and respondents born after 1980 are labelled as the Millennial generation (N=52). Since

generation is a categorical variable, two dummies were made. Depending on the reference category the

dummies are Baby Boomers and Millennials (Generation X as reference), and Generation X and

Millennials (Baby Boom as reference).

3.3.4 Control variables The present research includes some control variables as well. The variables that were controlled for

are age and gender (e.g. Chiu & Peng, 2008). These control variables were taken into account because

Chiu & Peng (2008) demonstrated that both age and gender have an influence on the psychological

contract. Controlling for age is of great importance in the present research, because the moderating

variable, generations, is related to age. Since there is little research done on the issue of Talent

Management, only control variables that proved to have an influence on the psychological contract

were taken into account.

3.4 Preliminary data analysis First, the data was screened on errors and missing values. Since the data was gathered via an electronic

questionnaire, there were no errors. As mentioned before (see 3.2 Sample statistics), 4 respondents

were deleted because these respondents were missing more than 20% of the items.

Second, the data was examined on outliers and assessed on normality. The normality of the

psychological contract fulfilment scale was first checked on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic. Its

significance (sig. p < 0.001) suggested violation of the assumption of normality. When looking at the

histogram, the distribution of the scores on psychological contract fulfilment seemed to be reasonably

normal. The box plot showed some outliers and therefore the trimmed mean was checked. The mean

of psychological contract fulfilment is 3.7194 whereas the trimmed mean is 3.7337. Since these mean

scores on psychological contract fulfilment hardly differ, it is not recommended to remove

respondents. The same is done for the Talent Management practices scale. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov

statistic showed again violation on the assumption of normality (significance p < 0.001), but the

histogram showed that the distribution of the amount of Talent Management practices was reasonably

normal. The box plot showed some outliers, but looking at the mean (9.1559) and trimmed mean


18

(9.2810) on the amount of Talent Management practices it was not necessary to remove respondents

from the sample.

Third, the data was checked on linearity and homoscedasticity. The different plots were conducted.

The normal probability plot showed a reasonably straight diagonal line from bottom left to top right

and the scatter plot showed that the residuals were roughly rectangularly distributed with most scores

concentrated in the centre. These plots showed that the assumptions were not violated.

After the preliminary data analysis the main analyses are done. To start, the correlations between all

variables are calculated. This analysis is done to describe the strength and direction between the

variables and to check which variables should be taken into account in the research. Then, hierarchical

multiple regression analyses are done to test the developed model and hypotheses. This is followed by

an elaboration of the regression equations. Finally, a one-way between-groups analysis of covariance

was conducted to analyse the impact of the Talent Management practice per generation. Recalling, in

all analyses the control variables are taken into account. Now the results of the main analyses are

presented.

4. Results

4.1 Correlations Table 2 shows the means, standard deviations and the correlations (Pearson’s r) of the different

variables of this research. Given that gender is a categorical variable, it is not relevant to calculate

Pearson’s r. Therefore the point-biserial correlation was calculated for gender in relation to Talent

Management practices and psychological contract fulfilment, as these two variables are the main

variables of this research.

Talent Management practices and psychological contract fulfilment have a medium correlation, which

allows the author to do hierarchical regression analysis. The point-biserial correlations of gender

demonstrate that men perceive slightly more Talent Management practices and also to have slightly

more psychological contract fulfilment compared to women. Because of the fact that these correlation

coefficients are very small, gender is left out of consideration as control variable. The second control

variable age is not significantly correlated with Talent Management practices or psychological

contract fulfilment either. The fact that age is not correlated with Talent Management practices is

explainable because Talent Management practices are offered to the employees that the organization

pinpointed as talented. It depends on the Talent Management strategy which employees are seen as

talented. In some organizations the focus of Talent Management is on younger employees, whereas

other organizations focus on middle-aged or older employees. Thus, it depends on the strategy of the


19

organization to which employees Talent Management practices are offered. The sample of the present

research includes seven different organizations that offer Talent Management practices to employees

from different age categories. Hence, it can not be argued that an increase in age leads to an increase in

the amount of Talent Management practices, or the other way around that an increase in age leads to a

decrease in the amount of Talent Management practices that are offered.

Although age is not significantly correlated to Talent Management practices or psychological contract

fulfilment, age is still taken into account as a control variable in all analyses because age is strongly

related to the concept of generations.

Table 3: Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations

Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1. Talent Management practices 9.16 3.55 (0.720)

2. Psychological contract fulfilment 3.72 0.48 0.395** (0.803)

3. Dummy Baby Boom 0.32 0.47 0.032 0.027 -

4. Dummy Millennials 0.15 0.36 0.087 0.079 -0.292** -

5. Dummy Baby Boom * TM practices 2.99 4.79 0.260** 0.079 0.910** -0.266** -

6. Dummy Millennials * TM practices 1.51 3.79 0.206** 0.127* -0.274** 0.940** -0.250** -

7. Age 37.31 8.34 -0.079 -0.036 0.849** -0.541** 0.752** 0.503** -

8. Gender 0.78 0.42 0.065a 0.032a 0.263** -0.145** 0.251** -0.123** 0.290** -

Notes: a. Point-biserial correlation b. Figures between brackets ( ) represents Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient. c. * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). d. ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

4.2 Exploring analysis The positive correlation between Talent Management and psychological contract fulfilment indicates

that when the amount of Talent Management practices increases, the fulfilment of the psychological

contract increases as well. This positive relation is shown in graph 1. Graph 1 shows that an increasing

amount of Talent Management adds to the fulfilment of the psychological contract (within the

sample). This increase is visible for all three generations, but the strength of the increase is different

for each of the generations. The relation between Talent Management and psychological contract

fulfilment looks linear for Millennials, whereas Generation X and Baby Boomers show the biggest

increase in fulfilment when Talent Management increases from 4 to 8 practices. The different lines

indicating the fulfilment per generation cross, which suggests interaction. Further analysis is done to

test whether the differences in psychological contract fulfilment between the three generations in the

sample are significant and can therefore be generalized towards other populations.


20

Graph 1: Relation between Talent Management and psychological contract fulfilment per generation

4.3 Hierarchical multiple regression analysis Hierarchical multiple regression was done to test the developed model (Figure 1), which suggests that

the relation between Talent Management and psychological contract fulfilment is moderated by

generations. Table 4 presents the results of the hierarchical regression analysis with Generation X as

the reference category, whereas table 5 presents the results of the regression analysis with the Baby

Boom generation as the reference category. Talent Management practices and generations were

entered at Step 1, in order to see how much of variance in psychological contract fulfilment is

explained solely by the main variables. In step 2 the control variable age was entered. This is done to

see whether controlling for other influencing variables leads to more explained variance in

psychological contract fulfilment. Step 3 tests the entire model, including the interaction effects.

Model 1 (table 4 and 5) explains 15.9 percent of variance in psychological contract fulfilment. The

total variance explained after entering age is still 15.9 percent, indicating that age is not explaining

more variance in the fulfilment of the psychological contract. Therefore it is not surprising that F

change is not significant. In addition, model 2 shows that generations do not have a significant effect

on psychological contract fulfilment, meaning that there is no direct relation between generations and

the fulfilment of the psychological contract. Model 3 explains respectively 17.0 percent (model 3 in

table 4) and 17.1 percent (model 3 in table 5) of variance in fulfilment of the psychological contract.


21

Although the percentage of explained variance is slightly more than model 1 and 2, the change in F is

not significant. Adding the interaction effect of generations does not lead to a significant better

explaining model. Therefore prudence is needed when looking at the results that will be presented

next.

Table 4: Hierarchical multiple regression – Generation X as reference category Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

B β Sig. B β Sig. B β Sig.

Constant 3.213 0.000 3.229 0.000 3.137 0.000

Talent Management practices * 0.053 0.389 0.000 * 0.053 0.389 0.000 * 0.064 0.468 0.000

Dummy Baby Boom * 0.032 0.030 0.564 * 0.038 0.037 0.727 * 0.332 0.321 0.061

Dummy Millennials * 0.072 0.054 0.308 * 0.069 0.051 0.427 * 0.112 0.083 0.621

Age * 0.000 -0.008 0.945 * -0.001 -0.010 0.934

Dummy Baby Boom * TM practices * -0.032 -0.316 0.038

Dummy Millennial * TM practices * -0.006 -0.043 0.792

R² 0.159 0.159 0.170

Sig. 0.000 0.000 0.000

∆ R² 0.159 0.000 0.011

F Change 20.974 0.005 2.216

Sig. F Change 0.000 0.945 0.111

Table 5: Hierarchical multiple regression – Baby Boom as reference category Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

B β Sig. B β Sig. B β Sig.

Constant 3.244 0.000 3.264 0.000 3.472 0.000

Talent Management practices * 0.053 0.389 0.000 * 0.053 0.389 0.000 * 0.031 0.229 0.012

Dummy Generation X * -0.031 -0.032 0.568 * -0.037 -0.038 0.736 * -0.341 -0.352 0.055

Dummy Millennials * 0.041 0.031 0.587 * 0.033 0.024 0.840 * -0.225 -0.167 0.427

Age * 0.000 -0.007 0.954 * 0.000 -0.009 0.943

Dummy Generation X * TM practices * 0.033 0.351 0.032

Dummy Millennial * TM practices * 0.027 0.212 0.229

R² 0.159 0.159 0.171

Sig. 0.000 0.000 0.000

∆ R² 0.159 0.000 0.012

F Change 20.972 0.003 2.365

Sig. F Change 0.000 0.954 0.096


22

4.4 Regression equation The output of the regression analyses shows the interaction effects of the dummy variables compared

to the reference category. The output of the regression analysis does not inform about the actual B and

Beta of the generation dummies, but report the difference in B compared to the reference category.

The actual B of the dummy variables still has to be calculated, this is done with a regression equation.

The results of the hierarchical regression of both model 2 and 3 in table 4 and model 2 and 3 in table 5

are used to fill in the regression equations. The regression equations are elaborated in Appendix V

(Generation X as reference category) and Appendix VI (Baby Boom generation as reference category).

The regression equation with Generation X as a reference category shows that the constants of the

three generations hardly differ, whereas the calculated B’s do differ for the three generations. The

regression equation revealed that B = 0.053 for Generation X, B = 0.021 for the Baby Boom

generation, and B = 0.047 for the Millennial generation. The elaboration of the regression equation

with the Baby Boom generation as a reference category gives the same kind of results. The Baby

Boom generation has B = 0.053, for Generation X is B = 0.086 and for the Millennial generation B =

0.080.

Concluding, the regression equation reveals that the relation between Talent Management and

psychological contract fulfilment is the biggest for Generation X and the weakest for the Baby Boom

generation. It was argued that the effect of Talent Management would be weaker for the Baby Boom

generation compared to the other two generations. These differences in effects are visible within the

sample and further analysis is needed to find out whether these results can be generalized towards

other populations.

4.5 Hypotheses testing Model 2 tests to what extent psychological contract fulfilment is related to Talent Management

practices (controlled for age). The model shows a positive relation between the amount of Talent

Management practices and the fulfilment of the psychological contract (B = 0.053; p < 0.001). The

amount of Talent Management practices appears to be a significant predictor of psychological contract

fulfilment, confirming hypothesis 1.

Hypothesis 2, 3, 4 and 5 suggest a moderating role of generations on the relation between Talent

Management and psychological contract fulfilment. The interaction effects are presented in model 3.

Model 3 (table 4) reveals that there is a significant interaction effect of Baby Boomers (B = -0.032, p <

0.05), indicating that the effect of Talent Management on psychological contract fulfilment is slightly

weaker for Baby Boomers compared to Generation X. Hypothesis 3, assuming that the effect of Talent

Management on psychological contract fulfilment is weaker for Baby Boomers compared to

Generation X, is thus confirmed. On contrary, model 3 (table 4) does not show a significant interaction


23

effect of Millennials. This insignificant interaction effect of Millennials does not indicate that there are

no differences between Generation X and Millennials in psychological contract fulfilment but

indicates that the differences are too small to be significant. Therefore hypothesis 4, suggesting a

stronger effect for Millennials than Generation X, has to be rejected.

Table 5 shows the interaction effects of Generation X and Millennials compared to the Baby Boom

generation. As is already proven in table 3, there is a significant interaction effect of Generation X

compared to Baby Boomers, supporting hypothesis 3. Hypothesis 5, suggesting a weaker effect for

Baby Boomers than Millennials, has to be rejected since there is no significant interaction effect of

Millennials compared to Baby Boomers. Recalling, this insignificant interaction effect does not

indicate that there are no differences in psychological contract fulfilment between Baby Boomers and

Millennials. Hence, the differences are too small to be significant and can therefore not be generalized.

Although the effects of Talent Management on psychological contract fulfilment do not differ

significantly for all generations, Generation X and the Baby Boom generation do differ significantly.

Therefore hypothesis 2, assuming a moderating effect of generations, is confirmed.

4.6 The impact of Talent Management per generation This research showed that an increase in the perceived amount of Talent Management practices leads

to more psychological contract fulfilment for all three generations. To get more insight into the impact

of each specific Talent Management practice on psychological contract fulfilment a one-way between-

groups analysis was done. This analyses was done to investigate the impact of each specific Talent

Management practice on the fulfilment of the psychological contract by showing the mean fulfilment

when the practice is not perceived versus the mean fulfilment when the Talent Management is

perceived to be available. The control variable age is included in this analysis as well. Table 6, 7 and

8 show the impact of each Talent Management practice on the psychological contract fulfilment for

the three different generations. Hence, per generation the mean psychological contract fulfilment is

calculated when the Talent Management practice is perceived and when the practice is not perceived.

It is noticeable that for all three generations the psychological contract fulfilment is higher when the

Talent Management practice is perceived (only 3 exceptions). The two most important figures are the

absolute mean fulfilment when the Talent Management practice is perceived and the change in

percentages when the Talent Management practice is perceived compared to not perceived. Based on

these numbers the most important practices for the Baby Boom generation (Table 6) are in-house

development programmes, succession planning, graduate development programmes, internal

secondments, assessment centres, job rotation and shadowing, and development centres. Of these


24

practices internal secondments, assessment centres, job rotation and shadowing, are significant. The

positive impact of these Talent Management practices on the fulfilment of the Baby Boom generation

can be generalized towards other populations.

For Generation X (Table 7) other Talent Management practices seem to be important, namely in-house

development programmes, coaching, succession planning, mentoring and buddying, courses at

external institutions and assessment centres. Since these practices are all significant for Generation X,

it is allowed to draw the conclusion that these Talent Management are of high importance for

Generation X.

The Talent Management practices that have the biggest impact on the Millennial generation (Table 8)

are in-house development programmes, coaching, succession planning, mentoring and buddying,

cross-functional project assignments, high-potential development schemes, assessment centres, job

rotation and shadowing, and MBAs. Except for succession planning and cross-functional project

assignments, all practices are significant indicating that the effect of these Talent Management

practices on the fulfilment of the Millennial generation is substantial and can be generalized.

Table 6: Impact of Talent Management practices on psychological contract fulfilment of Baby Boom generation

Not perceived N Perceived N Change

In-house development programmes 3.532 9 3.758 98 6.40%

Coaching 3.659 45 3.796 62 3.74%

Succession planning 3.688 65 3.816 42 3.47%

Mentoring and buddying 3.712 67 3.783 40 1.91%

Cross-functional project assignments 3.717 45 3.756 61 1.05%

High-potential development schemes 3.562 15 3.676 92 3.20%

Graduate development programmes 3.713 86 3.845 21 3.56%

Courses at external institutions 3.714 27 3.747 80 0.89%

Internal secondments 3.603 27 3.784* 80 5.02%

Assessment centres 3.556 32 3.821** 74 7.45%

360-degree feedback 3.730 35 3.743 72 0.35%

Job rotation and shadowing 3.597 34 3.795* 72 5.50%

Development centres 3.705 74 3.814 33 2.94%

MBAs 3.729 73 3.772 33 1.15%

Action learning sets 3.670 47 3.786 59 3.16%

External secondments 3.667 34 3.776 72 2.97% * Significant difference between perceiving and not perceiving at the 0.05 level.

** Significant difference between perceiving and not perceiving at the 0.01 level.


25

Table 7: Impact of Talent Management practices on psychological contract fulfilment of Generation X


In-house development programmes 3.351 12 3.706* 167 10.59%

Coaching 3.377 48 3.794** 131 12.35%

Succession planning 3.550 104 3.865** 75 8.87%

Mentoring and buddying 3.481 63 3.791** 116 8.91%

Cross-functional project assignments 3.685 58 3.681 121 -0.11%

High-potential development schemes 3.557 100 3.840** 79 7.96%

Graduate development programmes 3.580 87 3.781* 90 5.61%

Courses at external institutions 3.410 35 3.748** 144 9.91%

Internal secondments 3.558 58 3.742* 121 5.17%


360-degree feedback 3.523 64 3.771** 115 7.04%

Job rotation and shadowing 3.606 125 3.869** 53 7.29%

Development centres 3.563 85 3.789** 94 6.34%

MBAs 3.658 138 3.764 41 2.90%

Action learning sets 3.506 56 3.762** 123 7.30%

External secondments 3.616 132 3.869** 47 7.00% * Significant difference between perceiving and not perceiving at the 0.05 level.


Table 8: Impact of Talent Management practices on psychological contract fulfilment of Millennials


In-house development programmes 3.410 5 3.853* 46 12.99%

Coaching 3.410 5 3.853* 46 12.99%

Succession planning 3.727 35 3.990 16 7.06%

Mentoring and buddying 3.492 8 3.869* 43 10.80%

Cross-functional project assignments 3.662 20 3.905 31 6.64%

High-potential development schemes 3.656 30 4.029** 21 10.20%

Graduate development programmes 3.605 12 3.873 39 7.43%

Courses at external institutions 4.068 5 3.782 46 -7.03%

Internal secondments 3.733 21 3.863 30 3.48%


360-degree feedback 3.724 20 3.865 31 3.79%

Job rotation and shadowing 3.661 32 4.060** 19 10.90%

Development centres 3.950 13 3.751 37 -5.04%

MBAs 3.708 35 4.032* 16 8.74%

Action learning sets 3.737 7 3.821 44 2.25%

External secondments 3.786 40 3.897 11 2.93% * Significant difference between perceiving and not perceiving at the 0.05 level.



26

5. Conclusion This research examined the relation between the amount of Talent Management practices and the

fulfilment of the psychological contract and whether generations moderate this relationship. The

research question that will be answered is: To what extent are Talent Management practices

associated with the fulfilment of the psychological contract of talented employees, and to what extent

does this relation differ for employees from different generations?

The findings of this research demonstrated that an increase in the amount of Talent Management

practices, is associated with an increase in the fulfilment of the psychological contract. This can be

explained because the organization is sending more signals, by offering more Talent Management

practices, and these signals give more clarity about the employment relationship. As a result,

employees’ psychological contracts are more fulfilled as there is agreement between the promises

done by the organization and what the employee actually received from the employer.

Another important conclusion of the present research is that generations moderate the relation between

the amount of Talent Management practices and the fulfilment of the psychological contract, but this

finding should be taken with caution (because only Baby Boomers differ significantly compared to

Generation X). Since the workforce is represented by Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials,

the relation between Talent Management and psychological contract fulfilment was calculated and

compared for these three generations. Although the relation between Talent Management and

psychological contract fulfilment is positive for all generations, Baby Boomers tend to show

significantly less psychological contract fulfilment compared to Generation X. Hence, the relation

between Talent Management and psychological contract fulfilment is stronger for Generation X

compared to Baby Boomers. Millennials do not differ significantly in psychological contract

fulfilment, as a consequence of Talent Management, compared to Baby Boomers and Generation X.

This research also investigated the impact of each specific Talent Management practice on the

fulfilment of the psychological contract per generation. The results show that Baby Boomers,

Generation X and Millennials value some Talent Management as more important than others, i.e.

perceiving versus not perceiving a Talent Management practice as available, leads to significant

differences in the fulfilment of the psychological contract.

To answer the research question: more perceived Talent Management practices are associated

positively with psychological contract fulfilment and this relation is moderated by generations. Hence,

the relation between the amount of Talent Management practices and psychological contract fulfilment

is weaker for the Baby Boom generation compared to Generation X. Besides, some Talent


27

Management practices have more impact on the psychological contract fulfilment of the Baby Boom

generation, Generation X and Millennials.

6. Discussion The findings of this research support that an increasing amount of perceived Talent Management

practices is associated with more psychological contract fulfilment. Signaling theory (Sonnenberg,

2006; Spence, 1973) can be used to explain the relation between the amount of Talent Management

practices and psychological contract fulfilment. The more Talent Management practices an

organization employs, the more signals are send from the organization to the talented employee. These

signals include important information about both the expected employee behaviour (employee

obligations) and the organization’s effort in meeting their obligations (employer obligations).

Consequently, these signals are evaluated by the employee via the psychological contract.

Psychological contract fulfilment reveals whether the employer acted in accordance with its

obligations and to what extent the employer lived up to his part of the employment relationship

(Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1998). Concluding, the organization sends more signals by offering more

Talent Management practices and this leads to more clarity about the employment relationship which

will eventually result in a psychological contract that is more fulfilled.

According to Cennamo and Gardner (2008) it is important to understand differences between

generations at work in order to meet diverse employee needs (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008). Past

research showed that each generation has created their own culture, attitudes, preferences and

dispositions (Arsenault, 2003). Today’s workforce is represented by the Baby Boom generation,

Generation X and the Millennial generation. Since past research has shown that each generation has it

own characteristics and preferences it was proposed that respondents from the different generational

cohorts would evaluate Talent Management differently. It is of great importance to find out whether

Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials really differ in their psychological contract evaluation

since understanding generational differences may result in substantial benefits into the field of

strategic management (Papenhausen, 2006). In contrast to the predictions that an increase in amount of

Talent Management practices is positively related to psychological contract fulfilment and that this

relation differs per generation, only the Baby Boom generation showed to respond less positive on

Talent Management compared to Generation X. In other words, the positive relation between Talent

Management practices and the psychological contract fulfilment was weaker for Baby Boomers

compared to Generation X.

However, it should be noted that the relation between the amount of Talent Management practices and

psychological contract fulfilment was found to be positive for all three generations. Conway (2004)


28

found that employees in early career were more interested in career development. In addition, Smola

and Sutton (2002) found that the Baby Boom generation had a weaker desire to be promoted than the

other two generations. The conclusions of these scholars may be used to explain the finding that the

Baby Boom generation evaluates Talent Management via their psychological contract less positively

than Generation X respondents. Given that Baby Boomers are in late career and have a weaker desire

to be promoted, it could be argued that Baby Boomers are less interested in developing themselves

compared to Generation X. As Millennials are just entering the workplace and Generation X

employees are not older than 40 years old, it is likely that these employees are more interested in

Talent Management as a large part of their career is still in front of them.

Unfortunately, this research did not find evidence to conclude that the relation between Talent

Management practices and psychological contract fulfilment is stronger for the Millennial generation

compared to Generation X. Busch, Venkitachalam and Richards (2008) concluded based on the

findings of their sample that Generation X and the Millennial generation were more alike compared to

the Baby Boom generation. Other research highlights that there are greater similarities than differences

between the generational cohorts (Hess & Jepsen, 2009) and that it is important to acknowledge

commonalities between employees from different generations as well (Cennamo & Gardner, 2008).

This might explain that the analyses done in this research did not result in significant differences

between Generation X and the Millennial Generation. Given that generational theory is still in its

infancy (Papenhausen, 2006), there is no solid evidence to explain the insignificant results and

therefore more research is needed.

This research showed that the impact of Talent Management practices is different per generation in

terms of psychological contract fulfilment. These differences are explainable because of the

characteristics of the generation that the respondent is part of. For example, the fulfilment of the Baby

Boom generation is high when the Talent Management practice ‘internal secondments’ is perceived.

The Baby Boom generation is considered to be loyal towards their employer (Crampton & Hodge,

2007), and therefore it can be argued that Baby Boomers are willing to develop themselves by

working at a different department (instead of leaving the organization), resulting in high psychological

contract fulfilment when the Talent Management practice ‘internal secondments’ is perceived.

Generation X is characterized as a generation that is very adaptive to job instability (Jenkins, 2008).

This might clarify the finding that Generation X responds positively in terms of psychological contract

fulfilment when the Talent Management practice ‘external secondments’ is experienced. Generation X

evaluates ‘external secondments’ as a very positive development tool since they have adaptive power

to changes and view this as a challenge to develop themselves. The Millennial generation is known as

the most educated generation (Jenkins, 2008). It is not surprising that the Talent Management practice


29

‘MBAs’ has big impact on this generation in terms of psychological contract fulfilment. Millennials

are also characterized as having less problem-solving skills (Crumpacker & Crumpacker, 2007). With

the help of cross-functional project assignments the problem-solving skills can be improved. This

might explain the high psychological contract fulfilment of Millennials when cross-functional project

assignments are perceived.

In the present research it is tested that, based on the signalling theory (Spence, 1973), the amount of

Talent Management practices are positively associated with psychological contract fulfilment, i.e. an

increase in the amount of Talent Management practices is associated with more psychological contract

fulfilment. Since both variables are measured at one time, it is not possible to draw conclusions about

causality. Although the signalling theory was used to explain that Talent Management practices lead to

more clarity of the employment relationship and will therefore result in more psychological contract

fulfilment, it might be possible that there is an alternative explanation for the relation between Talent

Management practices and psychological contract fulfilment as well. For example when the employee

evaluates the psychological contract positively, i.e. high fulfilment of the contract, it can be expected

that the employee is more aware of the initiatives with regard to Talent Management that the employer

undertakes. As a consequence the employee will have a higher score on the perceived amount of

Talent Management practices. The author used the line of reasoning of other researchers (e.g.

Sonnenberg, 2006; Spence, 1973) to explain that the organization sends signals with its Talent

Management practices and as a consequence the psychological contract of the employee will be more

fulfilled. Thus, based on theory it was argued that Talent Management is prior to the psychological

contract but longitudinal research is needed to be decisive.

7. Limitations and implications

7.1 Limitations The first limitation that needs to be made is the way in which Talent Management was measured in

this research. Since there is hardly any empirical research about Talent Management, there was not a

validated Talent Management scale that could be used. To overcome this discomfort a list with 16

most employed Talent Management practices (CIPD, 2006a) was used to investigate the amount of

perceived Talent Management practices. The Talent Management scale includes 16 Talent

Management practices and all these practices were questioned. It was not taken into account whether

all 16 practices were really applied in the participating organizations. Although the scale was founded

to be reliable, it might be possible that the scale has biased the results since the respondents could have

answered to perceive the Talent Management practice while not all practices are really offered to


30

them. A plausible explanation might be that respondents confused the Talent Management practices

with ‘normal’ HR practices.

A second limitation of this research is the labelling of the generations. The author divided the

workforce in three generations based on the year in which the respondent was born. Although, theory

was used to distinguish the three generations, it can be argued that it might be better to distinguish the

generational cohorts based on other arguments. For instance, based on the formative period in which

the respondents were born.

Based on signaling theory (Sonnenberg, 2006; Spence, 1973) it was argued that each added Talent

Management practice provides additional information regarding the reciprocal obligations between the

employee and the employer, and as a consequence this will result in more psychological contract

fulfilment. In this research the amount of perceived Talent Management practices was measured by

perceived existence and not by quality. In other words, the weight factor of each Talent Management

practice was the same. It could be argued that some Talent Management practices send more signals

than others. This may result in an overestimation of Talent Management practices that signal less and

in an underestimation of Talent Management practices that send more signals.

Another limitation of this research is the sample. Although 340 respondents represent a satisfactory

sample size, the generational cohorts were not equally distributed and probably not big enough to get

significant comparisons. In addition, the author was not able to check whether the sample of this

research was a fair reflection of the talented employee. Almost all respondents work full-time, the

majority has a management position and most respondents were highly educated. Because of the fact

that it is unknown whether this is a fair reflection of the talented workforce, it might be possible that

the characteristics of the sample did influence the results of this research.

The last limitation is that this research is cross-sectional; all variables are measured at a single point in

time. To determine causality (Baker, 1999) between the variables, longitudinal research is required. It

is not inconceivable that the impact of Talent Management on psychological contract fulfilment will

differ across time.

7.2 Implications for future research Since there was not a validated Talent Management scale available at the time of this research, the

author developed a scale to measure the amount of perceived Talent Management practices. This scale

is measuring only the perceived availability of Talent Management practices. Therefore it is suggested

that the quality of the developed Talent Management scale will be enlarged, as this will lead to more


31

reliable Talent Management research. Suggestions to improve the scale are for example to measure

Talent Management practices by its quality and to measure the fit of Talent Management practices

with employees needs and preferences.

The present research investigated the relation between Talent Management and the fulfilment

construct of the psychological contract. This construct was measured by the employee fulfilment

concerning the employer obligations. These employer obligations are divided in six components (job

content, career development, social atmosphere, organizational policies, work-life balance and

rewards). A suggestion for future research is to investigate the effect of Talent Management on each of

these six employer obligations separately. This type of research will give comprehensive information

about the impact of Talent Management on the fulfilment of each of the six specific employer

obligations.

A fourth suggestion for future research concerning generations is to gather more data (more

respondents). It is important that the different generational cohorts are all represented and that these

cohorts are big enough to get statistically significant results. The present research set-up was cross-

sectional. In order to determine causality and to investigate the impact of Talent Management across

time, it is recommended that future research will be longitudinal.

7.3 Practical implications This research has proven that Talent Management practices are positively related to psychological

contract fulfilment. Organizations can use Talent Management practices to manage the expectations of

employees and to fulfil their obligations as an employer. Thus, Talent Management can be seen as a

key tool to influence psychological contract fulfilment. It is recommended to focus the Talent

Management strategy more on Generation X and Millennials as their psychological contract will be

even more fulfilled because of Talent Management offerings.

This research showed which Talent Management practices have the biggest impact on psychological

contract fulfilment for each of the three generations. The Talent Management practices that are the

most effective for the Baby Boom generation are internal secondments, assessment centres, job

rotation and shadowing. For that reason it is recommended that organizations especially offer these

Talent Management practices to Baby Boomers. The psychological contracts of Generation X are most

fulfilled when in-house development programmes, coaching, succession planning, mentoring and

buddying, courses at external institutions and assessment centres are implemented. Therefore it is

advised to implement these Talent Management practices for Generation X. Millennials are most

affected by in-house development programmes, coaching, mentoring and buddying, high-potential


32

development schemes, assessment centres, job rotation and shadowing, and MBAs. It is recommended

that organizations offer these Talent Management practices to Millennials since these practices are

most beneficial for this generation.

Thus, the more Talent Management practices the better, and adapt your Talent Management strategy

per generation in order to get the maximum fulfilment of all your talented employees!


33

References

Arsenault, P.M. (2004). Validating generational differences, a legitimate diversity and leadership

issue. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 25(2), 124-141.

Baarda, D. B., & de Goede, M. P. M. (2006). Methoden en technieken. Basisboek:Handleiding voor

het opzetten en uitvoeren van kwantitief onderzoek [Methods and techniques. Elementary

book: Manual for establishing and executing quantitative research]. Groningen, NL: Wolters-

Noordhoff.

Baker, T. L. (1999). Doing social research. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Bal, P.M., de Lange, A.H., Jansen, P.G.W., & van der Velde, M.E.G. (2008). Psychological

contract breach and job attitudes: A meta-analysis of age as a moderator. Journal of

Vocational Behaviour, 72, 143-158.

Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social

psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.

Blass, E. (2007). Talent Management: Maximising talent for future performance. London, UK:

Chartered Management Institute.

Blass, E., & April, K. (2008). Developing talent for tomorrow. Develop, 1, 48-58.

Boselie, P., Dietz, G., & Boon, C. (2005). Commonalities and contradictions in HRM and

performance research. Human Resource Management Journal, 15(3), 67-94.

Boudreau, J.W., & Ramstad, P.M. (2005). Talentship and the new paradigm for human resource

management: From professional practices to strategic talent decision science. Human

Resource Planning, 28(2), 17-26.

Boudreau, J. W., & Ramstad, P. M. (2007). Beyond HR: The new science of human capital.

Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press.


34

Busch, P., Venkitachalam, K. & Richards, D. (2008). Generational differences in soft knowledge

situations: status, need for recognition, workplace commitment and idealism. Knowledge

and Process Management, 15(1), 45-58.

Cennamo, L., & Gardner, D. (2008). Generational differences in work values, outcomes and

person-organisation values fit. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), 891-906.

Cheese, P., Gartside, D., & Smith, D. (2009). Managing talent in uncertain times. Accenture.

Cheese, P., Farley, C. S., & Gibbons, A. (2009). The new talent equation. Retrieved from

http://www.accenture.com/Global/Research_and_Insights/Outlook/TheNewTalentEquation.htm

Cheese, P., Thomas, R. J., & Craig, E. (2008). The talent powered organization. Strategies for

globalization, Talent Management and high performance. London, UK: Kogan Page

Limited.

Chiu, S-F., & Peng, J-C. (2008). The Relationship between psychological contract breach and

employee deviance: The moderating role of hostile attributional style. Journal of

Vocational Behavior, 73(3), 426-433.

CIPD (2006a). Reflections on Talent Management: Change agenda. London, UK: Chartered

Institute of Personnel and Development.

CIPD (2006b). Talent management: Understanding the dimensions. London, UK: Chartered

Institute of Personnel and Development.

CIPD (2007). Talent Management. London, UK: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

CIPD (2008), Talent Management: an overview. London, UK: Chartered Institute of Personnel and

Development.

Cohen, J.W. (1988) in Pallant, J. (2007). SPSS survival manual: A step-by-step guide to data analysis

using SPSS version 15. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.

http://www.accenture.com/Global/Research_and_Insights/Outlook/TheNewTalentEquation.htm


35

Conway, E. (2004). Relating career stage to attitudes towards HR practices and commitment:

Evidence of interaction effects? The European journal of work and organizational

psychology, 13(4), 417-446.

Crampton, S.M., & Hodge, J.W. (2007). Generations in the workplace: Understanding age

diversity. The Business Review, 9(1), 16-22.

Crumpacker, M., & Crumpacker, J.M. (2007). Succession planning and generational stereotypes:

should HR consider age-based values and attitudes a relevant factor or a passing fad? Public

Personnel Management, 36(4), 349-369.

Freese, C. (2007). Organizational change and the dynamics of psychological contracts: A

longitudinal study. Dissertation, Tilburg, NL: Tilburg University.

Guest, D. E. (1999). Human resource management – the workers’ verdict. Human Resource

Management Journal, 9(3), 5-25.

Heinen, J. S., & O’Neill, C. (2004). Managing talent to maximize performance. Employment

Relations Today, 31(2), 67-82.

Hess, N., & Jepsen, D.M. (2009). Career stage and generational differences in psychological contracts.

Career Development International, 14(3), 261-283.

Hiltrop, J.M. (1999). The quest for the best: Human resource practices to attract and retain talent.

European Management Journal, 17(4), 422-430.

Jenkins, J. (2008). Strategies for managing talent in a multigenerational workforce. Employment

relations today, 34(4),19-26.

Lewis, R. E., & Heckman, R. J. (2006). Talent Management: A critical review. Human Resource

Management Review, 16, 139–154.

Lockwood, N. R. (2006). Talent Management: Driver for organizational success. HR Magazine, 51(6),

1-11.


36

Michaels, E., Handfield-Jones, H., & Axelrod, B. (2001). The war for talent. United States of

America: McKinsey & Company, Inc.

Morrison, E. W., & Robinson, S. L. (1997). When employees feel betrayed: A model of how

psychological contract violation develops. The Academy of Management Review, 22(1), 226-

256.

Papenhausen, C. (2006). Top managers’ generational membership and strategic decision-

making. Journal of Business and Management, 12(2), 157-168.

Robinson, S.L., & Rousseau, D.M. (1994). Violating the psychological contract: not the

exception but the norm. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 15(3), 245-259.

Rousseau, D.M. (1990). New Hire perceptions of their own and their employer’s obligations: A study

of psychological contracts. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 11, 389-400.

Rousseau, D.M. (1995). Psychological Contracts in Organizations: Understanding Written and

Unwritten Agreements. London: Sage Publications.

Rousseau, D. M., & Tijoriwala, S. A. (1998). Assessing psychological contracts: Issues,

alternatives and measures. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 19, 679-695.

Smola, K.W., & Sutton, C.D. (2002). Generational differences: revisiting generational work values

for the new millennium. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(4), 363-382.

Sonnenberg, M. (2006). The signalling effect of HRM on psychological contracts of employees: A

multi-level perspective. Dissertation, Rotterdam, NL: Erasmus Research Institute of

Management.

Spence, M. (1973). Job market signaling. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87, 355-374.

Suazo, M. M., Martínez, P. G., & Sandoval, R. (2009). Creating psychological and legal

contracts through human resource practices: A signaling theory perspective. Human

Resource Management Review, 19(2), 154-166.


37

Turban, D.B. (2001). Organizational attractiveness as an employer on college campuses: An

examination of the applicant population. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 58, 293-312.

van der Sluis, L. E. C. (2008). Talent Management in strategisch perspectief [Talent management

in strategic perspective]. Inaugural speech, Breukelen, NL: Nyenrode Business University.

Vaiman,V., & Vance, C.M. (2008). Smart talent management: Building knowledge assets for

competitive advantage. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.


38

Appendix I English questionnaire5 1. In which year were you born? 2. What is your gender? 3. How many years have you already been working for your current employer? 4. How many years of work experience do you have? 5. What is the highest level you have completed in your education? 6. What is your contract status? 7. Do you have a management position? 8. The following questions are about how you think of your employer. Specify to what extent you agree with the following statements. • I am extremely glad that I chose this organization to work for over others I was considering at the

time I joined. • I really care about the fate of this organization. • Deciding to work for this organization was a definite mistake on my part. • I find that my values and the organization’s values are very similar. • For me this is the best of all possible organizations to work for. • I feel very little loyalty to this organization. • I don’t feel part of this organization. Totally disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Fully agree 9. The following questions are about your vision on your future with your employer. Specify to what extent you agree with the following statements. • I plan to continue to work here until I retire. • I often think about quitting. • I am looking for an opportunity to find a job in another organization. • I would leave this organization if I was offered the same job in another organization. • I am actively searching for another job. • In the next few years I intend to stay with this organization. • In the past three months I have applied for a job in another organization. • If I had a chance I would change to some other organization. Totally disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Fully agree 10. In the employment relationship you have expectations about what your employer will offer you. To what extent do you consider your employer has the obligation to offer you the following? • Variation in your work. • Challenging work. • Balanced workload. • Interesting work. • Autonomy. • The possibility to deliver quality. • Opportunity to fully utilize your knowledge and skills.

5 Note: Since this research is part of a more extensive research, not all items are used in this research.


39

No obligation at all Strong obligation Hardly an obligation Very strong obligation Somewhat an obligation 11. To what extent did your employer fulfil previous obligations? Not at all Hardly Somewhat To a great extent To a very great extent 12. To what extent do you consider your employer has the obligation to offer you the following? • Career opportunities. • Training and education. • Coaching on the job. • Professional development opportunities. • Learning on the job. No obligation at all Strong obligation Hardly an obligation Very strong obligation Somewhat an obligation 13. To what extent did your employer fulfil previous obligations?

Not at all Hardly Somewhat To a great extent To a very great extent

14. To what extent do you consider your employer has the obligation to offer you the following? • Good working atmosphere. • Opportunity to pleasantly cooperate with colleagues. • Support from colleagues. • Appreciation and recognition. • Support from supervisor. No obligation at all Strong obligation Hardly an obligation Very strong obligation Somewhat an obligation

15. To what extent did your employer fulfil previous obligations? Not at all Hardly Somewhat To a great extent To a very great extent 16. To what extent do you consider your employer has the obligation to offer you the following? • Participation in important decisions. • A fair supervisor. • Feedback on performance. • Clear and fair rules. • Keeping you informed of developments. • Open communication. • Ethical policy towards society and environment. • Being able to have confidence in the organization. No obligation at all Strong obligation Hardly an obligation Very strong obligation


40

Somewhat an obligation 17. To what extent did your employer fulfil previous obligations? Not at all Hardly Somewhat To a great extent To a very great extent 18. To what extent do you consider your employer has the obligation to offer you the following? • Acknowledgement of personal circumstances. • Opportunity to schedule your own holidays. • Working at home. • Adjust working hours to private life.

19. To what extent did your employer fulfil previous obligations? Not at all Hardly Somewhat To a great extent To a very great extent 20. To what extent do you consider your employer has the obligation to offer you the following? • Job security. • Appropriate salary. • Rewards for exceptional performance. • Reimbursement of training costs. • Good benefits package. • Pay for performance. No obligation at all Strong obligation Hardly an obligation Very strong obligation Somewhat an obligation 21. To what extent did your employer fulfil previous obligations?

Not at all Hardly Somewhat To a great extent To a very great extent

22. Consider how your employer generally held to its promises. To what extent do you agree with the following statements? I feel .... • Satisfied • Frustrated • Happy • Betrayed • Appreciated • Disappointed

Totally disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Fully agree 23. In the employment relationship you have views about what you will offer the organization. To what extent do you feel obliged to offer your organization the following?

• Good cooperation. • Helping colleagues. • Provide good service to customers. • Still performing well on tasks you do not like to do.


41

• Working with integrity. • Carrying out your work with dedication. • Being cost-conscious when dealing with organizational properties. • Dealing with private matters at home. • Keeping knowledge and skills up to date to be able to deal with changing requirements. • Participating in training outside working hours that is important to do your job properly. • Respecting organizational rules and regulations. • Contribute to a positive organizational image. • Making suggestions for improvement. • Volunteering to do additional tasks. • Working extra hours if that is necessary to finish work. • Working weekends. • Participation in training to enhance job market opportunities. • The willingness to work in different positions. • The flexibility to change positions. • Contributing to a pleasant workplace atmosphere. • Willingness to work in another region. • Stay with the organization for several years. 24. To what extent did your employer fulfil previous obligations? Not at all Hardly Somewhat To a great extent To a very great extent 25. Does your employer offer you the opportunity to make use of the following activities? (If you made use of an activity in the past, but at the moment this is no longer relevant, you can regard this as an opportunity to participate too.)

• In-house development programs • Internal secondments • Coaching • Courses at external institutions • MBAs • Job rotation and shadowing • 360-degree feedback • Cross-functional project assignment • Assessment centers • Graduate development programs • Mentoring and buddying • High-potential development schemes • Development centers • Action learning sets • External secondments • Succession planning

Yes No Don’t know 26. If every employee within an organization is treated as talent, this approach is called inclusive. If only a select group of employees within an organization is treated as talent, this approach is called exclusive. How would you qualify the approach within your organization? Inclusive Exclusive


42

Appendix II Dutch questionnaire6 1. Wat is uw geboortejaar? 2. Wat is uw geslacht? 3. Hoeveel jaren werkt u al voor uw huidige werkgever? 4. Hoeveel jaren werkervaring heeft u? 5. Wat is het hoogste niveau dat u afgerond heeft in uw opleiding? 6. Welke contractvorm heeft u? 7. Heeft u een leidinggevende functie? 8. De volgende vragen gaan over hoe u over uw werkgever denkt. Geef aan in hoeverre u het eens bent met de volgende stellingen: • Ik ben heel blij dat ik ervoor gekozen heb om voor deze organisatie te gaan werken. • Wat er met deze organisatie gebeurt, trek ik me aan. • Mijn besluit om voor deze organisatie te gaan werken, was een grote fout. • Ik vind dat mijn persoonlijke normen en waarden sterk overeen komen met wat de organisatie

belangrijk vindt. • Voor mij is deze organisatie verreweg de beste organisatie om voor te werken. • Ik voel me nauwelijks verbonden met de organisatie. • Ik voel me niet thuis bij de organisatie. Helemaal niet mee eens Niet mee eens Neutraal Mee eens Helemaal mee eens 9. De volgende vragen gaan over uw visie op uw toekomst binnen uw werkgever. Geef aan in hoeverre u het eens met de volgende stellingen: • Ik wil tot mijn pensioen bij deze organisatie blijven werken. • Ik denk er vaak aan om ontslag te nemen. • Ik houd mijn ogen goed open voor vacatures bij andere organisaties. • Als een andere organisatie mij eenzelfde soort baan aanbiedt als die ik nu ook heb, dan zou ik dit

aanbod accepteren. • Ik ben actief op zoek naar een andere baan. • De komende paar jaar wil ik nog bij deze organisatie blijven. • In de afgelopen drie maanden heb ik gesolliciteerd bij een andere organisatie. • Als de kans zich voordoet dan ga ik voor een andere organisatie werken. Helemaal niet mee eens Niet mee eens Neutraal Mee eens Helemaal mee eens 10. In de arbeidsrelatie heeft u opvattingen over wat uw werkgever u zal bieden. In hoeverre vindt u dat uw werkgever de verplichting heeft u het volgende te bieden? • Afwisselend werk. • Uitdagend werk. • Balans in werkdruk. • Interessant werk. • Autonomie. • Mogelijkheid tot kwaliteit leveren.

6 Note: Since this research is part of a more extensive research, not all items are used in this research.


43

• Mogelijkheid tot volledige benutting van uw kennis en vaardigheden. Totaal geen verplichting Sterke verplichting Nauwelijks een verplichting Zeer sterke verplichting Enigszins een verplichting 11. In hoeverre heeft uw werkgever voldaan aan bovenstaande verplichtingen? Totaal niet Nauwelijks Enigszins In grote mate In zeer grote mate 12. In hoeverre vindt u dat uw werkgever de verplichting heeft u het volgende te bieden? • Loopbaanmogelijkheden. • Trainingen en opleidingen volgen. • Coaching in het werk. • Brede professionele ontwikkelingsmogelijkheden. • Leren van het werk. Totaal geen verplichting Sterke verplichting Nauwelijks een verplichting Zeer sterke verplichting Enigszins een verplichting 13. In hoeverre heeft uw werkgever voldaan aan bovenstaande verplichtingen? Totaal niet Nauwelijks Enigszins In grote mate In zeer grote mate 14. In hoeverre vindt u dat uw werkgever de verplichting heeft u het volgende te bieden? • Goede werksfeer. • Mogelijkheden om plezierig samen te werken. • Steun door collega's. • Waardering. • Steun van leidinggevende. Totaal geen verplichting Sterke verplichting Nauwelijks een verplichting Zeer sterke verplichting Enigszins een verplichting 15. In hoeverre heeft uw werkgever voldaan aan bovenstaande verplichtingen? Totaal niet Nauwelijks Enigszins In grote mate In zeer grote mate 16. In hoeverre vindt u dat uw werkgever de verplichting heeft u het volgende te bieden? • Inspraak bij belangrijke beslissingen. • Een rechtvaardige leidinggevende. • Feedback over het werk. • Duidelijke en rechtvaardige regels. • U op de hoogte houden van ontwikkelingen. • Open communicatie. • Ethisch beleid ten aanzien van maatschappij en omgeving. • Vertrouwen kunnen hebben in de organisatie.


44

Totaal geen verplichting Sterke verplichting Nauwelijks een verplichting Zeer sterke verplichting Enigszins een verplichting 17. In hoeverre heeft uw werkgever voldaan aan bovenstaande verplichtingen? Totaal niet Nauwelijks Enigszins In grote mate In zeer grote mate 18. In hoeverre vindt u dat uw werkgever de verplichting heeft u het volgende te bieden? • Begrip voor persoonlijke omstandigheden. • Zelf vakantiedagen kunnen inplannen. • Thuiswerken. • Werktijden af kunnen stemmen op prive-leven.

Totaal geen verplichting Sterke verplichting Nauwelijks een verplichting Zeer sterke verplichting Enigszins een verplichting 19. In hoeverre heeft uw werkgever voldaan aan bovenstaande verplichtingen? Totaal niet Nauwelijks Enigszins In grote mate In zeer grote mate 20. In hoeverre vindt u dat uw werkgever de verplichting heeft u het volgende te bieden? • Werkzekerheid. • Passend salaris. • Beloningen voor bijzondere prestaties. • Vergoedingen voor opleidingen. • Passende secundaire arbeidsvoorwaarden. • Prestatiebeloning. Totaal geen verplichting Sterke verplichting Nauwelijks een verplichting Zeer sterke verplichting Enigszins een verplichting 21. In hoeverre heeft uw werkgever voldaan aan bovenstaande verplichtingen? Totaal niet Nauwelijks Enigszins In grote mate In zeer grote mate 22. Bedenk in hoeverre uw werkgever zich over het algemeen aan haar beloften heeft gehouden. In welke mate bent u het eens met de onderstaande uitspraken? Ik voel me.... • Tevreden. • Gefrustreerd. • Gelukkig. • Verraden. • Gewaardeerd. • Teleurgesteld. Helemaal niet mee eens Niet mee eens Neutraal Mee eens Helemaal mee eens


45

23. In hoeverre voelt u zich verplicht uw werkgever het volgende te bieden? • Goed samenwerken. • Collega's helpen. • Goede service aan klanten bieden. • Taken die u liever niet doet, toch goed uitvoeren. • Integer handelen. • Uw werk met toewijding uitvoeren. • Kostenbewust omgaan met organisatie-eigendommen. • Privézaken thuis regelen. • Kennis en vaardigheden op peil houden om om te kunnen gaan met veranderende eisen. • Buiten werktijd opleidingen volgen die van belang zijn voor het goed uitvoeren van uw werk. • Regels en afspraken van de organisatie respecteren. • Een positief imago van de organisatie uitdragen. • Voorstellen doen ter verbetering. • Vrijwillig extra taken opnemen. • Overuren maken als dat noodzakelijk is om het werk af te krijgen. • In het weekend werken. • Opleidingen volgen om uw kansen op de arbeidsmarkt te vergroten. • Voor verschillende functies inzetbaar zijn. • De flexibiliteit om van functie te veranderen. • Bijdragen aan een goede sfeer op de werkplek. • Bereid zijn om in een andere regio te werken. • Bereid zijn om enkele jaren bij de organisatie te blijven. Totaal geen verplichting Sterke verplichting Nauwelijks een verplichting Zeer sterke verplichting Enigszins een verplichting 24. In hoeverre heeft u voldaan aan bovenstaande verplichtingen? Totaal niet Nauwelijks Enigszins In grote mate In zeer grote mate 25. Biedt uw werkgever u de mogelijkheid gebruikt te maken van de onderstaande activiteiten? (Als u in het verleden gebruik heeft gemaakt van een activiteit, maar dit op het moment niet meer relevant is, kunt u dit ook als een mogelijkheid tot deelname beschouwen.)

• In-house development programs • Internal secondments • Coaching • Courses at external institutions • MBAs • Job rotation and shadowing • 360-degree feedback • Cross-functional project assignment • Assessment centers • Graduate development programs • Mentoring and buddying • High-potential development schemes • Development centers • Action learning sets


46

• External secondments • Succession planning

Ja Nee Weet ik niet 26. Als iedere werknemer binnen een organisatie als talent wordt behandeld, heet deze aanpak inclusief. Als slechts een selecte groep werknemers binnen een organisatie als talent wordt behandeld, heet deze aanpak exclusief. Hoe zou u de aanpak binnen uw organisatie bestempelen? Inclusief Exclusief


47

Appendix III Talent Management practices

List of most common Talent Management practices according to CIPD (2006a).

1. In-house development programs

2. Internal secondments

3. Coaching

4. Courses at external institutions

5. MBAs

6. Job rotation and shadowing

7. 360-degree feedback

8. Cross-functional project assignment

9. Assessment centers

10. Graduate development programs

11. Mentoring and buddying

12. High-potential development schemes

13. Development centers

14. Action learning sets

15. External secondments

16. Succession planning


48

Appendix IV Psychological contract scale: fulfilment of employer obligations (Freese, forthcoming 2009)

A. Job content (N = 6, α = 0,765)

1. Variation in your work

2. Challenging work

3. Balanced workload (Item removed, based on reliability analysis)

4. Interesting work

5. Autonomy

6. The possibility to deliver quality

7. Opportunity to fully utilize your knowledge and skills

B. Career development (N = 5, α = 0,800)

8. Career opportunities

9. Training and education

10. Coaching on the job

11. Professional development opportunities

12. Learning on the job

C. Social atmosphere (N = 5, α = 0,784)

13. Good working atmosphere

14. Opportunity to pleasantly cooperate with colleagues

15. Support from colleagues

16. Appreciation and recognition

17. Support from supervisor

D. Organizational policies (N = 8, α = 0,810)

18. Participation in important decisions

19. A fair supervisor

20. Feedback on performance

21. Clear and fair rules

22. Keeping you informed of developments

23. Open communication

24. Ethical policy towards society and environment

25. Being able to have confidence in the organization


49

E. Work-life balance (N = 4, α = 0,715)

26. Acknowledgement of personal circumstances

27. Opportunity to schedule your own holidays

28. Working at home

29. Adjust working hours to private life

F. Rewards (N = 6, α = 0,730)

30. Job security

31. Appropriate salary

32. Rewards for exceptional performance

33. Reimbursement of training costs

34. Good benefits package

35. Pay for performance


50

Appendix V Elaboration of regression equation (Generation X as reference category)

Y = Constant + Ъ1X1 + Ъ2D1 + Ъ3D2 + Ъ4D1 * X1 + Ъ5D2 * X1

Y = 3.137 + 0.053X1 + 0.038D1 + 0.069D2 - 0.032D1X1 - 0.006D2X1

Reference category: Generation X

Dummy 1 = Baby Boom generation (D1)

Dummy 2 = Millennial generation (D2)

Generation X

Y = Constant + Ъ1X1

Y = 3.137 + 0.053X1

Baby Boom generation

Y = Constant + Ъ1X1 + Ъ2D1 + Ъ4D1 * X1

Y = 3.137 + 0.053X1 + 0.038 - 0.032X1

Y = 3.175 + 0.021X1

Millennial generation


Y = 3.137 + 0.053X1 + 0.069 - 0.006X1

Y = 3.206 + 0.047X1


51

Appendix VI Elaboration of regression equation (Baby Boom generation as reference category)

Y = Constant + Ъ1X1 + Ъ2D1 + Ъ3D2 + Ъ4D1 * X1 + Ъ5D2 * X1

Y = 3.472 + 0.053X1 - 0.037D1 + 0.033D2 + 0.033D1X1 + 0.027D2X1

Reference category: Baby Boom generation

Dummy 1 = Generation X (D1)

Dummy 2 = Millennial generation (D2)

Baby Boom generation

Y = Constant + Ъ1X1

Y = 3.472 + 0.053X1

Generation X


Y = 3.472 + 0.053X1 - 0.037 + 0.033X1

Y = 3.435 + 0.086X1

Millennial generation


Y = 3.472 + 0.053X1 + 0.033 + 0.027X1

Y = 3.505 + 0.080X1

talent management thesis

Documents