Talent management (TM) is a relatively new management discipline that has generated considerable interest among scholars and practitioners within the past decade. It has been studied extensively among large enterprises and global organizations, but the practices have received limited investigation among Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). This research paper uses a systematic review of the existing literature from 55 papers to present some insights into how TM is defined, conceptualized, and practised. An agenda for future research of SMEs TM is presented to spur further study. The paper uses the PRISMA methodology recommended by (Moher et al., (2009) to search the databases of Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar for papers published within the last ten years between 2011-21. The findings confirm that the study of TM in SMEs is a developing field, and while there has been an encouraging increase in the number of publications in the past 10 years, it still lags behind other fields. Thus, there is a need for researchers and academics to accelerate the pace of research.

Purpose This study aims to propose that inclusive talent management (TM) philosophy and TM practices are related to individual outcomes, such as job satisfaction, turnover intentions and job performance. Design/methodology/approach Using the resource-based theory, the research explores the mediation relationship between inclusive TM philosophy and job satisfaction, turnover intentions and job performance via TM practices. The study uses structural equation modelling for analysing the data collected through a questionnaire-based survey among a sample of 373 employees and 65 supervisors. Findings The results show that inclusive TM philosophy is positively related to individuals’ job satisfaction, job performance and decreased turnover intentions, through TM practices. Research limitations/implications The study’s limitation lies in its restriction to a narrow set of organizations operating in Romania, thus limiting the generalization of the findings. Consequently, future studies can extend the scope of the study to include a larger sample size consisting of more organizations operating across multiple sectors and countries. While it is appropriate to assess talent philosophies at the level of the individual employees, future studies may wish to tackle the constructs from the organizational (managerial) standpoint where the TM practices and programmes are designed. Furthermore, future researchers could draw comparisons with large enterprises to investigate the differences in the impact of implementing TM practices within these organizational types. Finally, future research could explore the outcomes of inclusive TM philosophy by using a qualitative design, which sheds more light on other factors that support or hinder the outcomes of embracing inclusive TM in organizations. Practical implications The study’s findings have practical implications for organizations that want to improve their employees’ outcomes and provide evidence on how organizations can achieve this through their TM practices. First, the paper establishes a relationship between inclusive TM philosophy and employees’ outcomes (turnover intention, job satisfaction and job performance) through the mediating impact of the organization’s TM practices in the context of organizations operating in Romania. The relevance of the context for TM studies has been highlighted in the literature, and thus, the findings make an important contribution to the TM literature, given the limited number of empirical studies on TM practices from emerging European countries (Skuza et al., 2013). Second, the model was tested empirically by collecting data from two sources – employees and supervisors from the surveyed organizations. The perception among employees that they are treated as a talent by the organization can have a positive impact on their satisfaction, and job performance, and decrease their turnover intentions. This suggests that organizations should invest in talent development programmes to help their employees develop into talented performers who help improve the organization’s performance. The findings are of particular importance to human resources practitioners, as it suggests that organizations should consider implementing TM practices systematically across the organization to ensure that all employees benefit from them. By doing this, organizations can improve individual outcomes, which can ultimately lead to improved organizational performance. Social implications Organization that develop the talent of their workforce in its totality are likely to be more successful in the long term. Similarly, it can be inferred that organizations that enhance the talent of their workforce through practices such as staff rotation, talent identification are likely to derive greater benefit from the capabilities that their staff display. Originality/value The study sheds light on the impact of talent philosophies and TM practices on outcomes at the individual employees’ level, which is an understudied study area within the broader TM discipline.