Digitalised talent management and automated talent decisions: the implications for HR professionals

Our study examines the role digitalisation plays in how various stakeholder groups (HR and line managers) identify talent and whether digitalisation transforms the role of HR professionals in identifying talent. By employing a qualitative case study with multiple embedded units of analysis, we show how the same digital talent management technology produced different ways of identifying talent even within the one organisation. In one social context, the material properties of the technology dominated, while in another the existing social context and relationships prevailed over the material properties of the technology. Our findings have implications for understanding digital transformations by acknowledging what factors influence the role that digitalisation and automation have on the perceived legitimacy of HR professionals. We discuss these implications for talent management scholarship and the HR profession.