Narrative review on talent management: evaluating two decades and exploring future research directions

Purpose This article provides a comprehensive, critical examination of talent management (TM) literature through a narrative review spanning the past two decades. It explores the evolving TM landscape, offering a holistic view of its development and insights on global TM, global mobility and related theories. The goal is to enhance understanding of TM’s evolution and recommend future research directions grounded in contemporary theoretical frameworks. Design/methodology/approach A rigorous screening process produced a sample of 95 peer-reviewed articles (2004–2024) from Q1 and Q2 journals, selected for their theoretical and empirical contributions. Strict inclusion criteria ensured relevance, focusing on academic discourse. A thematic analysis traced key themes and TM’s evolution. Findings The synthesis identified six historical contexts and three narrative questions, addressing the standardization versus contextualization debate to frame TM’s evolution. Findings reveal a progression from early concepts to a mature, theory-driven field. Three research perspectives are proposed to guide TM toward balanced, contemporary approaches. Global mobility highlights the need for context-specific strategies, while integrating global and critical perspectives underscores contextualizing TM practices to diverse organizational and national contexts. This ensures inclusivity, equity and actionable insights for practitioners. Originality/value This narrative review provides a fresh perspective by tracing TM’s evolution through a historical lens, revealing trends and dynamics often missed in systematic reviews. It integrates the standardization vs. contextualization debate with dynamic capabilities and institutional theory, positioning TM as an agile, context-specific process adaptable in rapidly changing global environments.