<i>Knowing or Not Knowing the Rules of the Game</i> : Exploring the Role of Institutional Habitus in Shaping Individual Expectations and Experience on Talent Management Programmes

ABSTRACT This paper applies the concept of institutional habitus to analyse the accounts of participants on a talent management (TM) programme that is underpinned by an Exclusive/Developed talent philosophy. In doing so we reveal the structural presence of the organisation in shaping individual expectations and experience on TM programmes, adding to a subset of critical voices in the TM field which recognise how individual agency may be enabled or constrained by social and institutional structures. Our research contributes to the field of talent management in two significant ways. Firstly, we demonstrate the importance of an individual's professional habitus to account for variations in individuals' recognition of organisational expectations of talent. Second, we show how navigating organisational expectations of talent is shaped by individuals' appreciation for the ‘rules of the game’ and their ability to put this into practice. Against a backdrop of concern about diversity and inclusion in organisations, particularly within the public sector, the findings have implications for HR practitioners as they raise questions about how TM programmes might allow scope for individuals who do not fit the unwritten rules of what talent looks like in an organisation.