INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)

ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue XIV November 2025| Special Issue on Management

How Do Tunisian International Companies Identify Their Talent

Pools?

¹Dr. Imen Zamit., ²Pr. Lassaad LAKHAL

¹Department of Management, IAE Savoie Mont Blanc, Annecy, France and Department of

Management, Institute for Research in Management and Economics, University Savoie Mont Blanc,

Annecy, France

²Department of Management, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, University Sousse,

LAMIDED Research Laboratory, Sousse –Tunisia

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.914MG00232

Received: 01 December 2025; Accepted: 06 December 2025; Published: 09 December 2025

ABSTRACT

The present work aimed to explore the process for identifying talent pools within Tunisian companies to

implement individual development plans, thereby reducing brain drain abroad. Despite the importance of this

research topic for the labor market, it remains little explored by practitioners and theorists in the field of talent

management. In response to this challenge, we conducted 45 semi-structured interviews with human resources

professionals and talent pools from five international Tunisian companies specializing in IT (Sofrecom, Vermeg,

and Leoni) and telecommunications (Orange Group and Ooredoo). The data were analyzed using NVivo 10

software based on thematic content analysis. The findings enabled us to present the characteristics of a talented

employee and the talent management practices used by human resources managers to identify key individuals in

the Tunisian context.

Keywords: Talent, performance, potential, competency, talent review, performance assessment

INTRODUCTION

Coined by McKinsey in 1998, the term “war for talent” underscores the firm’s argument that acknowledging

talent as a strategic asset is critical for organizations aiming to achieve high performance. (Michaels et al., 2001).

In the current context of the war for talent (Volini et al., 2019), human resources (HR) professionals consider

talent management to be a key priority for developing and maintaining a strong pool of future leaders (Collings

et al., 2019; Mäkelä et al., 2010). A marked increase in talent management literature has emerged in recent

years, signaling that organizations worldwide now view this area as a major strategic priority. (Boudreau and

Ramstad, 2007; Cappelli, 2008; Miralles, 2007; Mundschau, 2013; Martin, 2014; Peretti, 2009; Pachulski, 2010;

Thévenet and Dejoux, 2010). Strong talent management practices are essential to achieving organizational

success (Beechler and Woodward, 2009; Iles et al., 2010) and crucial to the survival and sustainability of

organizations (Lawler, 2008). Despite the growing popularity of talent management in the literature, the concept

of talent suffers from conceptual confusion due to a lack of clarity regarding its definition, usefulness, and overall

objectives (Lewis and Heckman, 2006; Tansley et al., 2007). There is a lack of theoretical foundation and

conceptual development of the notion of talent, which can be attributed in part to the fact that most references

in this field are based on practitioners or consultants (Iles et al., 2010; Preece et al., 2011).

This last observation explains why the literature focuses on practices (the “how”) rather than on ‘who’ is

considered talented and “why” this concept is used in the world of work. To date, little research has focused on

identifying talent pools, a crucial step in successfully implementing effective talent management for companies.

The first study that focused on identifying talented employees was published by Davies and Davies in 2010. Our

article aimed to establish a talent management approach that recognizes the company's talent pool to be able to

develop it, retain it, and compete in the labor market. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: the

first part presents the conceptual framework of the notion of talent. The second part outlines the research

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)

ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue XIV November 2025| Special Issue on Management

methodology. In the third section, we will present and discuss the results drawn from the empirical study.

Finally, the last section summarizes the theoretical and managerial contributions, limitations, and prospects for

future research.

Theoretical framework

In English, as well as in other European languages, talent is generally described as an innate ability that

manifests itself in a particular field (Tansley, 2011). The first meaning of talent found in the contemporary

English dictionary refers to personal characteristics (object approach). Talent is considered an above-average

ability for a specific function or range of functions. Rather than corresponding to a “normal” ability, talent is

defined as a special ability that enables those who possess, develop, and use it to outperform their peers of the

same age (Gagné, 2000). Consequently, talent is often equated with excellent performance in a given field. The

second meaning of talent found in contemporary English dictionaries refers to a talented person or persons

(subject approach), i.e., individuals with special skills or abilities. Indeed, the “subject approach” is historically

more recent than the “object approach” and coexists with it in human resources management (HRM) literature.

In the following sections, we will present the specific features of these two approaches.

Object approach — talent is a characteristic of individuals

This approach conceptualizes talent as a natural ability, one that implements talents as the mastery of

systematically developed skills. It associates talent with commitment and motivation, and emphasizes the

importance of matching an individual's talent to the context in which they work.

Talent is a natural ability

Most HRM specialists and practitioners believe that talent is innate, at least to some extent. For Hinrichs (1966),

talent is a natural aptitude that combines an innate intelligence, the creativity necessary to overcome stereotypes

and propose new solutions, as well as relational qualities that facilitate collaboration with all the organization's

actors. Thus, Buckingham and Vosburgh (2001) argue that while skills and knowledge are relatively “easy to

teach,” talent is a much more enduring and unique characteristic. Therefore, according to these authors, talent is

virtually impossible to learn or teach. Furthermore, Davies and Davies (2010) argue that, given its innate nature,

talent cannot be managed; therefore, they suggest that organizations should focus on developing talent. Silzer

and Dowell (2010) note that human resources practices often fail to distinguish between innate and malleable

components of talent, instead adopting a more pragmatic approach to talent management. We can therefore make

the following proposition:

Talent is defined as an innate ability.

Talent is mastery

Unlike the natural aptitude approach, talent concepts focus on deliberate practice and learning from experience.

Ericsson et al. (2007) found through their research across a wide range of performance domains (medicine,

auditing, programming, dance, and music) that talent, which they define as expert performance, is almost always

developed, not innate. According to Gagné (2000), the difference between competence and talent lies in the fact

that competence corresponds to levels of mastery ranging from a minimum acceptable level to well above

average, i.e., below the threshold of behavior of “talented individuals” or “experts,” and this person ranks among

the top 10% of performers in a particular field. We can therefore formulate the following proposition:

Talent is defined as acquired skills.

Talent is a commitment

A third approach to talent focuses on commitment, operationalized as both a commitment to one’s work and to

an employing organization. In the first sense, talent is conceptualized as something intrinsic to a person, directing

their concentration, attention, and dedication (Pruis, 2011). In the second sense, talent is defined as commitment,

which refers to employees' willingness to invest discretionary energy in the success of their organization, thereby

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)

ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue XIV November 2025| Special Issue on Management

aligning their personal goals with those of the organization (Ulrich, 2008). We can thus suggest the following

proposition:

Talent is linked to commitment and motivation, which must complement acquired and innate skills.

Talent is an adjustment

The adjustment approach plays a crucial role in the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework, which

assumes that, in addition to skills and motivation, employees also need opportunities to succeed (Boselie et al.,

2005). Therefore, talent does not depend solely on the quality of an individual's competencies; it also depends

on the quality of their work. In this regard, some authors in the talent management literature emphasize the

importance of matching people to positions (Collings and Mellahi, 2009). Assigning the most talented employees

to the positions of highest strategic value in the organization (“A positions”), while placing the highest-

performing employees in support positions (“B positions”), and eliminating the lowest performers, is known as

the portfolio approach to workforce management (Becker et al., 2009). This approach advocates identifying

“pivotal positions,” which are positions that have an above-average impact on organizational results, rather than

identifying talented individuals per se (Ashton and Morton, 2005; Boudreau and Ramstad, 2005), hence the

following proposition:

Talent is someone who occupies strategic positions within the company.

“Subject approach” - talent as individuals

In the “subject approach,” there is an inclusive approach in which talent is understood as all employees in an

organization, and an exclusive approach that defines talent as a subset of an organization's population (Iles et al.,

2010).

Inclusive Approach

The inclusive approach to talent management considers the term “talent” to include everyone in the organization.

According to this approach, each employee has their own strengths and can therefore potentially create added

value for the organization (Buckingham and Vosburgh, 2001). Thus, Peters (2006) states that there is no reason

not to consider all employees in the organization as talented. In this sense, O'Reilly and Pfeffer (2000) argue that

organizational success stems from capturing the value of the entire workforce, not just a few superstars.

In addition, Crain (2009) points out that in today's business world, it is primarily employees, not technology,

factories, or capital, who are expected to create value for organizations; employees themselves are now the main

determinant of organizational performance. Silzer and Dowell (2010) claim that in some cases, talent can refer

to the entire employee population. Inclusive approaches are based on the power of talent and benefit from what

is known as the “brand effect,” meaning that treating all employees in the organization as equals creates a more

pleasant, collegial, and motivating work environment (Bothner et al., 2011).

In conclusion, an inclusive approach ensures an equal distribution of resources among all employees in an

organization rather than focusing on a small elite subgroup, thereby avoiding a decline in morale among loyal

employees who are not considered “superstars” (Groysberg et al., 2004). It has been demonstrated that talent

management practices can be more or less inclusive (Meyers et al., 2020), depending on the underlying

philosophy of talent management as well as contextual factors such as company size (Festing et al., 2013) or

national culture (Muratbekova-Touron et al., 2018).

Exclusive Approach

According to Tansley et al. (2007), this exclusive approach is based primarily on individuals who can influence

organizational performance, either through their immediate contribution or in the longer term by demonstrating

the highest levels of potential. In terms of performance, Smart (2005) asserts that high-performing employees

are the most vital driver of organizational performance because they contribute more, innovate more, work

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smarter, demonstrate more ingenuity, take more initiative, implement change more effectively, perform higher-

quality work, demonstrate greater teamwork, and find ways to do the job in less time and at lower cost.

Thus, Michaels et al. (2001) argue that the best way to outperform competitors is to recruit the best-performing

employees at all levels of the organization. In terms of potential, talent can be defined as a select group of high-

potential employees. In this context, Silzer and Church (2009) argue that potential can be defined as the

possibility of changing unobservable structures that are not yet real but have the potential to develop, the

possibility that individuals can become something more than they currently are. Potential implies further growth

and development to reach a desired final state. High-potential employees are therefore those who have the

potential to advance more quickly than their peers, while demonstrating needs, motivations, and behaviors that

differ from those of regular employees (Pepermans et al., 2003). Figure 1 from Gallardo-Gallardo et al. (2013)

summarizes the “object approach” and the “subject approach”, the two key perspectives on talent in the

workplace.

Figure 1: The framework for conceptualizing talent in the world of work

Source: Gallardo-Gallardo et al. (2013)

In this study, we adopted the subject approach to talent, specifically the exclusive perspective. This theoretical

lens serves as the foundation of our framework, guiding the research process and shaping the presentation of our

empirical findings. While Tansley (2011) notes that the “object approach” aligns more closely with the

etymological origins of the term “talent,” our focus remains on the exclusive subject approach, which better

supports the aims of this research.

Furthermore, Iles and Preece (2010) indicate that the “subject approach” (talent as a person) seems much more

widespread in organizational practice. More specifically, a talent management strategy based on workforce

segmentation (Becker et al., 2009), which involves identifying selected pools of high-performing individuals

with high potential, appears to be the most common approach (Dries and Pepermans, 2008). The following

proposition is as follows:

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The talent pool is identified based on the exclusive theory.

Performance and potential matrix or “9-box grid”

Potential is not an absolute measure, but McKinsey's nine-box grid is a useful tool for identifying employee

potential (Davies and Davies, 2010). In this nine-box grid, the horizontal axis focuses on the performance

management process and requires judgment on the individual's performance. The vertical axis requires a

subjective qualitative assessment of employees' behaviors and potential. The effectiveness of the tool is

determined by the level of honest discussion among the management team to place each staff member in one of

the nine boxes. Each box represents a level of support and development required. Still individuals in the top right

box will have the goal of developing leadership talent and represent the talent pool of the organization. The four

types of employees, A, B, C, and D, are identified and mapped onto the nine-box grid shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 : Performance and potential matrix

Source : Davies and Davies (2010)

From this matrix of performance and potential, Michaels et al. (2001) identify the need to differentiate people

and take different measures for each category of employee, among which we can mention: For category A

employees, it is necessary to invest in players A because this category is identified as the real affairs of the

company that constantly provide exceptional practices and inspire and motivate others. Then, for category B

employees, it is necessary to affirm and develop actors B. These are considered solid individuals who

consistently exceed expectations, but whose performance can be costly or require extensive maintenance. For

group C, it is necessary to improve and increase their tasks or withdraw from critical positions. This category

represents the backbone of the organization that will take the work but will not lead to change. Finally, the

employees of group D are of very low performance and do not contribute to the company’s advancement;

therefore, they must be removed from the company, hence the following proposition:

The performance and potential matrix is a tool for identifying the pool of talents.

METHODOLOGY

We adopted an exploratory qualitative approach to achieve our objective, which involved identifying the process

to follow for detecting the talent pool within the company. As part of our qualitative research, we opted for data

triangulation: semi-structured interviews, the collection of internal and external documents, and field

observation. The objective of data triangulation was to understand the process followed by human resources

managers and other managers to identify talent (Hentz, 2012). The first phase of data collection focused on field

observation. During our initial visits to international companies, we held meetings with HR professionals, who

presented their talent pools and the definitions they used to identify talent. The second phase focused on

document collection, which requires examining and interpreting the data to make sense of it and develop

empirical knowledge (Corbin and Strauss, 2008; Rapley, 2007). These documents provide an overview of the

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company, its activities, and its progress in talent management, ensuring that the interviews run smoothly. The

final phase involved semi-structured interviews, which served as the main source of data collection. During the

semi-structured interviews, we used two pre-prepared interview guides. The interviews in our qualitative study

lasted between 45 minutes and one hour. The first interview guide consisted of several questions addressed to

20 human resources professionals, including the HR director, talent development manager, talent acquisition

manager, career manager, compensation manager, and training manager. These interviews focused on the

strategy used by each of the studied companies to identify talent pools, as well as the conceptualization of the

notion of talent, which is considered a new phenomenon in Tunisia. A second series of semi-structured

interviews was conducted with 25 talented employees from the international companies studied. We selected

individuals who are computer engineers (business managers, IT architects, and web developers). The interviews

were conducted face-to-face at the companies' premises and online for talented individuals who had relocated

abroad.

The interviews were recorded using a tape recorder, which facilitated accurate transcription. The interview guide

was structured in two sections: the first gathered general information about the participants (name, age,

educational background, and current position), while the second focused on how Tunisian international

companies define talent and the practices they employ to identify their talent pools. Our study focused on five

international IT companies based in Tunisia. These firms started implementing talent management practices

within the past two years. The topic is critical today because Tunisian companies continue to struggle with the

loss of talented workers abroad and the limited availability of talent in the local IT market since the January 14,

2011, revolution. Our investigation into how talent pools are identified was conducted with a sample of three IT

companies (Vermeg, Sofrecom, and Leoni) and two telecommunications firms (Orange and Ooredoo). Table 2

presents the main characteristics of this sample. After collecting the qualitative data, we conducted a thematic

content analysis using NVivo 10 software.

Table 1: Characteristics of respondents surveyed

Enterprises

Number

of talents Number of HR managers Software to identify the talent

Questioned

pool

Vermeg

Sofrecom

Leoni

5 respondents

4 respondents

3 respondents

5 respondents

8 respondents

4 respondents

5 respondents

6 respondents

3 respondents

2 respondents

SIRH

SIRIUS-RH

SAP

Orange

Ooredoo

PerfEI

SIRH

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results of this research allowed us to identify two main themes, which will be listed and explained using

verbatim quotes from the semi-structured interviews.

Conceptualization of the notion of talent in the Tunisian context

The 45 semi-structured interviews conducted with human resources professionals and talented employees

enabled us to identify the characteristics of talent within the company, thereby establishing a process for

identifying the talent pool. To begin with, most of the interviewees determine the talent pool based on the

exclusive theory. In this context, one of the HR managers interviewed stated that “to identify talent at Vermeg,

we use the exclusive theory. These exclusive individuals are those who can make a significant difference in the

current and future performance of the organization. This concerns only 1% to 10% of employees in terms of

selection, evaluation, and recognition of talent.” MS (HR Director, Vermeg).

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Here, we focused on the exclusive approach to talent management, which targets only a select group of

employees, particularly those with high potential, high performance, or desirable skills for key positions, and

who are therefore designated as “talents” (Björkman et al., 2013; Lewis and Heckman, 2006). This approach is

used by most companies (Gallardo-Gallardo and Thunnissen, 2016; Thunnissen and Gallardo-Gallardo, 2019).

In other words, this theory suggests that talent management is defined as selective HRM integrated with a

selective focus. Just as marketing requires differentiation between customers, talent management requires

employees with high potential.

Additionally, more than half of the interviews indicate that the two concepts of potential and performance play

a crucial role in identifying talent: "a person who has talent is not necessarily the person who performs best. To

identify talent, there are two essential elements: “performance and potential.” It is from these two concepts that

we can begin to have talent. In this case, we tend to say that the person who performs best and has high potential

in the team is the most talented." AT (HR Manager, Sofrecom).

Regarding the concept of performance, Smart (2005) states that talent management equates the term “talent”

with the highest performers, “the best in the class.” Regarding the concept of potential, one of the interviewees

stated that "potential is defined as a bet on the future. It essentially consists of two components: ambition and

learning agility." RT (talent development manager, Leoni). Thus, ambition means that high-potential employees

are highly driven by their careers. This is why this ambition has a strong correlation with employee engagement

within the organization.

Additionally, learning agility plays a crucial role in the long-term effectiveness and professional success of a

talented employee. Individuals who possess learning agility have a remarkable ability to learn from their

experiences and take on new challenges, which distinguishes them as high-potential employees and enables their

rapid career advancement (Dai et al., 2013, 2014). Accordingly, measuring learning agility is the most effective

way to assess an individual’s potential to learn from experience. To conclude, high-potential employees are

therefore those who can advance faster than their peers, while demonstrating needs, motivations, and behaviors

that differ from those of "regular" employees (Pepermans et al., 2003).

Moreover, all the HR directors of the companies studied indicated that the combination of potential and

performance constitutes “talent mapping”, which identifies the talent pool in the company. "The performance

and potential matrix consists of a vertical axis that focuses on performance evaluation and a horizontal axis

based on potential evaluation. When we talk about performance, we talk about people who excel in achieving

their goals...” FA (Talent Development Manager, Orange). In other words, 'talent mapping' consists of regular

performance and potential assessments to identify the talent pool and determine the strengths and needs of talent

development activities through a mapping of each employee’s skills and abilities (Wahyuningtyas, 2015). In the

performance and potential matrix, talented employees are positioned at the top right of the grid, indicating that

they represent the highest performance and potential within the organization.

Ultimately, a minority of respondents stated that talent represents a set of innate skills and skills acquired

through learning, practice, or systematic experience. One interviewee emphasized that “talent stands out based

on various criteria; they have strong abilities and skills, especially behavioral ones, that identify them as a

talented person.”ꢀAH (HR Director, Leoni). This finding is consistent with a previous research by Dejoux and

Thévenet (2010, p. 21), who define talent as “a rare combination of rare skills." Thus, Roger and Bouillet (2009)

consider talent a subset of skills in which the person excels and stands out from others. To identify talent within

the company, HR managers should focus on employees with high value-added skills who are difficult to replace.

Identifying the talent pool: performance evaluation and talent review

As part of this research, two talent management practices, performance evaluation and talent review, were used

to identify the talent pool in each company. Proper implementation of these practices helps attract and retain

talented employees. The talent search process based on interviews conducted in this study is as follows:

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Figure 3 : Approach followed to identify talents

First, the results of this qualitative study allowed us to distinguish that the performance evaluation software

enables the planning, execution, and documentation of performance evaluations. One of the interviewees stated

that "the tool used for evaluation is the PerfEI software. First, fill in the columns with the objectives assigned to

each employee, along with comments on each objective. The manager is responsible for this evaluation at the

end of each semester..." MH (Talent Engineer, Sofrecom). However, the assessment software (such as SIRH,

SIRIUS-RH, SAP, and PerfEI) used in this study enables the mapping of the internal talent within the surveyed

companies based on the results of performance and potential assessments. In addition, the digitization of this

assessment phase helps talent development managers and the chief executive officer (CEO) match their talent

pools with new strategic opportunities. To begin with, most respondents indicated that at the beginning of the

semester, managers set objectives for their employees and inform them about the performance assessment

software.

One of the talented engineers interviewed stated that “the assessment focuses on the agreement on objectives

made at the beginning of the year. It involves a meeting between the manager and the various team members to

set operational objectives, managerial objectives, cross-functional objectives, behavioral objectives, etc.” KH

(Talented Engineer, Orange). This system comprises six distinct cyclical stages: prerequisites, performance

planning, performance execution, performance assessment, performance review, and performance renewal and

recontracting (Aguinis, 2013). Besides, some interviewees stated that, throughout the semester, employees have

the opportunity to access their evaluation document and record comments on the progress of each objective. At

the end of the year, the manager and the employee meet to discuss the level of achievement of the goals. In the

same vein, one of the interviewees added that "... our self-assessment is done via a link that is shared with

various Sofrecom employees, followed by a face-to-face interview between the manager and the employee. At

the end of this meeting, the line manager must determine the percentage achieved for each objective and assign

a score to each employee." KK (Talent Engineer, Sofrecom). However, the purpose of the performance

evaluation process is to identify rare skills so that they can be better used within the organization, determine

training and internal mobilization needs, and implement individual development plans (IDP). Furthermore,

Cascio (2006) and Stahl et al. (2007) state that annual (or semi-annual) performance evaluations are the most

commonly used data for corporate decision-making on whom to include in the talent pool.

Furthermore, more than half of respondents indicated that at the end of the annual individual interview between

the line manager and the employee in the companies surveyed, the manager must assign different grades to their

employees, for example: A+ (exceptional performance), A (objectives exceeded), B+ (objectives accomplished),

B (objectives partially achieved), and C (unsatisfactory performance). One of the HR managers in our research

sample stated that “talented employees are those who achieve exceptional goals; these rare skills represent 7%

of Orange Group employees [...], so this assessment is considered a means of identifying exceptional skills and

exploiting them.” AB (HR Manager, Orange). According to the results of this research, employees who received

A+ and A ratings and achieved exceptional objectives are those who represent the organization's internal talent.

This finding aligns with the work of Dejoux and Thévenet (2015), who assert that only a small percentage of

staff, around 5%, possess extraordinary talents. Moreover, half of the human resources managers surveyed added

that this performance evaluation phase not only identifies the talent pool but also enables the implementation of

IDPs that respond to career development aspirations by scheduling training courses when needed.

Indeed, “...the existence of an appraisal system makes it possible to gather the information needed to develop

various programs (promotion, training) and make decisions about employees' careers.” AB (HR Director,

Ooredoo). However, IDPs help improve the retention of top employees, as they directly meet the expectations

of the high performers: acquiring new skills on the job (Trevor et al., 1997) and receiving individualized attention

(Lombardo and Eichinger, 2000). IDPs provide a structure through which employees receive managerial

mentoring, ensuring that the objectives of IDPs are achieved. “Given the situation of our labor market in Tunisia

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and the brain drain of engineers abroad, evaluation is a factor in attracting and retaining talent, as it is linked

to career advancement...” LM (HR Manager, Vermeg). This practice enhances the retention of top talent by

offering the learning and development opportunities sought by top performers (Allen et al., 2010; Wang-

Cowham, 2011). In other words, IDPs have strong potential to create company-specific human capital (Coff

and Kryscynski, 2011). In addition, some respondents indicated that the evaluation phase also allows for

performance bonuses to be offered: “The difference between high and low performers is evident in the variable

pay component (the bonus), which the manager assesses at the conclusion of each year. The most talented

employees earn the largest rewards, highlighting compensation as a crucial strategy for attracting and retaining

talented individuals.” YR (HR Director, Leoni). Thus, this performance bonus encourages talented employees

to increase their productivity at work and helps retain them.

In the same vein, Trevor et al. (1997) assert that there is a clear link between high salary growth and low staff

turnover in the working group. Indeed, top performers expect to earn significantly more than the average

employee. As Baldwin et al. (2013) note, nothing demotivates a star employee more than receiving the same

rewards as everyone else, regardless of performance. Finally, a minority of the HR managers surveyed stated

that the assessment of potential for talented employees is different from that of other employees. This assessment,

which follows the performance evaluation phase, is called the “talent review.” It is considered a new talent

management practice used by the companies surveyed in this research to identify potential talent pool and

determine their positioning in the performance and potential matrix. Indeed, the talent review “is a talent analysis

that takes place during a meeting in which managers discuss the performance of their talented employees and

how these talents are positioned in future positions.” MS (HR Director, Orange).

Managers participating in the meeting must justify whether current talent can fill future positions. This talent

review allows HR directors and the CEO to consider the company's future growth. These findings coincide with

those of Heinen and O'Neill (2004), who assert that talent reviews are used to highlight individual and

organizational capacity issues.

CONCLUSION

Today, companies no longer need employees who carry out missions and tasks; instead, they are interested in

hiring individuals with scarce skills and innovative solutions. Nowadays, we no longer discuss competencies but

rather talents. In this context, many Tunisian companies are now focusing on implementing talent management

practices. These organizations strive to surround themselves with gifted workers who bring added value to the

organization. In this context, 45 semi-structured interviews enabled us to shed light on the conceptualization of

talent in Tunisian international companies and the strategy used to identify the talent pool. Indeed, to our

knowledge, this research, is the first in Tunisia to focus on the field of talent management, which has been

experiencing a shortage of skilled labor in the job market since the Tunisian Revolution.

In conclusion, the present work proposes a clarification of the concept of “talent” based on the exclusive theory.

More specifically, this theory comprises an elite subset of the organization's population, corresponding to the

top 10% of employees in terms of performance and potential (Galardo-Galardo et al., 2013). Furthermore, the

results showed that this talent pool could be identified by determining their levels of performance and potential

within the company. Based on this qualitative study, we found that the companies surveyed rely primarily on the

score assigned during the annual evaluation phase and the potential identified through the talent review. The

results of these two evaluation phases must be mapped in the performance and potential matrix. In this matrix,

talented employees are those who demonstrate the highest performance and potential. This performance and

potential matrix not only identifies internal talent within the company but also helps HR managers implement

talent-specific development plans to enhance company performance and effectively address the competition.

As with any research, this article has its limitations. It was conducted in a country with a distinct work culture

and economy, as well as unique characteristics in terms of talent management. It is challenging to generalize the

relevance of talent management to other contexts, particularly developed countries. To overcome this limitation,

it would be compelling to conduct a comparative study in a developed country with a culture different from that

of Tunisia. Besides, it would be interesting to examine other sectors of activity.

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