In this article we challenge the assumption that independent professionals (IPros), that is professionals who work as contractors, freelancers, and self‐employed individuals, are not within the remit of talent management (TM) theory and practice. The TM literature is almost exclusively focused on traditional employees and largely ignores the external workforce, even if like IPros, they epitomize high‐value talent. Moreover, much of the TM literature takes an organizational perspective while the individual perspective remains marginal. Advancing the notion of institutional factors in the macro environment suggested by King and Vaiman, we draw on interviews with 52 IPros in two contrasted institutional contexts to provide an agentic view of TM from outside of the standard employment relationship. Our findings reveal the importance of volition, emotional stability, internal locus of control, and self‐efficacy play in IPros effectively managing personal TM strategies. These strategies allow IPros to overcome the empowerment/powerlessness tensions Daubner‐Siva et al. call the “talent paradox.” Importantly, the results do not vary between the two national contexts, suggesting that embracing a “total TM” strategy, attentive to the personal characteristics of talent, regardless of the regulatory issues linked to employment status, will produce superior outcomes for all.

中文翻译：

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独立专业人士为才华：来自作为承包商工作的个人观点的证据

在本文中，我们挑战这样的假设，即独立专业人士（IPros），即作为承包商，自由职业者和自雇人士的专业人士，不在人才管理（TM）理论和实践的范围之内。TM文献几乎专门针对传统员工，即使像IPros一样，它们也代表着高价值人才，但他们很大程度上忽略了外部劳动力。而且，许多TM文献采用组织的观点，而个人观点仍然是边缘的。为了提倡金和维曼提出的宏观环境中的制度因素的概念，我们在两个对比的制度背景下对52 IPros进行了访谈，以从标准雇佣关系之外提供对TM的代理观点。我们的发现揭示了自愿的重要性，IPros的情绪稳定，内部控制源和自我效能感可有效管理个人TM策略。这些策略使IPros克服了授权/无权的紧张情绪Daubner-Siva等人。称为“人才悖论”。重要的是，结果在两个国家的情况下并没有不同，这表明采用“全面TM”战略，关注人才的个人特征，无论与就业状况相关的监管问题如何，都将为所有人带来更好的结果。