Evaluation of talent management strategy in fulfilling enterprise strategy : a case study at SAPREF.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the robustness of talent management strategy at South African Petroleum Refineries (SAPREF) in fulfilling the business strategy. Four objectives were selected as the focus of the study, which are talent sourcing and retention, succession planning, competency development and employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. SAPREF has a vision of becoming the best refinery in Southern Africa comparable to Asian refineries. The best refinery is the one which is operated optimally and safe, profitable, reliable and always available to process crude oil into finished projects, executes capital projects timeously and on budget. The biggest lever to reach the best refinery status is the talented people behind the sophisticated state of the art refining facilities. The recruitment of best talent, retention, development and properly executed succession planning will ensure that SAPREF vision is realized and the talent to meet the future needs of the business is available and well prepared. A probability sample of 60 managers was drawn from a population of 80 managers. Of the sample, 7 managers were from Top management (LT), 21 were from Senior management (ELT) and 32 were from Middle management (MM). Data was collected using a questionnaire survey that was personally administered to the study participants. The choice of personally administering the questionnaire was informed by the fact that the study; and the study participants are based on one site and the high response rate associated with the method. Data was captured in Excel spreadsheet database and exported to SPSS version 18 for analysis (both for quantitative analysis and statistical analysis). The results of the study revealed that SAPREF talent management is on the right track, regarding the objectives of talent sourcing and retention, competency development and employee engagement and diversity and inclusion. The study revealed succession planning was not going well at SAPREF requiring urgent intervention. It is recommended that a detailed further qualitative research be undertaken to understand why study participants rejected the current SAPREF succession model.