The assessment of the implementation of talent management at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

The University of KwaZulu-Natal is one of the leading higher education institution with a reputation of academic and research excellence. The Human Resource division is one of the fundamental divisions in the university structure, which seeks to attract, recruit and ensure that a high calibre staff members are trained, developed and retained to enhance skills, performance, as well as job satisfaction. For the University of KwaZulu-Natal to achieve its goal of becoming the “employer of choice” for staff, talent management becomes one of the integral strategies to the university’s endeavours. It is evident that there are underlying weaknesses that hinders effective implementation of the existing integrated talent management policy. This research aimed to assess the implementation of the talent management process in the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The study objectives were to: understand how talent implementation is identified at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, to understand how talent is assessed at the university, to understand how talent is developed and to understand ways in which talent is retained at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Due to the complexity of this, a case study approach was used for this study for the researcher to arrive at an in-depth understanding of the study as a case study approach allows for various perspectives, feelings and reality of participants of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. A purposive sampling method was used to allow the Researcher to justify or generalize on the selected sample either analytically, theoretically or logically. In-depth, semi- structured interviews were carried out with 8 respondents at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, namely, the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance comprising of: 5 academics and 3 professional services staff members. The collected data was then analyzed in themes. Arears of improvement were identified for the university’s integrated talent management process. The findings indicated that it is important to recognize that talent management is more than a chain of human resource processes and programmes but should be driven by business strategy and also provide necessary support to drive business results. Therefore necessary strategies should be applied to obtain feedback from employees on the implementation of the talent management system. Furthermore talent management practices should be clear for all employees and management commitment is necessary in the development and retention of talent.