The impact of talent management on employee performance and retention strategies : case of Masvingo City Council in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of talent management on employee performance and retention strategies at the Masvingo City Council in Zimbabwe. The main problem revolved around the inability to attract, attain and retain talented employees that perform effectively, intensifying service delivery challenges in City Councils in Zimbabwe. The main objectives of the study were to determine the impact of talent management on employee performance at Masvingo City Council in Zimbabwe, to investigate talent management strategies that can be used by Masvingo City Council to improve employee retention and employee performance and to formulate retention strategies that can be used by Masvingo City Council.

The study adopted the quantitative research design and a pre-coded structured close ended questionnaire comprising the 5 Point Likert Scale was administered to the respondents. The questionnaire comprised of Section A and Section B. The target population comprised of 72 professionals at the Masvingo City Council. The researcher personally distributed and collected the questionnaires from the respondents which equated to a high response rate of 93.05%. Upon completion of the study, the researcher solicited the services of a Senior Librarian to run the TURNITIN Program to test the entire dissertation for plagiarism.

The responses to the questionnaire were captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 24.0 for Windows. A number of statistical tests were used to test 14 hypotheses which were formulated for the various sections of the study. The main findings indicated that talent management had an impact on employee performance at Masvingo City Council in Zimbabwe. The findings also revealed that there is a strong relationship between the implementation of talent management and retention strategies at Masvingo City Council. The researcher recommended that Masvingo City Council should provide employees with adequate training and development, revise and improve personnel policies provide adequate resources and reward employees for outstanding performance. The study concludes by providing directions for future research.