Talent management research in Africa: towards multilevel model and research agenda

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to systematically review talent management research in Africa with the aim of developing a multilevel talent management model and defining future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review is performed utilising studies published on the topic from 2008 to 2019 in various research databases. Findings The findings highlighted various talent management contributions and challenges in the African context. They further revealed major issues with the nature of research method adopted in talent management research in Africa. Moreover, contextually, apart from Southern Africa sub-region, talent management research is highly under-researched in the North African, West African and Eastern African sub-regions of the continent. Therefore, talent management research in Africa can be described as being at an embryonic stage. Practical implications Effective talent management has significant transformative and growth power through its varied positive contributions. Talent management in Africa is faced with numerous organisational and macro-level challenges and requires attention from relevant stakeholders, if African talents are to be harnessed to facilitate the development of the continent. Originality/value This systematic review on talent management is the first of its kind focusing solely on Africa. Also, this study contributes further evidence by proposing a multilevel talent management model based on the synthesised evidence since multilevel research in the field of talent management is very limited.

Green talent management and turnover intention: the roles of leader STARA competence and digital task interdependence

“…This result has been unexpected though quite plausible given the cultural context of our study. While these findings challenge earlier research findings (Abdul et al, 2019;Anlesinya et al, 2019;Ngo-Henha, 2017;Rana and Abbasi, 2013), they do bring to mind a possibility that may arise while demonstrating green soft TM. Drawing from Figures 2 and 3…”

“…Likewise, with respect to intellectual capital development (Temouri et al, 2021), studies lament that the ineffective management of talent with needed competencies and poor retention strategies in several organisations suggests ineffective and outdated TM practices in Nigerian organisations (Nwosu and Ward, 2016;Okpara and Wynn, 2008;Oludayo et al, 2018). Such findings place an imperative on organisational leaders to not only focus on target-oriented business models but also to develop TM strategies that adequately and effectively consider constant talent development and retention (Anlesinya et al, 2019). Consequently, this study builds on the overarching theoretical tenets of the VRIO concept (of valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and organised for value capture) and the stakeholder theory (Clarkson, 1995;Freeman et al, 2020) towards effective TM development (Macfarlane et al, 2012).…”

“…How green TM practices impact on turnover intentions is yet to be given significant attention in prior debates that espouse the tenets of the VRIO (Knott, 2015;Ogbeibu et al, 2021b). This limitation might have otherwise closed the gap on how talent may be further effectively developed and retained to help organisations foster environmental sustainability (Anlesinya et al, 2019;Macfarlane et al, 2012). Further research is required to examine how organisational resources may be effectively managed to not just maximise profits, but also to ensure resources and capabilities are tailored and engineered in ways that help bolster environmental sustainability (Barney and Harrison, 2020).…”

“…While prior research has examined the concept of TM and turnover intention (Abdul et al, 2019;Deery and Jago, 2015), and despite meaningful findings obtained by such previous research, it is yet unclear how TM really acts to predict staff turnover intention (Anlesinya et al, 2019). Equally, the concept and role of green TM and how it acts via its dimensionsgreen hard and soft TMto predict staff turnover intention is yet to be given significant empirical attention (Gardas et al, 2019;John et al, 2009).…”

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“…Consequently, the need for more stakeholder (i.e. leadership) involvement in talent management is essential to harness the development of Africa's workplace talent (Anlesinya, Dartey-Baah & Amponsah-Tawiah 2019).…”