Exploring the talent management strategies and practices at a South African municipality

Local government municipalities are wrought by poor service delivery owing to underqualified employees and poor reward systems for superiorly skilled and performing employees. Introducing TM practices may assist municipalities in overcoming these challenges and identifying, attracting and employing the right employees while rewarding them commensurately. This study aimed to identify the best TM strategies and practices for local governments in South Africa as existing evidence suggests that an integrated TM system can assist local government leadership in curbing service delivery issues and allow them to become employers of choice. The study employed a qualitative research approach, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from participants. The study sample consisted of 20 participants who were selected through purposive sampling. The findings of this study indicate that TM practices are not appropriately utilised in selected municipalities. TM is still relatively new to local governments and thus, its value remains underestimated. Further, the municipality lacks sufficient capacity to implement TM. Municipality leadership must prioritise implementing TM practices, especially regarding e-recruitment and incorporating technological systems, which are critical in the current and foreseeable future world of work. This study identified human resource management gaps within a local municipality and recommended various best TM practices, as the municipality was lagging in terms of HRM policies and practices.