Validation of a talent acquisition and development scale for the Portuguese public administration

Purpose The purpose of this study is to validate a talent acquisition and development scale for the Portuguese public administration. Design/methodology/approach The sample consisted of 442 participants working in the Portuguese public administration. Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) Statistics 29 and AMOS Graphics 29 were used to validate the instrument. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out. Internal consistency, construct reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity were also tested. Findings The exploratory factor analysis obtained a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) of 0.81. This suggested the existence of three factors: recruitment, training and evaluation. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the existence of the three factors, obtaining adequate fit indices. The dimensions that make up this instrument also have good construct reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity. Practical implications Analysis of the scale’s psychometric qualities suggests that it can be applied in Portuguese public administration. Originality/value This paper provides a new instrument for assessing Portuguese public administration employees’ agreement with public recruitment, training and evaluation policies.