TALENT MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF AIRPORTS IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

This study examined talent Management and operational efficiency of airports in South-East Nigeria. It ascertained the relationship between talent management and operational efficiency of airports in South-East, Nigeria. A correlational research design was employed. Two research questions provided direction for the study, and two hypotheses were tested. The study was anchored on the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory propounded by Edith Penrose. The population of the study comprised 508 employees in the three international airports in South-East, Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 102 employees. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain data from two airports, while the accidental sampling technique was used to obtain data from the employees sighted at the point of data collection. The Talent Management Questionnaire (TMQ) and the Operational Efficiency of Airports Questionnaire (OEAQ) were used to collect data and were validated by three experts. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics to answer the research questions and Pearson's Moment Correlation Coefficient to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that a high positive and significant relationship exists between talent training and the service quality of airports. The findings of the study further indicated that a high positive and significant relationship exists between the use of a reward system and environmental issues in airports. It was concluded that talent management is positively related to the operational efficiency of airports. Based on this conclusion, it was recommended that airport management and owners of airlines need to continually expose employees to training through conferences and workshops to ensure service quality at airports