Determinants of Sustainable Talent Management Within a South African University

Abstract

Sustainable talent management has become a strategic imperative for higher education institutions operating in increasingly complex and competitive environments. Within the context of a South African university, talent management is shaped by unique structural, socio-economic, and legislative dynamics, including transformation imperatives, resource constraints, and global competition for academic and professional expertise. This study examines the determinants of sustainable talent management within a South African university setting, with particular attention to leadership practices, organizational culture, institutional strategy alignment, employment equity compliance, performance management systems, and staff development initiatives. The study employed a quantitative research design. A purposive sample of n=400 was used to execute the data. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and the principal component analysis (PCA) was also used. Findings suggest that strategy, talent review process, staffing, talent acquisition, talent development, talent deployment, performance management and talent retention are the key determinants of talent management within the university context. The study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on talent management in higher education within emerging economies and provides practical recommendations for strengthening institutional capacity and long-term sustainability in South African universities.