Talent management in the South African construction industry

Ph.D. (Leadership in Performance and Change)Abstract: Orientation. Talent management is the cornerstone for sustaining competitive advantage within organisations. In light of the ongoing war on talent, organisations are stepping up their talent management practices to attract and retain the best of the crop. The South African construction industry in particular, is constrained by the shortage of skills, thus making talent management a strategic priority to address these challenges. On the basis of this challenge, this study on talent management was conducted in a local construction organisation. Purpose. Paying attention to talent management in the South African construction industry the study aims to unravel and describe perceptions on the talent management practices of a particular organisation and to offer a substantive theory. Research Questions. Four research questions guided the study: • How did people view and perceive the organisation’s talent management? • What did they perceive as the enablers, initiatives and benefits of the talent management practices and also the barriers to these practices? • What knowledge, policies, capabilities and support mechanisms were in place to support the effective implementation of talent management in the industry? • What talent management insights and experience may be gained from other organisations outside of South Africa? Research Approach, Strategy and Methodology. A qualitative research approach was adopted for the study and a single case strategy was utilised. A South African’s construction and engineering project-based organisation located in the Gauteng Province was selected as research setting. Data were generated from interviews, participant observation and company documents. Grounded theory was used to analyse people’s experiences and views of talent management in the organisation..