A study of effective measures for talent retention in Singapore aerospace maintenance context

Singapore Aerospace Maintenance Industry (SAMI) contributed to 10 percent of the global output in maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services. Continuous growth of the global commercial fleet is incurring high demands on aerospace maintenance services. Singapore as world’s leading MRO hub requires skilled, trained, and experience talent pool to ensure the sustainable competitive advantages of SAMI to capture this opportunity. The rapid growth in SAMI, coupled with an aging population has led to an acute shortage of Licensed Aircraft Engineer (LAE). Given the difficulty of recruiting new LAEs, and it is timely to train one. High turnover rate of the industry poses threat to the SAMI growth and sustainability, it is imperative to retain those already in the profession. The purpose of this studies is to leverage on academic research together with empirical data, to find a solution for talent retention issues in SAMI. Effective talent retention measures in the context of Singapore Aerospace Maintenance Industry is imperative for SAMI not only to maintain current market shares but also to secure more business to achieve growth in its aerospace leading advantages. (Mintzberg, et al., 2003) Using elite sampling, 10 respondents were selected. Anonymous semi-structured interviews were conducted for three target groups. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze the data set. Together with Conceptualization of Talent (Gallardo-Gallardo, et al., 2013) and Strategic talent management (Collings & Mellahi, 2009) framework, a SAMI talent retention framework was developed. The talent perception of SAMI, current retention system, the reason talents leave and stay, pivotal position identification, talent pool development and differentiated talent retention architecture were critically evaluated. Managerial implication was suggested to assist in creating effective retention measure to retain LAEs in the SAMI based on empirical data collected and framework developed