Talent Management Practices and Performance of National Referral Hospitals in Kenya

Abstract

Human resources are a critical component of any health-care system. Investing in the health workforce can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by ensuring universal access to qualified, skilled, and motivated health workers. One of the key challenges Kenya’s health sector faces is ensuring that all its citizens, including the most vulnerable, have access to well-trained, professional health workers. This research sought to investigate the influence of talent management practices on the performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya. Specifically, the study was be guided by the following objectives: to evaluate the influence of talent planning on performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya, to assess the influence of talent attraction on performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya, to determine the influence of talent development on performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya, to establish the influence of talent retention on performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya, and to examine the moderating effect of HR rules and regulations on the relationship between talent management practices and performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya. Using cross-sectional survey research design, the study targeted the national referral hospitals in Kenya. The target population of the study was 547 management staff from which a sample size of 225 respondents was statistically selected. The study employed a multi-stage sampling whereby purposive, stratified and simple random sampling were used to pick the sample while primary data was collected using questionnaires and interview guide. Secondary data was obtained from the organization’s reports and publications. Reliability testing and validity testing were undertaken to ascertain the soundness of the instruments. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Multiple regression analysis was applied to determine whether the proposed factors in the model together show the influence of talent management on the performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya. Also, inferential statistics such as regression and correlation analysis were conducted. The study findings indicated that talent planning, talent attraction, talent retention, and talent development have a positive and significant effect on the performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya with an r value of .837, .734, .565, .898, .941 respectively. Moreover, the findings revealed that there is a significant positive moderating effect between HR rules and regulations and performance. The study concluded that talent management practices are significant contributors of performance of national referral hospitals in Kenya. The most significant predictor of performance is talent development, then talent planning, followed by talent retention and lastly talent development with coefficients β of .483, .147, .134 and .114 respectively. The study recommends national referral hospitals need to put more effort in talent planning especial in identification of top performers and harnessing their skills. They should also align talent plan with business strategy, regularly review their talents and involve all the stakeholders in the process. Additionally, hospitals need to recognize and reward their existing best performers. The study further recommends that national referral hospitals to devise measures of retaining their best employees by offering competitive pay, provide autonomy and promotional opportunities.