Effect of Talent Management Strategy on Job Satisfaction of Academic Staff in Public Universities, Kenya

Job satisfaction among academic staff is essential for enhancing teaching, research, and service delivery in higher education institutions. Talent management strategy has increasingly been recognized as a critical human resource practice for attracting, developing, and retaining competent academic staff. This study sought to establish the effect of talent management strategy on the job satisfaction of academic staff in public universities in Kenya. The study was anchored on Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory and adopted descriptive and correlational research designs. The target population comprised 9,657 academic staff drawn from 38 public chartered universities in Kenya. A sample of 384 respondents was selected using stratified random sampling, of whom 277 returned completed questionnaires, representing a response rate of 72.1%. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression analysis after confirming that the assumptions underlying regression analysis were satisfactorily met. The findings revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between talent management strategy and job satisfaction (r = 0.563, p < 0.05). Regression results further showed that talent management strategy had a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction (β = 0.606, p < 0.05), explaining 31.7% of the variation in job satisfaction (R² = 0.317). The study concludes that effective talent management strategies significantly enhance the job satisfaction of academic staff in public universities. The study recommends that public universities strengthen talent management practices by investing in structured onboarding programs, continuous professional development, mentorship initiatives, transparent promotion systems, and talent retention strategies to improve job satisfaction among academic staff.

Talent management strategy, job satisfaction, academic staff, public universities

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