Talent management, motivation and service quality of support staff in a public higher education institution

Abstract

Support staff in higher education institutions play an important role in representing an institution's client service and competence. Research on the talent management of this occupational group remains scarce. The main objective of this research was to determine the relationship between talent management, motivation and service quality of support staff members in a Southern African public higher education institution. A Talent Management Measure, Employee Motivation Scale and Servqual were administered among a convenience sample of support staff members (N=09). The results showed a significant positive relationship between talent management and motivation. Motivation was significantly and positively related to service quality and moderated the relationship between talent management and service quality. The results of this research further point out the poor application of talent management practices for support staff members and the potential outcomes thereof for the service image of public higher education institutions.