1 INTRODUCTION

South Africa continuous to face the serious challenge of lacking to deliver quality
goods and services to its population. Research points out that problems that lead to
the failure of delivering quality services to the population of South Africa can be
attested to failed talent management strategies. Poor service delivery is a direct
result of talent management strategies that have failed to retain top performing and
key talented individual in the public service (Koketso & Rust, 2012:34). Precedence
should therefore be given to the talent management of competent and skilled staff by
public service leadership, as skilled staff is in high demand in the public sector. The
purpose of this strategy document is to comprehensively outline and discuss talent
management strategies for the Department of Health to ensure the optimal usage
and management of human resources by managing talent effectively and practically.
Furthermore, it takes cognizance of various challenges and resource and
institutional impediments that limit the management of talent but proposes ways of
overcoming these. The document draws from best practices used by other countries
and other government departments to ensure that talent individuals are retained in
the public sector.
2 TALENT MANAGEMENT
Talent management is unfortunately not a popular concept in the public sector.
However, public institutions have begun to realize the importance of drafting and
implementing talent management programmes to help retain skilled and talented
staff. Most skilled and talented employees either move to the private sector or
overseas in the course of their career because of the lack of recognition and rewards
that the public sector offers. The following section provides definitions of talent
management for a better understanding of the concept.
2.1 What is talent?
According to Michaels et al (2001:21), talent can be defined as the sum of the
persons abilities, his or her intrinsic gifts, skills, knowledge, experience, intelligence,
judgment, attitude, character and drive.
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2.2 Definitions of talent management

Authors definitions of talent management may vary, but most of these do not have a
fundamental difference.
These definitions are as follows:
Applied within the public sector, includes the attraction, training, development and
retention of key employees while also taking into account the strategic goals of the
client (Lockwood, 2005:22).
The process through which employees anticipate and meet their needs for human
capital, getting the right people with the right skills into the right jobs (Cappelli,
2008:1).
A deliberate and systematic effort by an organization to ensure leadership continuity
in key positions and encourage individual advancement (Rothwell, 1994:6).
According to Lewis & Heckman (2006) it comprises of three different conceptions
which are as follows: a) a collection of typical human resource department practice,
b) the flow of human resources throughout the organization and c) sourcing,
developing and rewarding employee talent.
an active management system used to identify, capture, utilize, develop, grow and
nurture the talent of employees to the benefit of the work team and the company at
large (Meyer and Tuck, 2004:16).
The concepts that frequent these various definitions are developing, strategies,
retaining, attracting and human capital and have an implication that organisations
need to follow certain processes to ensure the optimal utilization of human resources
to ensure desirable outcomes.
3 STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a concept that has been used
to coin
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3.1 Definitions of strategic human resource management

Johnson and Schoeles (2002:10) define it as the direction and scope of an
organization over the longer term, which ideally matches its resources to its
changing environment and in particular, to its markets, customers and clients to
meet stakeholders expectations.
the process whereby all the organizational functions and resources are integrated
and coordinated to implement formulated strategies in order to achieve the long term
objectives of the organization and therefor gain a competitive advantage through
adding value for the stakeholder (Ellers and Lazenby (2007:1).
According to Boxall and Purcell (2003:44), it is the process of strategy making, of
forming and reforming its strategy over a period of time.
Amplified by David (2003:5), it is the art of science of formulating, implementing and
evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its
objectives.
The concepts that frequent these definitions are coordinating, strategy, implementing
and objectives. Therefore SHRM, can be linked to aligning an organizations human
resource strategy to achieve its desired objectives.
3.2 Legislative Framework for strategic human resource management
The following legislation plays a role in talent management in the public service. A
brief review will be provided under the following legislation: Labour Relations Act,
1995 (Act 55 of 1995), Occupational Health & Safety Act, 1993 (Act 85 of 1993),
Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act 55 of 1998), Basic Conditions of Employment Act,
1997 (Act 75 0f 1997) and Skills Development Act, 1998 (Act 97 of 1998).
3.2.1 Labour Relations Act,1995 (Act 55 of 1995)
The purpose of this Act is aimed at the achievement of economic development,
labour peace, social justice and the democratization of the workplace. This Act is
therefore crucial for the maintenance of the sound relations between all role players
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in the workplace and further contributes to higher levels of performance. The

implication for talent management is that it might become challenging to develop,
attract and retain talented employees that work in an organization where unfair
labour practices are inherent to their workplace.
3.2.2 Occupational Health & Safety Act, 1993 (Act 85 of 1993)
The following Act provides for the safety and health of employees at the workplace.
It provides measures that both employees and employers can use to ensure their
health and safety in the workplace. According this Act, talent management strategies
must attract and retain talented individuals whom possess the knowledge, skills and
experience to ensure a safe and healthy condition in the workplace.
3.2.3 Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act 55 of 1998)
The Employment Equity Act seeks to address injustices of the past against
designated groups. It aims to promote an equal opportunity and eliminates unfair
discrimination. The Act promulgates employers to implement strategies to attract
and retain talented employees from designated groups.
3.2.4 Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (Act 75 0f 1997)
The Basic Condition of Employment Act, 1997 (hereafter referred to as BCEA) is
responsible for the regulation of basic conditions of employment in South Africa. It
forces organizations to comply with laws stipulated in the Act. Critical issues that
affect talent management in this Act are: working hours, remuneration, termination
and particulars of employment.
3.2.5 Skills Development Act,1998 (Act 97 0f 1998)
The objective of this Act is for the improvement and development of skills of the
South African workforce. Talent Management becomes essential in achieving goals
of the Skills Development Act as skilled and competent employees need to be
attracted, developed and retained to meet an organizations skills development
objectives.
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4 EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITIAL

An organizations intellectual capital evidently gives it its competitive edge.
4.1 What is intellectual capital
Intellectual capital can be defined as
4.2 Strategies to manage intellectual capital
It is therefore crucial to manage intellectual capital in order to
5 RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES
As a human resource management function, recruitment is one of the activities that
have an impact on the performance of an organization or Department. Poor
recruitment decisions limit goal achievement and affect organizational performance.
Public service agencies continue to struggle in identifying and implementing effective
and innovative hiring strategies.
Prior to the emphasis on New Public Management / Public Sector Management,
public service organizations had no need to worry about increasing competition and
market share because of their operation in a monopolistic environment. Recently,
Public Sector Management approaches have forced public institutions to devote
more attention to the delivery of services, as consumers (population) now expect
and demand more for their tax payments. To provide high quality services and goods
all begins with the recruitment process, thus public institutions need to pay more
attention in their recruitment and selection process and strategies.
The South African Public Sector needs to consider changing the methods used to
recruit employees, especially employees in senior positions. Their recruitment
strategy should ensure that the skills and talents of the individual are aligned with
the requirements of the job to avoid high turnover rates. Public sector institutions are
more prone and susceptible to scrutiny from the public than the private sector.
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Therefore recruitment and selection processes need to remain open and

transparent, avoiding any discriminatory behaviour. The discussion following will
identify some recruitment options for attracting applicants to the public service.
5.1 Internal recruitment sources
This form of recruiting is easier to assess potential for the next level. Employees
already working inside the organization are familiar with its strengths and
weaknesses as well as the organizational culture. This type of recruiting also helps
in building motivation and a sense of commitment amongst employees as they are
offered promotions and a chance for personal growth and development.
Furthermore, internal recruitment is quicker and cheaper than interviewing outsiders
and advertising in various media. Vacancies are advertised on notice boards within
the organisations and employees are given a chance to apply.
5.2 External recruitment sources
External recruitment methods are grouped in two groups: informal and formal.
Informal methods include methods such as rehiring former employees and choosing
applicants whose files have been retained on the system. Former students who
performed well in internship programmes may also be easily assessed and offered
employment on a permanent basis. Formal methods of external recruiting involve
searching the labour market for candidates that have no previous connection to the
organization. These methods include the use of employment agencies, college
recruitment and newspaper advertisements. This form may be more expensive but
generates a greater number of potential candidates from which organisations can
choose from. It is imperative that recruitment strategies organizations or
departments resort to, fulfill the objective of recruiting the most committed, talented,
qualified and motivated individuals to ensure that the provision of government
services to the public are effective and timeously delivered.
6 ATTRACTION STRAGIES

7 RETENTION STRATEGIES
7.1 Challenging work
7.2 Competitive pay
7.3 Work life balance
7.4 Involvement of Management
8 SUCCESSION PLANNING
8.1 How succession planning can be implemented effectively to manage talent
8.2 Mentoring and Coaching
9 OVERVIEW OF HOW OTHER COUNTRIES MANAGE PUBLIC SECTOR
TALENT
10 FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN AN IDEAL TALENT MANAGEMENT PLAN
11 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATIONS TALENT
MANAGEMENT PLAN
12 CHALLENGES OF TALENT MANAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
12.1 Institutional and Resource impediments