1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Prominent researchers within human resource management and strategy wrote that “The workforce is the most expensive yet poorly managed assets in most organizations” (Becker & Beatty, 2009). Although to increase the effectiveness of a firm, several resources can be used to achieve this, which include money, men, and machine; of these resources the most important of them all is the people aspect of the organization. Nowadays, land, capital and fixed assets are no longer key resources for the organizations to be highly competitive in the current global economy (Gardener, 2002). Human capital is a key resource to adapt the organizations to the worldwide competitive challenges. Organizations are now competing against each other to acquire and retain talents in order to maintain their operations and continue to grow in terms of service and profitability. (Gerdner, 2002; Kehinde, 2012).

Besides, the world is suddenly faced with the need to make a sharp break from old habits to deliberately learn new ways of doing things. Processes are altered, factory designs are often outdated in less than five years and paralleling the compression of product and process life circles of the organizations. As a result, productive and innovative energy is apparent in every domain of business life. In such a chaotic times and crowded market places, employee productivity and innovation forms the essence of sustainable competitive advantage. Successful organizations will be those that hinge on the ability to attract, develop, retain, motivate, and lead a diverse array of appropriately skilled people, since the human factor drives everything.

Research has shown that talent management practices with a strong focus on strategy have a statistically significant impact on the attractiveness of the company, as well as the achievement of business goals, customer satisfaction and corporate profit, (Bethke-Langenegger, Mahler, and Staffel, 2011).

The workforce serving in the Nigerian public service at all tiers of government is mostly bloated, un-widely and ineffective. The service which used to be engine room of progressive policy formulation, implementation and the sole provider of basic social amenities that sustained livelihood and propelled economic development of the country, has since degenerated into a creaky apparatus of political patronage that ignores merit and put round pegs in square holes. (Abdulahi, et al, 2001).

Despite various interventions to revamp the public sector undertakings, the sector has remained in a tail spin. Confirming this, Ayida (1997) laments that in spite of several reviews and commissions of investigation, the public service of today remains a shadow of what it should be. According to him, some of the lofty ideas of efficiency, professionalism and accountability have not been achieved. Corroborating on this unfortunate situation, Adeyemo et al (2008) stress that the superstructure has remained defective and the several public service review exercises ended up with the civil service being put in a straight jacket.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The dynamics of the global business environment has become a challenge to the business organizations, both in the private and in the public sector enterprise and there is need for flexible, innovative and rational approach to the management of human capital, so as to achieve maximum productivity.

The need for business organizations to continually search for new and better means of achieving competitive advantage requires that the capacity of every functional areas in the organization to improve organizational performance becomes under scrutiny. (Kehinde, 2012). Many organizations today, fails to plan and implement appropriately their talent management policies, processes and programs and this affected the process of acquiring, developing and retaining talents that contribute to their organizational goals.

Again, in some organizations, the top managements are not actively involved in talent management practices. As a result, they did not consider talent management as a critical part of their own jobs and they fail to recognize that better talents, pull all other performance levers (Micheal, et al 2001), To increase employee?s productivity in the public sector enterprise, organizational talent management, policies, processes and programs must be planned, developed and implemented effectively, so that employee?s productivity would make a substantial impact on the firm?s performance.

The study therefore seeks to examine how talent management development programs and policies are planned, implemented and managed in Delta State Public sector and its effect on employee?s productivity.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study is to examine the effect of talent management in increasing employees? productivity in Delta State Public Sector. The specific objectives include to:

1. Determine whether a well planned and managed talents increases employee productivity.

2. Ascertain whether top management participation in the implementation of talent management programs improves employee?s productivity.

3. Determine whether current talent management programs and techniques adopted aims at improving employee productivity.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study undertakes to examine the following research questions:

1. How does a well plan and managed talent increase employee productivity?

2. Does top management participation in talent management implementation improve employees? productivity?

3. To what extent do the adopted talent management programs and techniques improve employee productivity?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Arising from the background, subsequent objectives of the study and research questions, the following hypotheses were generated for testing.

Hypothesis I

1. Well planned and managed talents does not increase employee productivity.

Hypothesis II

2. Top management participation in talent management implementation does not improve employees? productivity.

Hypothesis III

3. Adopted talent management programs and techniques do not improve employee productivity.

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is particularly based on human resource management and is limited to (5) five public sector business organization in Delta State of Nigeria. Namely; Delta State Water Board, State Environmental Protection Agency, Delta State University, Delta State Broadcasting Services and Delta State Rural Electrification Board.

1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study will be of great benefit to both private and the public sector, as the study will go a long way to expose them on the importance of talent management in improving their performance and to be able to deliver their services to customers effectively and efficiently.

The knowledge gained would be of great value to individual workers, business organizations and the government on how best to manage the human resources in achieving strategic and competitive advantage, through proper alignment of talents in organization to achieve effective performance.