Despite being only a little under three decades old since its coining by McKinsey & Company in 1997, the concept of talent management has gained much traction over the years and its conceptualization has continued to evolve with time (de Lestrange, 2019). Although numerous organizations in various sectors across the globe are increasingly appreciating and emphasizing the need for talent management (Irfan et al., 2023; Kang and Mok, 2022; Liao et al., 2022; Naidu et al., 2025; Nesindande et al., 2024; Ngobeni et al., 2022; Saurombe et al., 2017; Supi et al., 2023), when it comes to the public sector, talent management seemingly remains a lesser priority (Barkhuizen and Masale, 2022) and even more so, within the South African context (Cloete, 2023; Mthintso et al., 2024). Although it is evident that government entities appreciate the importance of talent management— whether at a national or provincial level—the corruption and poor governance that often characterize the South African public sector are somewhat responsible for talent management being treated as an afterthought, where these public institutions are often reactive rather than proactive in managing their greatest resource, which is human capital (Mashaba and Saurombe, 2023).

Extant literature corroborates how the professional experience of government employees in South Africa is often characterized by low-drive, complacency and stagnancy, particularly due to the structures and systems within these entities, which do not favor more ambitious and zealous employees unlike in the private sector (Maake and Harmse, 2023; Sibonde and Dassah, 2021). Thus, employees who enter the South African public sector with the hopes of transforming the status-quo and making a difference are often confronted by resistance—be it from their leaders, or from colleagues who have since acclimated to the status-quo, having once been zealous too—which stifles these employees' potential to make substantive contributions to their institutions (Sibonde and Dassah, 2021). Various authors argue that no matter the caliber of an organization's human capital or talent, the lack of leadership buy-in concerning the talent management agenda has dire implications for the implementation and sustainability thereof (Gandi and Saurombe, 2025; Shingenge and Saurombe, 2022).

Meanwhile, many talent management studies have thus far focused on factors such as rapid technological advancements, employee wellbeing, evolving employee and employer expectations, the state of the job market and talent pools (including graduate readiness and employability), women empowerment, as well as jurisdictional legislation, among others (Magagula et al., 2020; Nesindande et al., 2025; Ngobeni et al., 2022; Oosthuizen et al., 2019; Saurombe and Zinatsa, 2023; Shekhar et al., 2025). Notwithstanding, despite consensus regarding the important role of talent management in ultimate organizational success, a noteworthy gap remains in empirical studies. Such gap is particularly visible in research comparing management and employee perspectives regarding talent management in South Africa's public sector with the intention of reconciling the two, as studies often either only focus on management's perspectives or only that of employees, while only few interrogate both concurrently (see Mthintso et al., 2024; Musakuro, 2022; Swanepoel and Saurombe, 2022). Hence the author of the current research resolved to help address this gap by recommending suitable strategies for enhancing talent management practice and policy in the South African public sector from both the view of management and employees.

Global scholars assert that when talent management aligns well with organizational strategy, optimum outcomes are achieved, but when management vs. employee perceptions regarding talent management are irreconcilable, the imperatives of employee engagement, retention and overall equitable people management practices are undermined (Collings et al., 2019; Sugiono et al., 2023; Zada et al., 2024). Meanwhile, research also alludes that employees' views regarding talent management inform their overall behaviors and disposition (Andreeva et al., 2022). In the public sector, where the successful implementation of talent management practices substantially relies on managerial and organizational buy-in, incessant differences between employee and management expectations relating to talent management often have dire consequences concerning organizational performance (Kravariti et al., 2022; Supi et al., 2023). This identified research problem thus made it incumbent for the author of this paper to gain insight into the dissonance between employee and management perspectives regarding talent management imperatives in a South African public sector organization, as this can worsen the fate of organizations operating within a sector already struggling due to challenges such as lack of resources, maladministration, and stiff competition for talent with the private sector, among others.

Human Capital Theory was employed to better understand the research topic and interpret the research findings. According to (Rezaei et al. 2021), human capital is the training, knowledge, and capabilities that distinguish an employee in relation to the value they add to an entity or organization. (Kang and Mok 2022) particularly explain how Human Capital Theory offers various strategies and techniques for talent development, empowerment, and utilization at all levels of the company. The Human capital theory additionally highlights how employees in an organization offer their expertise, talents, and abilities to augment the organization's overall performance (Aman-Ullah et al., 2022). The goal is to establish an internal fit of capabilities so that human resources (talent) are attracted, developed, managed and retained (for the sake of containing employee turnover) to improve longterm organizational effectiveness (Cloete, 2023; Irfan et al., 2023). (Olabiyi 2023) argues that businesses must commit resources to building a diversified and adaptable human resource management (HRM) strategy and provide equal opportunities for employee training and development at all levels to accomplish their organizational goals. Since Human Capital Theory buttresses the notion that without a talent mindset among organizational leaders, talent management may prove either futile or much less effective (Shingenge and Saurombe, 2022), this theory is further befitting to underpin this research.

Psychological contract theory was further employed in this research to provide a more robust theoretical underpinning concerning the often-stark discrepancy between managers' and employees' perspectives regarding talent management, especially in the public sector. Originally coined by Denise Rousseau in 1989 and further articulated in contemporary literature, psychological contract theory helps understand how misalignment between the intentions of management concerning talent management and the actual lived experiences of employees in this regard occurs, in efforts to try and remedy such discrepancy accordingly (Conway and Clinton, 2024; Pyhäjärvi and Söderberg, 2024; Ronnie and du Plessis, 2022). The psychological contract fundamentally denotes peoples' beliefs concerning the dualpronged obligations within the employment relationship. Regarding talent management, such perceived obligations (particularly from the employees' view) encompass aspects pertaining to development, recognition, equitable treatment, and secure employment, among others; hence the psychological contract is also well suited to underpinning this research alongside the Human Capital Theory. Recent research shows that when the perceived contractual obligations purported by the psychological contract are congruent and fulfilled, the consequence is likely to be enhanced employee commitment as well as performance; with the contrary being applicable in the case of perceived psychological contract breach (Rodwell and Gulyas, 2015; Ronnie and du Plessis, 2022). Thus, psychological contract theory enabled the author of this research to substantiate the practical recommendations for reconciling employee vs. management perspectives regarding talent management in a more compelling manner.

This research interrogated perceptions regarding talent management within a South African provincial department, and the Human Capital Theory offers an underpinning framework to provide sound recommendations concerning the long-term attraction, development and utilization of the talent in the South African department explored in this research, to ensure sustainable organizational performance. Meanwhile, the psychological contract theoretical component enabled the careful formulation of more robust recommendations for reconciling employee and management perspectives regarding talent management, to stimulate better organizational outcomes.

This research employed aspects of Saunders's et al. (2016) research onion such as elucidating the philosophy of the research, the theory development approach (in this case, deductive reasoning), the different methodological decisions, the research strategy, as well as the data gathering and analysis techniques.

The findings and results of this research depict the various talent management perceptions within the South African provincial department. As a mixed method research approach was employed, the qualitative data was obtained from 14 participants, and the quantitative data was acquired from 135 respondents (n = 135).

The aim of this study was to understand the perspectives regarding talent management in a South African provincial department. The first theme: talent management practices addressed the first research objective and the second theme: leadership approach to talent management addressed the second research objective. The third objective was addressed by the quantitative research results. The research findings and results fundamentally revealed differences in perspective between management and employees regarding talent management. This corroborates what (Slebarska and Soucek, 2020) found regarding the often-prevailing differences between employers and employees in terms of expectations and interpretations regarding talent management and its imperatives, which minimizes synergy between the two parties and further minimizes the optimization of employees' contributions toward organizational productivity. (Conway and Clinton 2024) and (Pyhäjärvi and Söderberg 2024) particularly emphasize that such incongruence between management and employee perceptions in organizations often leads to psychological contract breaches which have adverse effects on overall employee performance.

The research further revealed that there is insufficient prioritization and implementation of talent management in the provincial department, with participants citing encumbrances such as limited financial resources as well as incongruence between employers' and employees' perceptions regarding what constitutes effective talent management. These views support what (Musakuro and De Klerk 2021) found regarding how public sector institutions often lack the necessary financial resources to implement the best practices pertaining to the recruitment, development and retention of key talent. Other participants, however, praised the department's efforts regarding talent management, citing the opportunities available for internal advancement and the identification of potential leaders. These alternative views align with research which implies the more recent ongoing improvement of talent management initiatives in public institutions (Mmatabane et al., 2023). (Musakuro and De Klerk 2021) express how the often unclear and unfair recognition and rewarding of top performing employees encourage a lack of team cohesion and effective communication between and among employees as they increasingly feel the need to exclusively retain knowledge and expertise to increase their chances of being distinguished for superior performance. The findings of this research are aligned with this view. The participants further opined that an un-focused approach to the onboarding of new employees and the development of interns who may potentially assume permanent roles stifles the department's potential to implement a more effective approach to talent management. This supports the views of (Liao et al. 2022) and (Mseleku and Nyawo 2024) who assert that the potential of new employees is often not maximized due to a lack of proper assimilation into the organization and the potential of interns is often untapped due to them being reduced to over-simplified and non-strategic tasks. The Human Capital Theory, which insists on the maximum development and utilization of human resources, further supports these views (Cloete, 2023; Irfan et al., 2023).

Exploring the leadership approach to talent management in the provincial department exposed that the lack of a talent mindset and exemplary behavior among organizational leaders limits employees' overall buy-in regarding talent management. This supports (Kravariti et al. 2022) and Nyanhongoet et al.'s (2023) views that when public sector management does not prioritize talent management nor exhibit behaviors worth emulating, this demoralizes employees from exerting themselves fully, thus resulting in the organization's forfeiture of the associated positive outcomes of a fully committed workforce such as exceptional performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. The participants in this research additionally emphasized the importance of considering all employees—regardless of their organizational ranking—as having the potential to contribute to the organization's goals and overall strategy. This corroborates extant literature which supports the adoption of an egalitarian (inclusive) approach to talent management rather than an elitist (exclusive) approach (Dries and Kaše, 2023; Graham et al., 2024). The research participants further highlighted the benefits of management establishing a compelling talent value proposition that resonates with employees. These views support research results which promote aspects like work-life balance, the alignment of employees' professional goals with overall organizational objectives, as well as equitable recognition and rewards for superior performance as constituting a distinguishable and preferable talent value proposition (Theys and Barkhuizen, 2022; Selesho and Matjie, 2024). This research's participants also opined that a willingness by management to adopt currently prevailing best talent management practices will positively affect employees' productivity and ultimately, organizational effectiveness. (Barkhuizen and Masale 2022), (Kravariti et al. 2022), and (Saurombe 2025) similarly found that government institutions that are willing to adapt to the ever-changing terrain of workforce management are more likely to position themselves for effective service delivery and establish themselves as employers of choice. Meanwhile, (Ngobeni et al. 2022) allude that organizations' agility and adaptation to change help minimize psychological contract breaches while enhancing employee engagement.

Examining the perceptions regarding the implementation of talent management in the provincial department revealed the need for talent management to be embedded in the organization's core strategy, which respondents reported to currently not be the case. The Dullah Omar Institute (2020) found that public institutions that do not adopt a strategic approach to talent management by ensuring alignment between employees' goals and organizational objectives tend to be less intentional about their hiring and development practices, which increases the likelihood of employee-role mismatching, resulting in frustration between both employees and employers. (Theys and Barkhuizen 2022) further found that when employees' aspirations and their organizations' objectives align, supporting these employees' career goals becomes easier. This is particularly important since the results of this research implied that employees' career goals are inadequately supported. The respondents mostly agreed that the department encourages and supports the skills development and overall growth of their employees, despite some disagreement, to a lesser extent. Research suggests that empowering employees for growth and advancement in the public sector enhances their ability to contribute to the strategic operations of the organization (Sibonde and Dassah, 2021; Theys and Barkhuizen, 2022). The respondents in this research further suggested that the department practices equitable recruitment, selection and promotion practices. This is important as (Mthintso et al. 2024) and (Saurombe and Barkhuizen 2020) assert that a reputation associated with fair hiring and promotion practices builds confidence and rapport among both prospective and current employees, concerning the organization.

This research's results also suggested that the department relies more on external human resources than internal talent, which relates to Lee and van der Waldt's (2020) warning that public institutions that do not prioritize the development of existing employees and sufficient succession planning will continue to forfeit the associated benefits (such as reduced ad-hoc expenditure and increased workforce expertise and capacity) of these strategic talent management practices. This view especially aligns with the Human Capital Theory which underpins the importance of investing in a pipeline of talent to occupy critical future positions (Kang and Mok, 2022). (Kaliannan et al. 2023) further alluded to the importance of talent development of existing employees being aligned to the overall organization's objectives. While this research's respondents implied overall inclusivity and an appreciation for workforce diversity, the biographical depiction of respondents' racial profile suggests otherwise. Meanwhile, research evidences the strategic benefits of employing a diverse workforce in public institutions, such as wider available solutions to various organizational challenges, compliance with legislative labor equity requirements, as well as enhanced distinguishability in diversely populated countries like South Africa and the United States of America (Oosthuizen et al., 2019; The Manufacturing Institute, 2021). Considering that respondents in this research alluded to the department's struggle with employee retention, it becomes more imperative for the department to adopt a more strategic approach to talent management, specifically focusing on the areas for improvement identified in the research. Extant literature similarly encourages public sector organizations to strategically employ talent management to foster a positive workplace setting, enhance employee growth, provide supportive leadership and ultimately reduce employee turnover (Selesho and Matjie, 2024).

As per observation, this research proves that the Department needs to improve certain aspects regarding talent management. For example, there is an evident gender imbalance according to the statistics which illustrate females to be dominating over males in the department, thus employment equity policies require amendment or reviewing. Employment equity policies must also be considered in combatting the issue of discrepancies in the racial distribution within the Department. Additionally, an inclusive approach to talent management must be prioritized to promote maximum development and utilization of the department's talent, with the exception of critical functioning positions where an exclusive approach may be more appropriate.

The research findings show a large percentage of disgruntled employees who are not content with the way talent management is handled in the organization. Furthermore, management needs to communicate more with employees at lower levels to gain a better understanding of what is taking place within the entire organization. Concerns were raised that the views of those who hold lower ranks in the organization are often not considered. This calls for the implementation of policies regarding effective communication and feedback between employees and management to help address such gaps. Policies regarding the utilization of external talent to perform specific tasks should be implemented in the Department, limiting the use thereof to exceptional circumstances where no internal talent is available or could be trained within a reasonable timeframe. The Department should further be more intentional about their retention strategy, leveraging tools and techniques such as rewards and recognition, work-life balance and targeted skills development. All policies that are implemented in the provincial department must also be monitored, evaluated, and revised as necessary after stipulated periods of time.

This research presented different limitations. The adoption of a case study approach meant that the findings are largely specific to the South African provincial Department. The purposive sampling further limited the generalizability of the qualitative findings, although this was mitigated by the complementary quantitative component. The stratified sampling during the quantitative research component limited the insights gained to a specific sub-sect of the overall population. Furthermore, the descriptive design adopted for the quantitative research component deprived the research of the ability to potentially test relationships between specific research constructs. The dropouts experienced during the survey availed a smaller sample for quantitative data analysis. Time constraints and a lack of more willing and available participants at the time when the research was conducted also resulted in the qualitative sample size being limited to 14, although it was sufficient to draw meaningful insights. Using hardcopy surveys made the data capturing process (prior to analysis) tedious.

Recommendations for future research include broadening the research population beyond a single institution, using alternative sampling techniques which will allow the participation of a wider and more randomly selected sample, as well as allowing a longer timeframe for respondents to participate in the survey to hopefully improve response rates. Additionally, subsequent studies may consider adopting a quantitative research design that would enable the understanding of relationships between research variables. Future research should also aim for a larger and more representative qualitative sample, possibly including both management and employees to compare the in-depth insights obtained from both these key parties. Future researchers should further make use of more modern survey techniques and platforms such as SurveyMonkey, Google Forms or similar, to enhance efficiency in data analysis.

Despite the improved strides that have generally been achieved regarding talent management in the public sector, due to gradually increasing research interest in this context, the public sector still lags when it comes to effective talent management practices compared to its private sector counterpart. To achieve a more productive workforce and overall organizational effectiveness, public sector institutions such as the provincial department in this research must prioritize talent management and appropriately invest in its enhancement through concerted efforts led by institutional management. Strategic approaches to employee skills development, succession planning, creating an inclusive and conducive organizational culture, as well as a perpetual commitment to adjusting to current best talent management practices are some ways the provincial department and other South African government institutions can ensure a thriving workforce that contributes to the enhanced productivity of the organization. This research contributes to relatively limited research on strategic talent management within the South African provincial government sector.