Abstract
Employees are the cornerstone of an effective and responsive public sector. Thus, the study explored the impact of talent management practices on improving employee performance in the public service sector. Guided by the interpretive research paradigm, the study adopted a qualitative approach, collecting primary data through interviews and observations, and secondary data from publications and other documented materials. In the context of this study, specific employees from the Human Resources Department and from the corporate services function were purposively selected as research participants to gain an in-depth understanding from those implementing talent management policies and practices, as well as from the stakeholders affected by these practices. Conceptual and document analysis were used to analyse the collected data from primary and secondary sources. The findings indicate that long waiting periods to fill vacant posts, increased employee workload leading to burnout, scrapping of the performance bonus incentive, inadequate allocation of resources to perform optimally, aged infrastructure, such as old network lines that go months without working, and a lack of recognition from senior management can demotivate employees. These demotivational factors intersect with talent management practices, as they directly influence talent planning, acquisition, development, and retention within the public health sector. Thus, the study proposes employee engagement strategies, a digitalised Human Resources Information system to inform employee training needs and decrease the turnaround times to fill vacancies, an increased operational budget, and strategies to retain employees to alleviate employee challenges and enable talent management practices to improve employee performance.