Strategic Talent Management and Performance of Imperial Bank Limited in Kenya

Abstract

Most commercial banks have realized the worth of recruiting and retaining competent employees. To survive in the banking environment banks need to be equipped with talented and competent employees who are efficient and effective in their work. Imperial Bank Limited is one of the commercial banks in Kenya that consider talent management as an essential tool for enhancing organizational performance. This is achieved through providing quality and professional services in manner that meets customer satisfaction. The study sought to determine the how strategic talent management influence performance of Imperial Bank Limited in Kenya. To achieve the objective of this study, the study used a case study research design. The study targeted five departmental heads in Imperial Bank. Data was collected using an interview guide and data analysis was done using content analysis. The study successfully managed to interview all the interviewees who were: human resource department, marketing department, operations department, the finance department and Information Technology department. The chapter consists of data analysis, results and discussion from the data that was collected using interview guides. The study concludes that the most common strategic talent management practices used by Imperial Bank were as follows: performance-based reward system in terms of annual bonuses and salary increments, performance-based promotions, training programs and ensuring performance is measured based on well communicated specific, measurable, accurate, realistic and time bound targets and objectives. The findings further revealed that regular training programs were held both internally and externally. The study further revealed that Imperial Bank developed and exploited special characteristics of knowledge to improve organizational performance through mentorship, coaching to allow for promotions, career development through staff assistance academic programs for top performers, management development for succession planning, customer experience, excellent customer service, internal and external training to enhance skills and knowledge. The study recommended that that policy makers and governing bodies should set policies that promote and support commercial banks to adopt and implement strategic talent management in order to improve performance. The study was limited to scope; it only concentrated with Imperial Bank therefore the findings obtained in this study cannot be however used to make generalization for all commercial banks in Kenya. These findings can only be used for comparative purposes and not direct application to other sectors. Future researchers should consider replicating this study in the whole of banking industry like commercial banks. Other sectors like insurance companies would also be suitable to provide comparative findings. This will give a more detailed view of the nature of the relationship identified in the study. It would be appropriate to study the relationship between strategic talent management and organizational performance of commercial banks. The replication of this study in other countries especially in the Sub- Saharan region would demonstrate the universality and significance of strategic talent management practices and organizational performance relationship in general.