A validated framework for transformational leadership, talent acquisition and retention of engineers at an energy provider in South Africa.
Mangisa, Chuma Andile
Mangisa, Chuma Andile
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Abstract
The energy provider is a South African electricity public utility, established in 1923 by the Government of South Africa in terms of the Electricity Act, No.42 of 1922. This organisation
is one of the top 20 utilities in the world and generates approximately 95% of the electricity used in South Africa and approximately 45% of the electricity used in Africa. According to
the Integrated Annual Report (ESKOM, 2013:39), attraction and retention of scarce skilled employees, which are engineers, technicians, technologists and artisans, is one of the
serious challenges facing this organisation. Attracting and retaining scarce skilled employees has continued to fail even though there was a targeted remuneration approach
for these employees (ESKOM, 2013:39). The study focused on engineers, hence the aim is to develop a validated framework for transformational leadership, talent acquisition and retention of engineers for the organisation that was under study. The following research objectives assisted in developing the validated framework, (1) To determine if there is a significant relationship between talent acquisition and retention at the energy provider, (2) To determine if there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership and talent acquisition at the energy provider, (3) To determine if there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership and talent retention at the energy provider, and (4) To determine if transformational leadership has a mediating role in talent acquisition and retention. The researcher believes that the developed validated framework could assist the organisation under study to alleviate the challenge it faces in attracting and retaining engineers. In this study, SPSS version 24 was used, inter alia, to compute reliability, Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA), factor analysis and regression analysis. As a result, transformational leadership had three factors, which are supervisory stimulation and vision, consideration
and positive attitude. Talent acquisition had two factors, which are before selection and during selection. Lastly, talent retention had three factors, which are relationship, reward
and development. The reliability of the factors was assessed by means of Cronbach Alpha and all the individual items contributed significantly to the overall reliability of the instrument.
The results revealed that there is a significant and statistical relationship between talent acquisition and retention; transformational leadership and talent acquisition; and
transformational leadership and talent retention. Results also indicated that transformational leadership is a mediator between talent acquisition and retention. Hence a validated
framework was developed for transformational leadership, talent acquisition and retention of engineers, which could alleviate the challenge of attraction and retention of engineers in
the organisation under study. The researcher recommended that transformational leadership should be central when acquiring and retaining engineers for the organisation under study.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor Technologiae: Organisational Leadership in the Department of People Management and Development,
Faculty of Management Sciences at the Tshwane University of Technology
Date
2018-02-01
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Transformational leadership, Talent acquisition, Talent retention, Mediation, Content validity ratio, Ccontent validity index