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Talent Management Initiatives in the Irish Public Service – how State Agencies under one Government Department are using Talent Management to respond to skills shortages in a tight labour market

O'Brien, Sharon (2017) Talent Management Initiatives in the Irish Public Service – how State Agencies under one Government Department are using Talent Management to respond to skills shortages in a tight labour market. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Competition for highly skilled employees is becoming increasingly competitive given the recently tightening Irish labour market. While the private sector can offer competitive salaries to attract talent, the nature of the public service pay in Ireland means that they cannot compete against industry on salaries. This research was concerned with Talent Management (TM) use within the public service as a means of competing for talent and it sought to determine how non-commercial semi-state agencies (NCSSAs) under Department X were responding to skills shortages. Semi structured qualitative interviews were conducted with HR professionals in nine NCSSAs agencies under Department X.

The results suggested that all agencies apart from the smallest are experiencing difficulties attracting key skills, in particular technical skills. In addition, over half of the agencies are seeing higher levels of attrition compared to two years ago. Managers identified three reasons for the skills shortages; the buoyant labour market, public service salary policies and a lack of career paths on offer in smaller organisations.

Organisations are responding by employing a variety of TM initiatives, in particular, by emphasising their total rewards package to potential and current employees. They are redesigning role profiles and focusing on learning and development in order to become an employer of choice. In addition, agencies are ‘selling’ their work / life balance initiatives to attract staff and they are aware of the need to build their employee brand in order to be regarded as an employer of choice. Finally, in terms of access to TM they operate an inclusive model where all employees have access to TM initiatives.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management > Employee Retention
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management
J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government > Public Sector
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Issues of Labour and Work > Talent Management
Divisions: School of Business > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User: Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited: 13 Nov 2017 16:04
Last Modified: 13 Nov 2017 16:04
URI: https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/2806

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