A Pilot Study on Talent Management, Talent Retention and Succession Planning Among Academic Staff in a Malaysian Higher Education Institution

Abstract

Talent Management (TM), Talent Retention (TR), and Succession Planning (SP) are increasingly recognised as an integrated strategic triad for sustaining academic talent and ensuring leadership continuity in higher education institutions (HEIs). In the Malaysian higher education context, particularly in institutions such as UTMSPACE and comparable HEIs, intensifying competition and evolving stakeholder expectations necessitate systematic approaches to attracting, developing, retaining, and preparing academic staff for future leadership roles. This paper reports the findings of a pilot study conducted to validate a structured survey instrument measuring TM, TR, and SP among academic’s staff. The instrument was developed based on extensive review of literature and s prior surveys and administered in a pilot study involving 17 academics in UTMSPACE. The pilot study aimed to assess the clarity, reliability, and preliminary validity of the instrument. The results demonstrate very high internal consistency across all main constructs, with Cronbach’s Alpha values exceeding 0.96, while most sub-dimensions demonstrate good to very good reliability. Nomological validity was supported through significant positive correlations among the key variables, confirming that higher perceptions of one construct are associated with higher perceptions of the others. Overall, these results suggest that the instrument is psychometrically robustand suitable for use in the main study to further examine the interrelationships between TM, TR, and SP in Malaysian higher education settings.