The development of talent management in Malaysian public sector: a comprehensive review

  • Received December 13, 2018;
    Accepted May 7, 2019;
    Published May 23, 2019
  • Author(s)
  • DOI
    http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.17(2).2019.18
  • Article Info
    Volume 17 2019, Issue #2, pp. 242-253
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The aim of this current study was to analyze recent development of talent management among public service managers in Malaysia. The study brings understanding on talent management and broader human capital issues within Malaysia context by analysing the comprehensive literature. Government of Malaysia is emphasizing on development of talent in the public sector, as it is the most significant resource for the public service. The study found that the government has invested in various programs and initiatives to develop and produce key talented human capital within the public sector. However, despite the initiatives taken by the government, Malaysia is still short of talented people and struggling to develop talent, and talented skilful people are leaving. The study also indicated that year after year increasing number of graduates are being produced at the public universities, but the education system is not producing the right skilful individuals for the particular position or task, resulting in talent mismatch. Another key issue is the incapability to retain talented people that led to poor innovation and creativity within the country. Is key issue is part of the factors discussed in the 10th and 11th Malaysia Plan, and is a concern, as it plays a role in preventing the progress of Malaysia in achieving a developed nation by 2020. As one of the key aspirations of Malaysia is to enrich public service in Malaysia as a citizen centre that is having talented human capital. The study revealed that there is a need for in-depth quantitative and qualitative further research to discover new insights on talent management and retain talent among the public sector managers in Malaysia.

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    • Table 1. Definition of talent
    • Table 2. Comparison of different priorities in the past and present
    • Table 3. Top 10 upper-middle income countries according to World Economic Forum (WEF) Human Capital Index Ranking
    • Table 4. Number of public servants in Malaysia (1995–2015)
    • Table 5. Number of public universities enrolment
    • Table 6. Entrants, enrolment and graduates at public university by fields of study and gender
    • Table 7. Percentage and ratio of students at public higher education institutes by gender
    • Table 8. Enrolment and percentage of international students at public higher education institutes
    • Table 9. Enrolment and percentage of graduates at public higher education institutes