Moderating role of employee commitment on the relationship between talent management practices and employee performance in public universities in Western Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to examine the moderating effect of employee commitment on the relationship between talent management practices and employee performance in public universities in Western Uganda. The study was guided by the Egalitarian Theory of Talent Management, and a cross-sectional research design was adopted in the study. From a population of 1156, a sample size of 320 respondents was obtained in two phases: first, a census was used for the human resource directors and top management since the population was small (12 respondents); then secondly, the Yamane formula was used to calculate the sample size for the university council members and teaching and administrative staff, which yielded a sample of 308 respondents. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the human resource directors and top management, while simple random sampling was used for the council members and teaching and administrative staff. Using structured questionnaires, quantitative data was then collected from the 320 respondents of the two selected public universities (Mbarara University of Science and Technology and Kabale University). Data was then analyzed using structural modeling techniques. The findings revealed that the moderating effect of employee commitment on the relationship between talent management practices and employee performance was not statistically significant for either administrative or academic staff in Ugandan public universities. Specifically, for administrative staff, the interaction effect was not significant (z = -0.268, p = 0.789), although the direct effect of talent management on performance was statistically significant (β = 0.348, z = 2.161, p = 0.031), and the total effect remained strong (β = 0.314, z = 3.684, p < 0.001). This suggests that talent management practices such as attraction, development, retention, and motivation directly improved administrative staff performance, regardless of commitment levels. The study recommended that universities should focus on strengthening talent management initiatives directly, and while fostering employee commitment is important, efforts should prioritize implementing effective attraction, development, motivation, and retention strategies that independently drive performance improvements.

Description

Keywords

Employee Commitment, Employees Performance, Public Universities, Talent Management Practices

Citation

Kakkayi, J. N., Mwazuna, A. N., Agaba, M., & Munyambonera, E. (2025). Moderating role of employee commitment on the relationship between talent management practices and employee performance in public universities in Western Uganda. African Quarterly Social Science Review, 2(4), 404-420.