Talent Management Practices in Enhancing Employee Quality Service Delivery: A Study of Rural Public Health Facilities in Tanzania

Abstract

This paper examines talent management practices in enhancing employee quality service delivery in rural public health facilities in Tanzania. Guided by Social Exchange Theory and the SERVQUAL model, it focuses on three dimensions of talent management, including compensation, training and development, and succession planning to determine their contribution to service quality. A cross-sectional design was employed, targeting 285 healthcare personnel in 63 rural health centers and dispensaries across the Mtwara Region. A cross-sectional research design was adopted, targeting healthcare workers in 63 rural health centers and dispensaries in Mtwara Region. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analysed using IBM SPSS and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that all three talent management practices have a statistically significant positive effect on employee quality service delivery. Among them, compensation emerged as the strongest predictor, followed by training and development, with succession planning having a smaller but meaningful impact. The study concludes that effective talent management practices, particularly fair compensation, continuous skill development, and structured succession planning enhance healthcare workers’ motivation and capacity to deliver quality services. It is recommended that health administrators and policymakers in Tanzania prioritize these practices to improve employee performance and healthcare service outcomes in rural areas. Ethical clearance was obtained prior to the study.