Hannah BulaPeter Philip WambuaWainana, Ruth Wambui2023-02-012023-02-012022http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/24601A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration(Human Resource Management Option) in the School of Business, Economics and Tourism of Kenyatta University,October, 2022County governments are not only expected to be efficient in service delivery to their citizenry but also to be compliant with the set regulations. Organization performance of county governments in Kenya is measured against this backdrop. Talent management has been defined as a managerial strategy that enhances organizational performance. It involves determination of talent amongst employees and nurturing them to be innovative in realization of organizational goals. Nairobi City County Government has not been on record in terms of exemplary performance despite all her endowment as a county that stands out among all the counties in Kenya on several fronts. Nairobi City County Government has failed to ensure exemplary delivery of services to her citizens. This has led to a handicap in handling the ever rising population growth rate and provision of services in the health industry, poor nutrition, sanitation and insecurity, to mention but a few. Nairobi City County Government has also not been among the few that are cited to meet her economical obligations regarding revenue collection and budget absorption leading the economic growth rate in a downward trajectory. This interest informed undertaking of this study to establish the effects of talent management on Nairobi City County Government’s performance. Four specific objectives guided this study. They include; to establish effect of talent attraction on organizational performance of Nairobi City County Government, to determine the effect of talent development on organizational performance of Nairobi City County Government, to determine the effect of talent retention on organizational performance of Nairobi City County Government. The study held a mediating variable of innovation capabilities and organizational support as the moderating variable. The study was majorly anchored on the resource-based view theory that holds that organizational performance and competitive advantage results due to superior capabilities and resources compared to those of competitors. Other theories that anchored this study are the human capital theory, organizational learning theory and the social exchange theories. This research study adopted a descriptive approach through a cross-sectional research design. Purposive sampling was employed in selecting Nairobi City County Government where a census of only the top and middle level managers of Nairobi city county government were selected for the study as they were deemed appropriate to take part in the study. 121 managers within the county government formed the study’s target population. They included the chief officers, directors, deputy directors and assistant directors only. Collection of primary data was done through questionnaire which was considered familiar to respondents in order to get the solicited information easily. The questionnaire was pilot tested at the county government of Wajir and the data obtained was used for validity and reliability testing. The instrument was found suitable to collect the required data for the study. The collected data was prepared for analysis by coding, editing and cleaning and later analyzed using SPSS statistical package. The study adopted quantitative data analysis techniques which are ideal to analyze effectively. Descriptive statistics like percentages, means and standard deviation were used to analyze quantitative data. Inferential statistics was analyzed using content analysis. A multiple regression model was used to assess the influence of the dependent variable on the dependent variable. Hypotheses testing were done where the criteria of making decision was the p-value of respective beta coefficients at 95% confidence level. The null hypothesis was rejected when p< 0.05. Results from the analysis have been presented by the use of figures, graphs, tables and charts. The study results found out that talent attraction, talent development and talent retention positively and significantly affect organizational performance of Nairobi City County Government. Innovative capabilities partially mediate the relationship between talent management on organization performance while organizational support significantly moderates the relationship between talent management and organizational performance of Nairobi City County Government. The study recommends that organizational management should apply appropriate strategies to attract, develop and retain the right talents for NCCG as well as set aside resources that encourage innovation among employees so as novel ideas on efficient realization of organization objectives may be developed. It was also recommended that employees should be involved in decision making pertaining to their rewards and welfare in order to increase and sustain exemplary performance of a particular organization. The study calls upon future researchers to investigate other variables that may inform organizational performance not studied in here. The same study may be carried out in a different context or using different methods.enTalent ManagementOrganizational PerformanceNairobi City CountyKenyaThesis