ROLE OF TALENT MANAGEMENT IN ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the Role of Talent Management in Enhancing the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in North-Central Nigeria, with specific focus on three talent management dimensions: career development, talent retention, and performance management. Despite the growing recognition of talent management as a strategic driver of organisational competitiveness, empirical evidence on its specific dimensions and their individual effects on SME performance within the North-Central geopolitical zone remains limited and methodologically constrained. Employing a survey research design, the study collected data from 400 sampled valid respondents comprising owner-managers, human resource officers, and senior operational managers drawn from formally registered SMEs across the seven states of the North-Central zone. Data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) via Smart PLS, following a two-stage evaluation of the measurement model and structural model. The measurement model results confirm that all constructs satisfy outer loading, composite reliability, average variance extracted, and HTMT discriminant validity benchmarks. The structural model results reveal that career development exerts a positive and statistically significant effect on SME performance, and talent retention similarly exerts a positive and statistically significant influence on SME performance. Performance management, however, while positively directed, does not exert a statistically significant effect on SME performance. The model accounts for of the variance in SME performance, with acceptable predictive relevance and model fit (SRMR. The findings affirm the primacy of career development and talent retention over transactional performance management systems in driving SME performance in the study area, and carry significant implications for SME managers, policymakers, and HR practitioners operating in the North-Central region.