ABSTRACT

This study examines the relationship between talent management and employee retention, using Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) as a case study. Nigeria's banking sector has, in recent years, faced a pronounced talent retention challenge, with research indicating turnover rates among bank personnel as high as 85 percent linked to declining job satisfaction, compounded by the accelerating emigration of skilled Nigerian professionals commonly referred to as the 'japa' phenomenon which has intensified competition among banks for scarce skilled talent (Oluwole, 2022). Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, widely regarded as one of Nigeria's leading and most profitable financial institutions with a reputation for structured human resource practices, provides an instructive setting in which to examine whether, and how strongly, formal talent management practices are associated with employee retention outcomes. Guided by this concern, the study pursues four specific objectives: to examine the effect of talent recruitment and selection on employee retention at GTBank; to determine the effect of talent development and training on employee retention; to assess the influence of career development and succession planning on employee retention; and to evaluate the effect of reward and recognition systems on employee retention at GTBank. The study adopts a descriptive survey research design, drawing its population from management and non-management staff of GTBank across selected branches. A structured questionnaire built on a five-point Likert scale will be administered to a sample determined through an appropriate statistical formula and stratified random sampling, and data will be analysed using descriptive statistics alongside Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis conducted with SPSS, with hypotheses tested at the 5% level of significance. Anchored on the Resource-Based View and Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, and consistent with prior Nigerian banking-sector findings (Akanda, Bhuiyan, Kumarasamy & Karuppannan, 2021; Joof & Olanipekun, 2022), the study anticipates that talent recruitment, talent development, career development and succession planning, and reward and recognition systems will each show a statistically significant positive relationship with employee retention at GTBank. The findings are expected to provide practical, evidence-based guidance for strengthening talent management strategies aimed at reducing turnover in Nigeria's competitive banking labour market.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Talent management refers to the integrated set of organisational processes concerned with attracting, developing, motivating, and retaining employees who possess the skills, capabilities, and potential considered critical to an organisation's strategic success (Ioan, 2023, as cited in related talent management literature). In knowledge- and service-intensive industries such as banking, where institutional performance depends heavily on the expertise, judgement, and customer relationships built by individual employees, the ability to retain skilled and experienced staff has become an increasingly urgent strategic concern.

Employee retention, the outcome variable of interest in this study, refers to an organisation's ability to keep valued employees from voluntarily leaving, thereby preserving institutional knowledge, minimising recruitment and training costs, and maintaining service continuity. In the Nigerian banking sector specifically, retention has become an especially pressing concern in recent years, with research pointing to elevated turnover rates driven by a combination of factors including limited career progression, inadequate reward systems, high job demands, and, increasingly, the emigration of skilled professionals to opportunities abroad (Oluwole, 2022; Adeosun & Owolabi, 2021).

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, established in 1990 and consistently ranked among Nigeria's most profitable and best-capitalised banks, has built a reputation for structured, merit-based human resource practices, including competitive graduate recruitment programmes and internal development pathways. As a leading employer of choice within the Nigerian financial services industry, GTBank's talent management practices and their relationship to staff retention offer a particularly relevant case for examining how formal talent management systems perform in practice within a highly competitive, high-turnover industry.

Nigerian empirical research has consistently identified talent management as a significant factor in employee retention within the banking sector (Akanda, Bhuiyan, Kumarasamy & Karuppannan, 2021; Bamigboye & Abdulazeez, 2023), yet firm-specific studies focused on a single leading Nigerian bank such as GTBank remain comparatively limited, with much of the existing literature adopting a sector-wide or multi-bank comparative approach that may obscure institution-specific dynamics, providing the motivation for the present study.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The Nigerian banking sector has, in recent years, faced a pronounced employee retention challenge, with reported turnover rates reaching as high as 85 percent in some institutions, a trend linked to declining job satisfaction, limited career advancement opportunities, and inadequate reward structures (Oluwole, 2022; Oumwense, 2018). This challenge has been further compounded by the intensifying emigration of skilled Nigerian professionals to international labour markets, which has heightened competition among Nigerian banks for a shrinking pool of experienced talent (Bamigboye & Abdulazeez, 2023).

A specific problem is that while Nigerian banks, including GTBank, have invested in various talent management initiatives such as structured recruitment programmes, training academies, and performance-based reward systems, the persistence of high turnover suggests that these initiatives may not be fully aligned with the specific factors driving employee attrition, or that their implementation may fall short of employee expectations in practice (Akanda, Bhuiyan, Kumarasamy & Karuppannan, 2021). Without firm-specific evidence on which dimensions of talent management most strongly influence retention, banks risk investing resources in generic talent programmes that fail to address the particular concerns of their workforce.

Furthermore, much of the existing Nigerian literature on talent management and retention in banking adopts either a conceptual, multi-bank comparative approach, or focuses on other institutions such as Wema Bank or United Bank for Africa (Bamigboye & Abdulazeez, 2023), leaving a comparative gap in firm-specific empirical evidence for GTBank despite its prominence and reputation for structured human resource practices within the industry. It is this combination of persistent sector-wide retention challenges and the limited GTBank-specific empirical evidence that this study seeks to address.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study is to examine the relationship between talent management and employee retention at Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. The specific objectives are to:

i. examine the effect of talent recruitment and selection on employee retention at GTBank;

ii. determine the effect of talent development and training on employee retention at GTBank;

iii. assess the influence of career development and succession planning on employee retention at GTBank;

iv. evaluate the effect of reward and recognition systems on employee retention at GTBank.

1.4 Research Questions

This study seeks to answer the following research questions:

i. What is the effect of talent recruitment and selection on employee retention at GTBank?

ii. What is the effect of talent development and training on employee retention at GTBank?

iii. What is the influence of career development and succession planning on employee retention at GTBank?

iv. What is the effect of reward and recognition systems on employee retention at GTBank?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses are formulated to guide the study:

● H01: Talent recruitment and selection have no significant effect on employee retention at GTBank.

● H02: Talent development and training have no significant effect on employee retention at GTBank.

● H03: Career development and succession planning have no significant influence on employee retention at GTBank.

● H04: Reward and recognition systems have no significant effect on employee retention at GTBank.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study will be of significant value to the management of GTBank and other Nigerian deposit money banks, providing empirical evidence on which specific talent management practices most strongly predict employee retention, thereby supporting more targeted human resource investment. To human resource practitioners in the banking industry more broadly, the study offers a firm-level reference for designing recruitment, development, career progression, and reward systems informed by demonstrated retention outcomes rather than generic industry assumptions.

To employees within the banking sector, the study's findings may inform expectations around career development and reward structures, and support informed career decisions. To regulators and policymakers concerned with the stability of Nigeria's financial services workforce, understanding the drivers of retention in a leading institution such as GTBank offers insight relevant to broader industry workforce planning, particularly in light of the ongoing emigration of skilled professionals. Finally, the study contributes to the academic literature by providing firm-specific evidence from GTBank, complementing existing sector-wide and multi-bank studies, and offers a foundation for future comparative research across Nigerian financial institutions.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study is delimited in content to four dimensions of talent management recruitment and selection, talent development and training, career development and succession planning, and reward and recognition systems as independent variables, with employee retention as the dependent variable. Organisationally, the study is restricted to Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, with respondents drawn from management and non-management staff across a purposively selected set of branches. Geographically, data collection will be concentrated within Nigeria, with particular focus on branches located in Lagos State, given the concentration of the bank's head office functions and workforce in that state.

The study is subject to the customary limitations of an academic research project of this scale, including constraints of time and financial resources that limit the sample size and geographical coverage of data collection. Reliance on self-reported questionnaire data introduces the possibility of response bias, as employees may be hesitant to candidly report dissatisfaction with their employer's talent management practices for fear of professional repercussions. Additionally, because the study is confined to a single bank, its findings, while informative, may not be fully generalisable to other Nigerian banks with different organisational cultures, resource levels, or human resource strategies, a limitation acknowledged in the interpretation of the study's conclusions.

1.8 Definition of Terms

The key terms used in this study are defined as follows for clarity:

● Talent Management: The integrated set of organisational processes concerned with attracting, developing, motivating, and retaining employees considered critical to organisational success.

● Employee Retention: An organisation's ability to keep valued employees from voluntarily leaving over a given period.

● Recruitment and Selection: The process of identifying, attracting, and choosing suitable candidates to fill vacant organisational roles.

● Talent Development: Organised activities, including training and mentoring, aimed at building employees' skills, knowledge, and capabilities.

● Succession Planning: A systematic process of identifying and developing internal personnel to fill key organisational roles in the future.

● Career Development: Ongoing, formal efforts an organisation undertakes to support employees' professional growth and advancement.

● Reward and Recognition System: The structured mechanisms through which an organisation compensates and acknowledges employees for their performance and contributions.

● Employee Turnover: The rate at which employees leave an organisation and are replaced by new hires.

● Job Satisfaction: The degree of contentment employees feel with respect to their job roles, work environment, and conditions of employment.

● Human Capital: The collective skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an organisation's employees that contribute to its productive capacity.

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