ADDRESSING ISSUES AND CHALLENGES TOWARDS MANAGING TALENTS FOR EARLY CAREER ACADEMICS IN MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES: A NEEDS STUDY TOWARDS DEVELOPING MY-ECATM MODEL

Abstract

Talent management (TM) is a significant consideration for organizations that wish to achieve sustainability, yet concerns about TM theory and practices are still scarce in Malaysian public universities. Academics who hold PhDs are considered to be experts who are able to perform multiple academic tasks with excellence, but this is not always the case especially for early career academics. Proper talent management for early career academics is vital to facilitate public universities in Malaysia in terms of identifying, developing, and retaining their academic talent. A needs study is the first step to be taken by a researcher to fully understand the problems, difficulties, and importance of a specific phenomenon. Concerning the requirement for this model, a needs study has been carried out. This study used a quantitative research methodology, and the main tool used to collect data was a survey. A total of 75% of the 32 respondents who participated in the survey believed that a TM model for early career academics should be developed. The MY-ECATM model, which is a novel model being developed to identify, develop, and retain academic talents, is presented in this study as the needs findings.