Challenges and obstacles in talent management in education sector - A case study of Oxford Business College

This report focuses on understanding barriers associated with talent management in education sector. It includes project management plan, primary and secondary research, literature review, primary data analysis, and conclusion. The research aims to determine barriers faced by education sector in ensuring effective talent management. The report provides solutions and measures to resolve talent management barriers. The subject is Talent Management, course code is Unit-6, and the course name is Managing a Successful Business Project (MSBP). The college/university is not mentioned.

Unit-6
Managing a
Successful
Business Project
(MSBP)
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Contents
TITLE: What are the key challenges and obstacles facing education sector in terms of talent
management?...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH AIM:...........................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:...........................................................................................................3
RESREARCH QUEESTIONS:.......................................................................................................3
Project management Plan.......................................................................................................3
Research Methodology...........................................................................................................5
Literature review....................................................................................................................6
Theme 1: Talent management in education sector.................................................................6
Theme 2: Role of talent management in employee recruitment and retention.......................6
Theme 3: Talent management challenges in education sector...............................................7
Theme 4: Talent management solutions for education sector................................................7
Primary Research....................................................................................................................7
Primary Data analysis.............................................................................................................8
CONCUSION................................................................................................................................14
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................15
APPENDDIX.................................................................................................................................16
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TITLE: What are the key challenges and obstacles facing education sector in
terms of talent management?
TASK 1
INTRODUCTION
Oxford business collage is the oldest independent business school in UK and is the
primary choice to seek business management education in the country. The present report
focuses on understanding barriers associated with talent management in education sector. This
report includes project management plan with milestones, project costs, scope, quality,
communication, risk, resources, Gantt chart and WBS. In addition to this primary and secondary
research are also provided in this report.
RESEARCH AIM:
To determine barriers faced by education sector in ensuring effective talent management.
A case study of on Oxford Business collage.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:
 To understand the value of talent management in education sector.
 To analyse the impact of talent management in recruitment and retention of skilled
employees.
 To identify challenges faced by firms in education sector in relation to talent management
 To determine solutions and measures to resolve talent management barriers
RESREARCH QUEESTIONS:
 What is the value of talent management in education sector?
 What is the impact of talent management in recruitment and retention of skilled employees?
 What are the challenges faced by firms in education sector in relation to talent management?
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 What are the solutions and measures to resolve talent management barriers?
Project management Plan
Milestones
The first milestone is deciding aims and objectives of the research project. The second
milestone is securing resources for the research. Another milestone is contacting employees at
Oxford business school to conduct effective primary research.
Scope
The scope of the research project is wide as it focusses on the concept of talent
management in the education sector. In addition to this, this research plays an important role in
understanding ways to effectively attract and retain talented workers which helps in future
development.
Costs
Objects Expenditure
Transferable mainframe £350
Internet connection £150
Material for writing £134
TOTAL £634
Quality
The research will be completed by using data of supreme quality in order to ensure that
best outcome is gained from the research.
Communication
Email is the primary medium of communication used for the completion of the research.
This is justified as it is cost effective and effective communication medium.
Time
The time taken for completion of the research is of three months.
Risk
The main risk is related to respondents not being able to understand the questionnaire
which impacts the quality of research. This risk will be solved by including simple questions
with multiple options to ensure respondents are not confused and give effective answers.
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Resources
 Transferable mainframe: 350
 Internet connection: 150 Material for writing: 134
Gantt Chart and Work breakdown structure
Work breakdown structure
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Research Methodology
 Research approach: Deductive and inductive are two types of research approach. The
present research utilizes deductive approach. This is justified as it helps determine
connection between variables (Hongal and Kinange, 2020).
 Research Philosophy: Positivism and interpretivism are the two research philosophies. The
present research utilizes positivism. The justification behind this is that it helps gain
objective outcome.
 Research strategy: Questionnaire is the research strategy for the present research project.
This is justified as it is cost effective research strategy which helps gain objective outcomes.
 Data sources: Primary and secondary are two types of data sources. The present research
utilizes primary data sources with justification of increasing reliability and authenticity.
 Data collection: Quantitative and qualitative data collection are two methods in this part of
the research methodology. Quantitative data collection is the selected method for this
research as it is specific, reliable and generalizable.
 Sampling: Probabilistic sampling method is used for the present research (King,2017).
Under this random sampling is the selected method for this research as it ensures that
research is not affected by biases.
SAMPLE SIZE: 20
 Data Analysis: Frequency data analysis is used for the present research. Justification for this
is that frequency data analysis provides reliable results (Kurgat, 2018).
Critical evaluation of the project management process
The advantage of project management process is that it helps complete the project in a
timely manner and divides the objectives into smaller easily manageable tasks. This helped in
completion of the research project focusing on talent management. The disadvantage of project
management process is that it leads to overlapping of authority and responsibility which can
cause conflicts.
Accuracy and Reliability
The research methodology used for this investigation helps provide accurate research
because positivism research philosophy which is used in this investigation supports quantitative
analysis and reaching generalizable conclusion. In addition to this, the question I received
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strategy supports improvement in reliability of the project because it helps gain data directly
from the primary sources which is relevant to the specific objectives of the project.
Literature review
Theme 1: Talent management in education sector
As per the views of Cornerstone (2021) Talent management is one of the most valuable
practices required in the education sector in order to build skilled human resources in education
organizations (Talent Management and Succession Planning in Higher Education, 2021).
Providing holistic educational experience to students is dependent on presence of highly talented
and skilled employees in higher educational institutions.
Theme 2: Role of talent management in employee recruitment and retention
According to editorial (2021) talent management plays central role in attracting skilled
employees and retaining skilled employees who are dedicated to offering effective education to
every student. Talent management helps the organization build an employer branding which is
able to attract skilled employees for every position in the institution (Talent Management and
Succession Planning in Higher Education, 2021). On the other hand talent management practices
increase employee satisfaction and encourage to work for the company for a longer time period.
This helps the company retain skilled employees at every position.
Theme 3: Talent management challenges in education sector
As per the views of Sharma and Borrdoloi (2021) the primary challenge to effective
talent management in education is high workload which increases turnover rates. This decreases
employee satisfaction which affects employee retention and discourages skilled employees to
join higher education institution. In addition to this insufficient reward and recognition practices
decrease motivation level of hardworking employees and contribute to high turnover rates
(Human resource management in higher education institutions – contemporary scenario, 2021).
This also discourages employees from eliminating skills gaps and contribute bare minimum to
the organization which affects students’ education.
Theme 4: Talent management solutions for education sector
According to Hocking (2019) it is important for educational institution to adopt talent
management best practices. One of the best ways to hire and retain skilled employees in the
company for the company is to develop effective rewards and recognition for employees (How to
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develop your talent management strategy, 2019). This increases motivation and acts as an
element to attract skilled candidates to apply for various position in the institution.
Primary Research
Questionnaire
Name
Age
Gender
Q1) Do you agree with the statement that talent management is essential for development
of education sector firms?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) What is the main merit of talent management?
a) Employee retention
b) Improvement in employee applicabilities
c) Enhanced employee interaction
d) Expansion of employee duties
Q3) Do you agree with the statement that talent management practises play crucial role in
attracting and retaining skilled employees?
a) Yes
b) No
Q4) What are the main talent management challenges faced by education sector?
a) Insufficient reward and recognition
b) Insufficient funding
c) High training and development costs
d) Inexperience with technology
Q5) Which is the most effective talent management practice?
a) Performance based rewards
b) Flexible training
c) Aligning organizational strategy with talent management strategy
d) Career development
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Primary Data analysis
Q1) Do you agree with the statement that
talent management is essential for
development of education sector firms?
Frequency
a) Yes 10
b) No 10
Interpretation: From the above graph it is determined that out of 20 respondents 10 state that
talent management is essential for success of businesses in education sector while 10disagree
about the belief.
Q2) What is the main merit of talent
management?
Frequency
a) Employee retention 5
b) Improvement in employee applicabilities 4
c) Enhanced employee interaction 6
d) Expansion of employee duties 5
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Interpretation: From the above graph it is interpreted that out of 20 respondents 5
consider retention of key personnel is the main advantage of talent management while 4 believe
employee development to be primary advantage. Boosting employee engagement is the main
advantage as per 6 respondents while 5 consider expanding employee experience to be main
advantage.
Q3) Do you agree with the statement that
talent management practises play crucial
role in attracting and retaining skilled
employees?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 5
10

Interpretation: From the above graph it is interpreted that out of 20 respondents 15 believe talent
management is critical to attracting and retaining skilled and talented employees while 5 disagree
with the statement.
Q4) What are the main talent management
challenges faced by education sector?
Frequency
a) Insufficient reward and recognition 4
b) Insufficient funding 2
c) High training and development costs 10
d) Inexperience with technology 4
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Interpretation: From the above graph it is interpreted that out of 20 respondents 4
consider insufficient rewards and recognition to be main talent management challenge in
education sector and 2 consider insufficient funding to be the main challenge. High training and
development costs are talent management barrier as per 10 respondents and according to 4 it is
inexperience with technology.
Q5) Which is the most effective talent
management practice?
Frequency
a) Performance based rewards 8
b) Flexible training 2
c) Aligning organizational strategy with talent
management strategy
3
d) Career development 7
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Interpretation: From the above graph it is determined that out of 20 respondents 8
consider performance based rewards to be the best talent management practice, while for 2
respondents it is flexible training. Aligning organizational strategy with talent management
strategy is the best practice in talent management for 3 respondents and 7 respondents state that
career development id the most effective talent management practice.
Reflection on value of undertaking the research
From the experience of completing a research on the topic of talent management I have
reflected that this activity has helped me improve my academic knowledge along with the ability
to develop and ethical and reliable piece of academic research. The usage of various project
management tools such as Gantt chart and constructing project aims in objectives have helped
me understand the role of project management process in successfully completing a research
project. I am now able to use my knowledge related to the research methodology to conduct a
systematic research project. This it's highly beneficial for my professional as well as academic
career as now I am able to apply existing knowledge and research skills to attain aims of research
in an ethical manner by using primary as well as secondary resources.
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CONCUSION
From the above report it is concluded that the education sector in UK faces various
challenges in relation to effective relent management. It is important for business firms to
eliminate these challenges in order to offer the best education to students.
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REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Hongal, P. and Kinange, U., 2020. A study on talent management and its impact on organization
performance-an empirical review. International Journal of Engineering and
Management Research, 10.
King, K. A., 2017. The talent climate. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and
Performance.
Kurgat, A. C., 2018. Talent Management and its Importance for Today’s Organizations in Kenya
Perspective; a Critical Review. International Journal of Advances in Agriculture
Sciences.
Malik, A. R. and Singh, P., 2020. Outcomes of talent management: the role of perceived
equity. Employee Relations: The International Journal.
Online
How to develop your talent management strategy, 2019. [Online] Available through
<https://www.hrdconnect.com/2019/09/06/how-to-develop-your-talent-management-
strategy/ >
Human resource management in higher education institutions – contemporary scenario, 2021.
[Online] Available through <https://www.worldwidejournals.com/global-journal-for-
research-analysis-GJRA/article/human-resource-management-in-higher-educational-
institutions-contemporary-scenario/Mzg1MQ==/>
Talent and succession planning in higher education institutions, 2021. [Online] Available
through <https://www.tmi.org/blog/talent-and-succession-planning-in-higher-education-
institutions >
Talent Management and Succession Planning in Higher Education, 2021. [Online] Available
through <https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/resources/blogs/talent-management-
and-succession-planning-higher-education/>
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APPENDDIX
Student Name: Date:
Project title: What are the key challenges and obstacles facing education sector in
terms of talent management?
Update on weekly research/tasks achieved
Questions Answers Dates
What work has been provided
by you?
I completed research project
on understanding talent
management challenges in
education sector.
What task requirements did
you fulfil?
I fulfilled task requirements
for completing written project
pan and completing power
point presentation.
What deadlines have you met? I have completed every task in
given time.
What project time frames did
you not accomplish and what
are the changed time-frames?
I did not miss any deadline.
What changes were
implemented by you in order
to build project management
plan?
I didn't implement any
variations to my project
management plan.
Any risks and/or issues identified?
Were any threats or absence of skills needed to
fulfil task requirements identified?
My weak organization skill affected effective
completion of research as I was confused in the
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beginning of the project on how to start the
research to attain research aim.
Did you identify any additional risks/issues
that have an impact on the project management
plan?
The additional risk of respondents being
confused by the questionnaire affected the
research.
Problems encountered
What barriers did you face? I faced the obstacle of not being able to find
authentic sources for secondary research.
How did you overcome them? I used the CRAPP tool
Did any unique concepts altered project
direction?
No
Performance Review Guidelines
What was the project supposed to accomplish? The aim of the project was to determine
barriers faced by education sector in ensuring
effective talent management.
Was the project able to attain outcome? How
did you find out? Provide particular evaluation
and assessment undertaken?
Yes I was able to attain project aims by
completing primary research to gain data
directly from employees in education
institution.
What according to you was completed
effectively? Provide amassment of various
aspects of the project.
The initiation phase did not work well as my
lack of organization skill created confusion.
The implementation of project activities was
orderly and I was able to attain project aim in a
timely manner.
What issues were faced by you during the
project and how were they eliminated? Were
the project obstacles identified in a timely
manner and resolved?
The main barrier was to develop a simple
questionnaire. I was able to identify this barrier
in a timely manner and resolved it by
developing cohesive questionnaire with
multiple answers to reduce confusion.
What knowledge did you gain from the
completion of the project?
I leaned about best talent management
practices and talent management challenges in
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education sector.
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