INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE 10(8)(2021) 138-148 * Corresponding author. ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8721-4666 © 2021by the authors. Hosting by SSBFNET. Peer review under responsibility of Center for Strategic Studies in Business and Finance. https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v10i8.1504 Citation: Shava, E., & Doorgapersad, S. V. (2021). Talent management: A ’recipe’ for public service delivery in the fourth industrial revolution. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478), 10(8). Talent management: A 'recipe' for public service delivery in the fourth industrial revolution Elvin Shava (a)* Shikha-Vyas Doorgapersad (b) (a) Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, School of Public Management, Governance & Public Policy, University of Johannesburg, South Africa (b) Professor, School of Public Management, Governance & Public Policy, University of Johannesburg, South Africa A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 29 November 2021 Received in rev. form 20 Dec. 2021 Accepted 22 December 2021 Keywords: Talent Management, Public service delivery, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Local municipalities JEL Classification: O38; O39; Z00 A B S T R A C T The article was based on an interpretive paradigm, which adopts a qualitative desktop review approach. Various document sources that inform 4IR and talent management within the local government context in South Africa were employed. The two cities of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni were used as case studies to examine their talent management strategies in the 4IR. The analysis of documents has shown that the 4IR can enable accelerated delivery of services; increase access to services; improve community participation; and more significant social accountability. Nevertheless, some municipalities in South Africa do not have enough resources and skills capacity to implement ICT/4IR measures to improve services; hence managing talent in key technical jobs has become an impediment. The absence of institutional readiness among local municipalities is a huge deterrent to managing talent needed to drive service delivery in the 4IR. The study concludes that to achieve efficient public service delivery within the 4IR, local municipalities should retain talent to manage the digital technologies that demand skilled expertise. The article recommends the government develop policies that offer guidance to local municipalities on managing specified sets of talents that are deemed crucial to enhancing socio-economic development in the 4IR. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee SSBFNET, Istanbul, Turkey. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Introduction Talent management is a broad phrase with no universal definition. It depends on the context and purpose in which it will be used. The interchangeable use of talent management with succession planning and human resources planning triggers further controversies. Other scholars explain talent management through various approaches, including competency, individual strength, giftedness, high potential, and high performers (Meyers et al., 2013:305; Tetik, 2016:41). Talent management is described by Gallardo et al. (2020:457) as all activities that include planning, identification, engagement, retention, deployment, and developing the individual (staff) training, development, and education need systematically. Talent management is essential for attracting, motivating, and retaining productive employees in the public sector (Mehale et al., 2021). Therefore, talent management should be institutionalised in municipal planning to enhance efficiency in public service delivery. Nevertheless, the chronic shortage of skills has been a barrier to effective service delivery in South African municipalities (Sebola, 201:181; Van Dyk, 2013:62). There has been a slow implementation of talent management programmes to improve the competence of officials to accelerate service delivery in communities. Gibson & McKenzie (2011:107) hold that skills shortage emanates from poor talent management that triggers massive scale brain drain in South Africa. Statistics South Africa (2015) laments that skills deficit had been caused by the emigration of qualified minorities to other developed countries, decreasing the pool of skills due to affirmative action's unintended effects. The recent Critical Skills Survey (2020/21) conducted by Xpatweb indicates the deficit of Research in Business & Social Science IJRBS VOL 10 NO 8 ISSN: 2147-4478 Available online at www.ssbfnet.com Journal homepage: https://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs