A recent trend in the business literature is the focus on the possible link between talent
management efforts of an organisation and that organisation’s effectiveness. Despite this
trend the evidence supporting such a link is weak. Many books and journals advocate the
implementation of certain strategies to obtain the benefits proposed. However, not all these
articles have foundations within empirical research, but rather the business management
literature. This research report provides an empirical based research study. The novelty of
the study stems from its focus on the relationship between employee engagement and
employee perceptions of talent management practices within a NGO. NGOs are
underutilized research contexts within the current literature. The sample for this study is
from an NGO in Botswana that focuses on the mobilization of HIV testing services and
has the vision of no new HIV infections in 2016. Forty-eight participants took part in the
study, the majority of this sample is female (67%), the main home language is seTswana,
the mean age is 32, the mean organisational tenure is four years and most participants are
employed as counsellors within the organisation. Pearson correlation coefficients were
calculated to examine the association between the main constructs. There was insufficient
evidence to support a relationship, but the sample used in the study had high levels of
employee engagement, as well as positive perceptions of the talent management practices
within their organisation. Discussions of these engagement levels and perceptions of
practices are present, as well as discussions of the significant relationships between the
main constructs and the other measured variables. Significant relationships were found
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between employee’s perceptions of talent management and the overall number of years
that employees had been working (p = .05), and between employee engagement and
employee’s tenure within the organisation (p > .01). A regression was performed on the
data once job position had been stratified into two groups- counsellors (42%) and office
based workers (58%). A significant relationship between the main constructs was found
for office based employees (R-square = 29%). The study’s results are discussed in light of
the existing literature, and recommendations are made from the study’s findings. One
important recommendation is for the participating organisation to consider implementing a
strategy that focuses on enhancing the organisation’s counsellors’ perceptions of
organisational practices and their employee engagement
