Introduction lthough there have been many studies on talent management (TM), these articles concentrated on TM in profit and business organization perspective almost to the total neglect of institutions of higher learning (IHL). Also, some of the studies used statistical products for social sciences (IBM SPSS) in data analysis, which is a limited model compared to PLS-SEM used in this study. The performance of IHL is becoming a concern and issue of attention both to the national and international bodies. As a result of the world emergence of a knowledge-driven economy, IHL today competes in the global market for both students and employees (saint, 2015). Salmi (2009) believed that the concentration of talent is a determining factor in accessing the high performance of IHL. Therefore, TMP can contribute to educational excellence in IHL (Lynch, 2007;Riccio, 2010;Ogbari et al. 2018). Despite the importance of TMP in IHL, only a few institutions have implemented formal programs to support and promote existing talent, IHL continues to pride themselves on learning and advance thinking but place no emphasis on TMP and therefore invest little or no time on TM (Riccio, 2010; Ogbari et al. 2018). Groysberg and Bell (2013) believed that one of the reasons IHL fails to identify TMP accurately on time is because they are not able to incorporate TM programs into the strategic plan of the institutions. Since IHL are reservoirs of knowledge, they have a critical role of fostering the needs of human resources and satisfy the aspirations of people to build a prosperous and human society. To stay globally competitive, IHL needs to benchmark to allow efficient implementation, review, and enhance TMP to improve employee performance (Liversage, 2015). Though TM has no broadly accepted definition, Lewis and Heckman (2006), and Collings and Mellahi (2009) defined TM as the architecture required to develop and sustain a competitive advantage. Armstrong & Baron (2007), CIPD (2012), Davies, and Davies (2010) believed that TM is critical and need ful to the success of IHL. A strategic talent management practice and policy is required to recruit and retain the right talents effectively, and develop highly valued workforce (Tripathi, Jayanthi & Pandeya, 2010), these formed the research constructs as talent recruitment management practice (TRMP), and talent culture management practice (TCMP). The IHL needs to accelerate development for academics (Mohan, Siva & John, 2016). TMP (TRMP and TCMP) can be used to provide these much-needed paths for academic and institutional development because of its significant influence on employee performance (EP). Given the critical role played by IHL in the nation's ec onomy, there is a need for TMP to enhance institutional competitive advantage to survive in the global marketplace. Though similar talent need s and aspirations may exi st between developed and developing nations (including sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria), there is a paucity of literature to benchmark TMP in IHL in Adamawa State and a gap between what is obtainable in the developed world and developing world, particularly in Nigeria in terms of demand for quality service, talent recruitment management practice (TRMP), and talent culture management practice (TCMP). This knowledge gap provides the basis for this study; what is the status and performance impact of TMP on employee performance in IHL in Adamawa State, Nigeria? This study aimed at determining the influence of talent management practices (recruitment and culture) on employee performance in IHL in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The remaining parts of this article will be structured into chapter two: literature review; chapter three: methodology' chapter four: the analysi s of data; and chapter five is the findings, and recommendations. # II. # Literature Review a) Theoretical Framework There are several contributions by various scholars and schools of thought that have examined the relationship between TMP and EP in IHL. Some of these relevant theories serve as a dependable framework and the study is built upon them. Specifically, the study highlighted the resource-based view and human capital theories. The resource-based view (RBV) maintains that "firms possess resources, a subset of which enables them to achieve competitive advantage, and a subset of those that lead to superior long-term performance." Valuable resources are rare, and can lead to the creation of competitive advantage. The advantage created can be sustained over sometime to the p oint that the firm can protect against resource imitation, transfer, or substitution. The resource-based view maintained that organizations and talent managers must engage valuable resource investment in talented employees to sustain competitive advantage (Petkovic & Dordevic, 2013), as cited by Acar and Yener (2016). Although the resource-based view postulated a superior argument on talent management, Tetik, (2016) maintained that the RBV is inadequate in determining the motive behind talent management practice. The human capital theory (HCT) is a modem extension of Adam Smith's explanation of wage differentials by the net disadvantages between different employments. The HCT emphasized TM as an investment in employees that gain high returns for owners and shareholders (Axelrod, 2001, as cited by Acar and Yener (2016). Its focus is on organization investing in talented employees through recruitment, training, and development to achieve competitive advantage. The HCT maintained that organizations could improve productivity and performance if they invest in employees through training, recruitment, education, and rewards management system (Acar & Yener, 2016). A further belief is that widespread investment in human capital creates in the labor-force the skill-base indispensable for economic growth. The HCT emphasized that investment in education is principal, and for employee, human capital investment comprises both direct costs and costs in foregone incomes. Employees taking decision to invest should compare the attractiveness of alternative future income and consumption streams, to know which offers enhanced future income, as an exchange for higher present training costs and deferred consumption. Human capital investment (social investment) returns can be calculated analogously. Empirical studies have suggested that, though some of the observed variations in earnings are likely to be due to skills learned, the proportion of unexplained variance is still high, and must be an attribute of the imperfect structure and functioning of the labor market , rather than of the productivities of the individuals constituting the labor supply. # b) Talent management practice (recruitment) TM is the process or activity involved in attracting and enticing people who are qualified, competent, skillful , experienced, and capable in an organization (Davies & Davies, 2010). For any organization to be successful and maintain a competitive advantage, they must stay ahead by predicting those who will be main drivers of the organization's future (Hay Group , 2008, cited in Davies & Davies, 2010; and Mohan, Siva, & John, 2016). IHL must be future-focused, predict what skill will be needed for the future of the institution, and recruit in line with competency, skills, and experience of the future need. Recruitment in IHL requires the use of selection tool s, which include an application form, evaluation of resume, tests, interviews, physical examination, reference, and background checks. Applying adequate methods of recruitment might reduce business cost s and verse versa. Mwanzi , Wamitu, and Kiama (2017) emphasized the importance of recruitment method s in reducing the cost of business. In a study conducted in Kenya to determine the influence of talent management on organizational growth and performance using talent identification, shows a positive relationship between talent identification and organization growth and performance. Asiyai (2013), in a study "challenges of quality in higher education in Nigeria in the 21 st century," revealed that poor quality of teaching staff and inadequate staff development programs, among others, result in poor quality service delivery and economic development. Agrawal (2010), in a study "talent management model for business school s: factor analysis," conducted in India, shows a positive relationship between talent management recruitment and business school performance. The study further established that business schools should understand and maintain faculty as talents and create an enabling work environment to harness their potentials. Ogbari et al. (2018), in a recent study "talent management as a determinant of firm performance: A conceptual approach," advocates continuous training, development, and recruitment of talent to obtain the required level of capacity of employees and improve organizational performance. Nafei (2016), in a study "the impact of talent management on organizational performance (OP): evidence from the industrial companies in Egypt," shows a positive relationship between TM recruitment and OP. Arif and Uddin (2016), in a study "talent management and organizational performance: an empirical study in the retail sector in Sylhet city, Bangladesh in South Asia, revealed a positive relationship between talent attraction and selection and OP. # c) Talent management practice (culture) Culture is the tenets and mores of an organization (Coetsee 2004, as cited by Nafei (2016). Organizational culture is a set of beliefs and values that employee subscribes to in an organization (Magee, 2002; Maina, 2016). These beliefs are products of reality and experience, while standard s are desirable ideals worth sharing. They are a specific assortment of principles shared by all employees in an organization. Beliefs and values control the behaviors of individual employees and groups within the organization; this way, employees interact, relate, and intermingle with the internal and external environmental variables. Talented professionals need to have the impressi on that they are valued and their contribution worth a competitive advantage to the organization (Davies & Davies, 2010). The need for good corporate culture as a retention strategy has become an area of focus for researchers (Philip & Cornel, 2003, cited in Nafei , 2016). Managers and institutional authorities must align management and the organization's expectations with the overall corporate culture (Ahlrichs, 2003, as cited in Nafei 2016). Organizational culture has a direct impact on many variables of the organization (Kotter, 2012; Nafei, 2016). If norm and values guides employees in an organization in terms of operations, it will impact and improve their performance (Hofstede, 2007; Nafei, 2016). Sharkey and Eccher (2011, cited by Mohan, Siva, & John, 2016) believe that organizations with good supportive culture employees can achieve a 30% increase in business results. Any organization with a well-defined and stipulated culture and common goals is likely to attain more efficiency since workers share the same ideals and orientation for success. James and Justus (2012), in their recent study on "the impact of organizational culture on performance of educational institutions in Kenya, show that every organization (whether business and education) have a culture, whether good or bad. They outlined three criteria needed by the organization to develop a suitable culture and to aid long term performance. Firstly, organizational culture should be strategically relevant to the mission and objectives of the organization, sec ond, organizational culture need s to be strong to attract the attention, care and respect of the people and third, organizational culture should have "intrinsic ability" to adjust to the changing and prevailing circumstances. The study revealed that culture has a positive influence on an employee's attitudes to work and that there is a close relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance. Aibieye and Igiebor (2015), in the study "talent management and employee retention in Nigerian universities," show a positive and significant impact on organizational culture. # d) Study m odel From the diagram below, there is one independent variable, which is TM, and one dependent variable, which is EP. The study suggested that TM in an institution influences EP. TM focus in this study consists of recruitment and culture (Heinen& O'Neill, 2004) # Methodology a) Research design The researcher adopted a qualitative survey design which was used to collect data and explore the topic under study. The survey was appropriate to enable the researcher to formulate significant principles of knowledge and to test a theory, to evaluate a program, or to accurately describe and assess meaning related to an ob servable phenomenon (William, 2006). A structured and undisguised questionnaire was adopted from Knott (2016), Maina (2016), and Liversage (2015); and modified by the researcher was used as a primary source of data collection. It is structured because all questions are logical the same, asked the resp ondents in the same manner with no follow-up questions is allowed. It is undisguised because both the researcher and the respondents know that the purpose of the data collection is purely for research purposes. (Selltiz,1996). The adopted and modified questionnaire was vetted by experts before they were distributed and administered. The researcher engaged the activities of research assi stants (Academic Secretary) along side the researcher distributed the instrument to 382 academic and senior administrative staff of the selected institutions and returned after a day to retrieve the questionnaire. The item's responses were anchored on five points Likert scale for each question which ranges from Strongly Agree (1), Agree (2), Moderate (3), Disagree (4), and Strongly Disagree (5). The data collected were cleaned and analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (Smart PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM is a variance or component-based estimation approach that is used in analyzing composite-based path models or data. PLS-SEM is used in asymmetric and equidistant Likert scale questionnaire or data. The PLS is used in analysis when data involves more than a single-items measurement in collecting data. In many social science disciplines such as organizational management, international management, human resource management, management information system, operational management, marketing management, among st others, PLS is now widely applied in research analysis (Hair et al. 2012; Risher, Ringle & Sarstedt, 2018). PLS model is used because the study involves testing a theoretical framework from a predictive perspective, many constructs, to better understand the increasing complexity by exploring theoretical extensions, and the study requires latent variables scores for follow-up analysis (Hair et al . 2017). The study regress the exogenous (TRMP and TCMP) on the endogenous (EP) thus: Y = ? 0 +X 1 +X 2 (Where Y = EP, ? = Beta, 0 = Constant, X 1 = TRMP, X 2 = TCMP). The endogenous variable outcome is expected to have a positive and significant relationship on the exogenous variables. # b) Population and sam ple procedure The conceptual and associated hypothesi s is tested using the data generated through the questionnaire distributed to all employees of IHL randomly selected. The total population is 8355 employees. The respondents' sample size was determined using Taro Yamani's (1967) formula. n = N (1+N e 2 ) The sample size of 382 is obtained. IV. # Data Analysis Techniques The selected institutions for the study include Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, American University of Nigeria, Yola, Adamawa State University, M ubi, Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, Adamawa State Polytechnic. The study employed Composite Reliability (CR) to evaluate the model's internal consistency, the individual reliability of outer loading indicators, the average variance extracted (AVE) to evaluate convergent validity, the assessment of the discriminant validity using Heterotrait Monotrait (HTMT) and cross-loadings. They are all found in PLS-SEM. PLS-SEM was selected to enable the research to explain the relationships with the model and to examine whether the hypotheses are empirically supported (Sarstedt et al. 2013). Also, PLS-SEM is effective in explaining the interrelationship between the constructs (Sarstedt, Ringle, Henseler & Haire, 2014). # a) Reliability of the item and convergent validity The outer loadings of the indicators based on reflective measurement model assessment ranged from 0.716 to 0.925 as rep orted in Table 1.1 below and this indicates an acceptable correlation and individual indicator's reliability because items with a loading less than 0.7 are not statistically significant (Risher, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2019; Hair et al. 2017;Ghasemy, 2020). The researcher used PLS Algorithm to determine the Cronbach Alpha and CR of the constructs' validity. The model required Cronbach Alpha and CR of 0.7 and above to be valid and reliable. However, the researcher emphasized CR, which is a better indicator of internal consistency. CR has proven to be superior to Cronbach's alpha because it uses the factor l oading weight scores of the model and the Average Variance Extracted (Fornell & Locker, 1981; Ri sher, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2019; Hair et al. 2017). From the results, the CR of all the reflective constructs is above 0.7 threshold value, which indicates a high level of internal consistency for all the constructs. The convergent validity is the extent to which the construct converge to explain the variance of its items. The validity metric used to test the construct validity in this study is the average variance extracted (AVE). For AVE to be accepted, it has to have a value of 0.50 or higher, which means that the construct explains at least 50% of the variance of the items. The table below shows the result of the AVE from the survey. The result shows that the AVE of the construct based on the data analyzed is acceptable because all variables have AVE ranging from 0.576 to 0.744, which is above 0.5 (Risher, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2019; Hair et al. 2017;Ghasemy, 2020). This indicates that the constructs explained above 50% of the variance of its items. # Table 1: Measurement of indicators, comp osite reliability, and AVE # Source: Field Survey Result, 2020 b) Correlation and Discriminant validity (AVE diagonal) Correlation is the statistical tool used to determine the relationship between two or more variables or constructs. The Discriminant Validity (DV) was used to show the construct difference. The DV shows the extent to which one construct is empirically different from other constructs in the structural model. Fornel and Larcher (1981) shared construct should not be higher than their Average Variance E extracted. However, this proposition has been criticized in the literature (Henseler et al. 2015). Henseler (2015) proposed that the Heterotrait Monotrait (HTMT) of c orrelation should be used . The HTMT is the mean value of the correlated items across constructs relative to the mean of the average correlated item measuring the same construct. DV problems occur when HTMT values are high. HTMT value above 0.9 suggests that DV is not present. However, when the constructs are conceptually distinct, a lower but conservative threshold value is recommended at 0.85 (Henseler et al. 2015). This study used the HTMT ratio to determine the constructs' correlation. The result of the HTMT shows that the data are valid and reliable for accurate prediction because the square root of the AVE of each construct is higher than the construct's highest correlation with any other construct in the reflective model, as shown in the table. The cross-factor loading shows the c onstruct correlation results as, indicated in table three below. The above measure of validity and reliability shows that PLS conform to the rigidity and certainty for further extrapolation for discussi on of the findings. PLS-SEM 3.0 was used to test the model and hypotheses through a bootstrapping procedure with 1000 subsamples to examine the statistical significance of the constructs and path coefficient. The study revealed a direct positive significant relationship between TMP (TRMP) and EP at the ? =0.738, p = 0.000, and a direct positive significant relationship between TCMP and EP at the ? = 0.176, p = 0.001. The direct positive significant supports and accepts hypotheses H 1 and H 2 , respectively. Additionally, the combined effect of TMP on EP has resulted in a significant p ositive R 2 (R Square) of 0.479. The R-square (R 2 ) is used to determine the predictive capacity of the model. The higher the Rsquare, the more the capacity to predict the variables verse versa. However, R 2 of 95% shows redundancy while the minimum acceptable predictive capacity is 40% (Ri sher, Ringle & Sarstedt, 2019; Hair et al . 2017). # Table: Path Coefficients of variables The path coefficient is used to determine the variables' level of significance. The path coefficient of the variables shows the relationship between the exogenous (i.e., independent) and endogenous (i.e., dependent) variables in the model. The standardized indicator weight value is between -1 and +1, which indicate weak relationship and p ositive relationship respectively. From the table, TRMP is positively significant at 1% (0.01); talent culture practice is also significant at 1% (0.01) based on the data collected, as shown in table 4 below. The research findings support the view that TMP (Recruitment and culture) are positively related to EP. The findings support the view of Nafei (2016) that talent management recruitment significantly and positively influences organizational performance. Ari f and Uddin (2016) agreed that flexible work schedules, excellent work climate, clear g oals, career progression and preference for internal talents attract talented employees and enhance organizational performance. Mwanzi, Wamitu, and Kiama (2017) also believed that culture has a significant positive relationship with organizational performance. The findings are in collaboration with Maina (2016) and Aluko (2004), who both report that there is a strong relationship between institutional culture and employee performance and established that employees enjoined the industrial way of life irrespective of their cultural background. This is also in line with Maina (2016) Measures to assessing customer satisfaction, attraction, and retention of talented professionals and quality education oriented results should be the target of all the stakeholders. iii. The authorities of the institutions should focus attention on exploring and developing their talented employees through TRMP, such as organizing regular and timely induction programs for newly recruited talent, and this practice should cut across all cadres of employees within the institution. iv. The institution should value and encourage talent career growth and development as part of the operational culture; talent management practice should be part of the institution's mission and philosophy. As a way of encouraging succession plan, talent creativity must be rewarded through public recognition and awards. # VI. Limitations and Suggestion for Future Research Firstly, some of the respondents, especially those at the managerial level, were generally busy and unwilling to give certain information about their institution. However, the researcher made several efforts through visits and communication on phone calls to get favorable resp onses. Secondly, authorities of institutions were reluctant to divulging information about the performance of their students, research development as well as a student-faculty ratio. However, the researcher reassured them that the information obtained from them would be used for the study only. Thirdly, the study was limited by structure questionnaires as tools for data collection. The instruments were closed-ended and denied the respondents the chance to express their opinion out side the structure. Further research should focus on the impact of budgetary allocation to IHL on employee performance, (ii) impact of talent brain drain on IHL performance. There are countless potential for research in this direction. 1![Figure 1: A c onceptual model](image-2.png "Figure 1 :") 2![Figure 2: M odel Structure](image-3.png "Figure 2 :") 43Volume XX Issue IV Version IG )(ConstructFactorLoadingsComposite ReliabilityAVETRMPR40.7570.8280.709R50.921TCMPC30.7560.8910.576C40.767C70.774C100.788C110.778EPP50.8430.9210.744P80.895P110.925P120.851 2Construct sTRMPTCMPEPTRMP0.841TCMP0.497EP0.000.056Source: Field Survey Result, 2020 3FACTORTRMPTCMPEPR40.7510.2790.389R50.9250.3260.675C30.2790.7660.040C40.2990.7410.046C70.2700.7720.066C100.2750.8000.050C110.2620.7470.046P50.5540.0610.855P80.6540.0730.889P110.5460.0780.870P120.5180.0100.835Source: Field Survey Result, 2020 4Path Coefficient of Variables?Sample MeanSDT-ValueP -ValueDeci sionTRMP0.7380.7340.02430.6780.000SupportedTCMP0.176-0.1460.0243.3490.001SupportedSource: Field Survey Result, 2020d) Research findings , Robbins (2012), and Magee (2002), whoall established that in an institution where theemployee'soperationsarecharacterizedbyorganizational culture, workers are likely to have auniform or similar perception of the organization.V.Recommendationsi. In this era of globalization, unfriendly TMP maycreate room for brain drain and capital flight fromNigeria to other countries. The move toward s theborderless world has opened up new opportunitiesfor talented professionals to maximize their skills,knowledge, and competencies. 28. 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