Talent Management Strategies and Succession Planning in Imo State University Teaching Hospital

This study evaluates talent management strategies and succession planning practices at Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH), Orlu, South East Nigeria. Teaching hospitals represent critical nodes of healthcare delivery and professional training, and their organizational stability depends significantly on the quality of talent management and leadership continuity frameworks in place. A case study design was employed, with data collected from 130 senior clinical staff, HR administrators, and departmental heads using structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The study draws on the Talent Pipeline Model and Ulrich's Strategic HR Framework, alongside recent literature on healthcare workforce planning in Africa. Findings reveal significant deficiencies in succession planning at IMSUTH, including the absence of a formal talent identification registry, reactive rather than proactive promotion decisions, and limited investment in leadership development for junior consultants. Specialized departments such as cardiology, neurosurgery, and anaesthesiology face acute succession risks due to aging expert cohorts with no identified internal replacements. The study also finds that female specialists face structural biases in talent identification, resulting in underrepresentation in succession candidate pools. Recommendations include the establishment of a talent review committee, formal leadership competency frameworks, rotational assignments across departments, and a mentoring program linking senior consultants with identified successors. This research contributes to HR management literature in Nigeria's tertiary healthcare sector and provides actionable guidance for hospital management boards and the Imo State Ministry of Health. Keywords: talent management, succession planning, teaching hospital, Imo State, healthcare HR