The Involvement of Sustainable Talent Management Practices on Employee’s Job Satisfaction: Mediating Effect of Organizational Culture

Abstract

As institutions operate in a competitive market, there are always unexpected changes and difficulties that complicate academic and administrative positions and achieve key organizational goals and objectives. This paper aimed to assess the link of sustainable talent management practices on employee job satisfaction in the higher education sector located in North Lebanon and to reinforce this relationship by taking into account the mediating effect of the organizational culture. A structured questionnaire has been distributed to study a research sample of 200 randomly selected workers from ten public and private Lebanese institutions. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the presented hypotheses. The findings indicated a strong and significant positive relationship between the sustainable talent management practices and employee’s job satisfaction, whereas organizational culture had a mediation effect on the relationships between independent variables, with a statistically significant positive impact, and a statistically significant negative indirect effect relationship between knowledge sharing and employee’s job satisfaction. The study engages a fit model to clarify the relationship between sustainable talent management practices and employee’s job satisfaction. Hence, the study encourages organizations to take advantage of sustainable talent management practices within their institutions to further develop their competitive achievement along with the satisfaction of their employees.

1. Introduction

Currently, Lebanon’s education system is undergoing a huge and severe financial crisis, and various colleges have implemented austerity measures such as budget shrinking, reducing the number of personnel, salary freezes, and equipment limits. In such cases, the teachers and employees feel intimidated since they may lose their jobs, pay, or job satisfaction. It is consequently crucial to reassess how the financial crisis and organizational reaction will be inverted on the quality of higher education. The overall responsibility for all levels of education within Lebanon is directed and supervised by the Ministry of education and higher education. The Directorate General of higher education manages the licensing and distribution of recent educational activity institutions, the validation of the programs offered, as well as the recognition of degrees. All other responsibilities are within the hands of every institution’s body. It has been represented by more than 60% of all students enrolled in higher education [1]. There are two sorts of institutions: the only public institution in the nation, Lebanese University, and the private institutions. In recent years, Lebanon has had the highest rate of university graduates in the Middle East. In 2018, the rate of tertiary graduates was predicted to be over 80% of the population. However, this high rate was on the edge of being drastically reduced. This is owing to the country suffering unparalleled financial and economic catastrophe, which began in 2019 [2].

As a result, universities, like other organizations, must rethink how they operate and build sustainable talent management practices in light of changing environmental dynamics and the rapid changes brought about by globalization, the knowledge-based economy, and the technological revolution, to cope with the rapid development of the twenty-first century [3,4,5]. Globally, numerous higher education organizations and institutions have shifted from student selection to highly competitive job recruiting. Pacuraru and Harrison-Walker [6] proposed that universities must manage the concurrent difficulties of expanding the undergraduate body, managing the required number of offices, staff, courses, and lectures, improving the quality of instructing, offices, and educational programs, acquiring practical subsidizing, improving understudy work market appeal, expanding administrative and staff limits, and ensuring innovation in both instructing and dealing. All of these are the problems that human resource managers at Lebanese universities confront to meet the growing need for a technologically driven environment replete with teaching-qualified frames. A successful talent management strategy necessitates the development of collaborative and open communication between “human resources” (HR) and other divisions and hierarchies [7]. This will allow for the formation of a suitable atmosphere, which is required for the development of the necessary framework for a sustainable talent management approach.

Sustainable talent management is an opportunity for the sector to provide a new vision focused on quality, equity, and long-term evolution to assist with the ongoing crises. Talent management methods assist higher education institutions in achieving higher rankings and profitability, as well as improved performance and productivity. Many explanations for talent management have been conducted; one of these definitions is that talent is a person’s human capital, which includes skills, abilities, knowledge, and potential for future development [7]. In addition, talent management is not just a simple HR term you will come across; it is also a commitment to hire, manage, develop and retain the most talented and outstanding people in the company to meet the growing sustainability requirements of companies and to maintain a competitive advantage over the competition. Thus, companies are asked to carefully analyze their talent pool. Initially, talent management was characterized as an organization’s foundational endeavor to expand leadership development and support individuals’ skills [8]. It is the job of enterprises to gather the potential of their employees in such a way that they can lead them in improving their abilities and keep them satisfied to retain them.

In addition, a talent management system is the method of developing, rewarding, and training processes for talented employees [9]. Although there was a considerable body of scholarly research, a small number of studies have evaluated the connection between sustainable talent management practices and the employee’s job satisfaction in Lebanese higher education.

Therefore, it is required for the framework to attract ability, as well as to oversee and hold the representatives to work more sincerely for the association and remain for an extended period, as long as the authoritative culture in each private organization has its qualities and vision with which to work. This process is intended to bind employees and promote their further development of skills and competencies to achieve the organization’s immediate performance goals and long-term strategic goals [10]. The practices of sustainable talent management chosen for the study concerned: talent attraction, knowledge sharing, employee training, and career development. A successful organization in the market was required to include talent management strategies within organizational policies.

In other words, talent management refers to many activities performed by employees in the organization such as recruiting, retaining, motivating, training, and developing talented individuals for the institution to remain competitive in the market [11]. Having the voice and the opportunities to grow, talent management is the main foundation upon which to build an effective relationship between people along with their roles, as well as, developing a good place to work in, and to be treated fairly.

Lebanese universities were viewed as motors of progress in their general public, and they had a few intellectual and hierarchical highlights that empowered them to make various groundbreaking circumstances, where innovative thoughts were converted into values for work and creation. However, because of an absence of strategic planning, Lebanese institutions are still effectively chipping away at accepting scholarly capital and investing in human resources.

Even though reviews on talent management have been upheld in the literature, they have been done in both created and non-industrial countries; however, studies on a couple of establishments, especially those related to advanced education, have been completed in Lebanon.

Furthermore, no empirical studies that join the sustainable talent management practices (talent attraction, knowledge sharing, employee training, career developments) and explore their effect on employee’s job satisfaction in an educational setting, for example, in Lebanese advanced education associations, have been conducted. To fill this gap in the current literature, this review is unique, expecting to provide proof on how the association of sustainable talent management practices will impact employee’s job satisfaction in Lebanese colleges through an appraisal of the mediation effect of organizational culture.

This review came to reveal insight into a vital theme for the advanced education area in Lebanon, which is the subject of interest in human resources and sustainable talent management since they are quite possibly the main resource expected to develop performance and innovativeness, and to gain sustainable competitive advantages.

This study aims to help the education sector in Lebanon in retaining talented employees, and to assess the connection between sustainable talent management practices and employee’s job satisfaction, regardless of whether sustainable talent management will impact the employee’s job satisfaction in the institution, and regardless of whether the establishment of the organizational culture will mediate the relationship.

Hence, the connection between sustainable talent management practices and the job satisfaction of the employees, together with the influence of the organizational culture as a mediating variable in this connection, will be investigated. The theoretical background of the study and hypotheses developments will come in the second part of this article. The third section covers the methodology, data collection, and analytical method. The fourth section contains the data analysis and the results. The results of the work will enable Lebanese universities to develop efficient and sustainable talent management to achieve corporate goals. Finally, the last part contains the discussion and future recommendations.

2. Theoretical Background and Hypothesis Development

2.1. The Significance of Talent Management

Talent management has grown in importance through the years; it can be defined in several ways. Several points of view will be mentioned, so that, in the end, one definition on which the study is based can be generated. The influence of talent management and its objectives is a way of selecting the right definition that has been introduced in research and that gets the attention of academics. There are currently many practices in talent management, some of which are featured in the study, and it is an organized process to engage, select, develop, lead, and maintain the top-level talent required to advance talent within the organization, and to increase the productivity of the workforce [12].

Lately, the human resource management department was critical, as it was the primary component behind the organizational profits, productivity, and employee outcome effectiveness. For this reason, organizations rely on their workers to achieve their goals in the market [13]. A few problems that cannot be ignored can occur in any organization, such as loss of motivation, and decreased engagement due to the low-level of productivity. A solution for this problem is the implementation of a talent management strategy to improve the job description, the payment system, and the compensation model of the employees [14].

There are a great number of definitions for talent management. The word “talent” is an individual’s skills, knowledge and experience, viewed in terms of his value in an organization [15]. The importance of talent management gives the organization a competitive advantage in two levels, the operational and the strategic.

As institutions are built to remain competitive and stay in the industry, they need to have a solid department to help them attract, retain, motivate training and develop talented people, i.e., talent managers. The global recession and the local economic crisis that Lebanon has been facing recently have affected Lebanese higher education, which has been graded at a low-level of performance. Not all Lebanese universities have implemented the talent management strategy, which is one reason to conduct this kind of study and explore the link between the components of talent management and employee job satisfaction and whether it will be affected positively or negatively [16].

Talent management can be defined as a tool to benefit the employee by developing their skills and abilities in order to meet particular needs, as well as by managing the development of the future. To retain the workers in the organization, it would be beneficial to help the employees to develop their skills and capabilities. A lot of reasons can help the company to exploit talent management. One of these reasons is motivation. For that reason, strategic talent management support organizations to keep employees satisfied.

Many studies have been conducted to study the effects of talent management and effective work outcomes; a new model will be set to study the impact of each component of talent management practices and its relationship on effective work satisfaction.

Every organization is considered healthy when the performance of its human capital provides effective service. Here comes the role of motivation and job satisfaction. That is why organizations are competing in the global labor market for talents that are called talent pools. The proposed framework includes four key practices: talent attraction, knowledge sharing, employee training, and career management. The proposed framework includes four practices of talent management: talent attraction, knowledge sharing, employee training, and career development.

The most important theory was the one that provided a theoretical boost to the examination of the connection between talent management and employee’s job satisfaction, ability, motivation, and opportunity theory. The theory has been presented by three different functions. The first is performance, which is the ability of the employee, the second is motivation and the third is the opportunity to engage. According to the theory, in order for employees to properly succeed in the job, they have to own essential knowledge and capabilities; they must have the stimulation to work in a very effective way. In addition, they need to have the opportunity and the courage to become involved in the place in which they work [17]. Therefore, the implementation of talent management could have a favorable effect on the talented employee’s behavior and position. From the point of view of this theory, any firm that has been conducting talent management benefits the talented employees through, e.g., motivation and productivity.

2.2. Talent Management and Sustainable Talent Management

The term “talent management” (TM) first appeared in the field of human resource practitioners around two decades ago, with the primary motivation dubbed “The War for Talent”. The emphasis of talent management was a global–local effort to ensure that operational responsibilities and strategic choices of human resources operations were focused on achieving competitive advantage via employees. Many authors have defined talent management as “a set of sustainable organizational strategies that used human resources to the organization’s competitive advantage”, as well as “a portfolio of integrated HR operations that result in the placement of the appropriate people with the right skills in the right position, at the right place, and at the right cost [18].” TM is a blend of tactical and strategic components that draws on techniques and concepts created outside of HR. This includes marketing that focuses on “employer branding,” “employee segmentation,” and “employee value proposition,” for example, management science that focuses on advantage position and yield curves.

Operations management focuses on matching talent supply and demand to reduce uncertainty [19]; global management employs a globally integrated strategy. With a focus on the acquisition and performance of talent, as opposed to transactional operations, talent management has emerged as the cornerstone of strategic human resource practice.

As a consequence of the constant shifting of the business environment, the factor of sustainability in connection to people management has become a focal point. It is customary to associate sustainability with the environment. Whereas, from a business standpoint, sustainability is defined as an organization’s capacity to assure long-term attainment of its business goals and improve shareholder value by incorporating economic, environmental, and social possibilities into its business strategy [20]. Sustainability in a talent management context refers to “organizations nurturing their future leaders, managers, and employees.” The idea of sustainable talent management is already receiving attention in some companies that expect more than a paycheck and the desire to have a positive impact on society. This is an integral part, which is why it is not surprising that the commercial strategies of some successful companies around the world are geared towards sustainability, which, of course, is carried over to talent management [21]

The topic of sustainability in personnel management has not yet been conclusively investigated, especially concerning talent management. In the current generation, there is an awareness of their responsibility about the ecological and social aspects; thus, not only income and career opportunities, but also whether the company has the culture of a good corporate citizen who understands sustainability as part of its corporate culture, plays a decisive role in the selection of an employer.

2.3. Job Satisfaction

The relationship between job satisfaction and employee attraction and retention, insofar as it is relevant to organizational performance and success, has been studied by a number of researchers. The organizational and employee outcome has been guided by the study. The most important field to study was job satisfaction, about which a number of studies have been conducted, particularly in organizational research that considers employee behavior, such as performance, and outcome; satisfaction has been understood as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from one’s job or job experience” [22]. The study about the relationship between talent management and job satisfaction is concerned with talented employees who have been hired and who work in high positions irrespective of the evolutions with the diversity of talent management practices.

In recent times, the link between talent management and job satisfaction has indicated a beneficial relationship. Many researchers from different domains, but especially those from management, business, and psychology, have been studying job satisfaction. It has been indicated as a positive sentimental condition produced by an employee’s evaluation of their work [23]. Job satisfaction relies on many features, including career and job condition, i.e., the possibility for career development, rewards systems, the employee’s connection with the administration, job security, and, finally, the environment for worker engagement. A delightful and positive sentimental situation of well-being at work was specified by different practices of human resource management, which is one of the components of organizational culture.

2.4. Organizational Culture as a Mediator

Authors have defined organizational culture as a collection of values used by the company management to manage and organize their work in order to achieve their goals. Organizational culture clarifies a group of predictable behavioral patterns that have appeared within the company. Norms and values have a major influence on the attitude of the employees. Organizational culture defines the path that every company takes into consideration in order to control its work, which, as an outcome, impacts its procedures. The reason that change is difficult in any organization is due to a certain culture, with a deep-rooted nature, namely the resistance against letting something be changed, especially when it was working well before [24]. Many researchers have defined culture as the organization’s “personality”; other researchers have suggested that organizational culture is the spirit, procedure, and foundation of the institution. Some researchers have defined organizational culture as a combination of trust and indirect assumptions with widespread acceptance, which are applied as references by all the people in the company. An organization will be distinguished from another organization through the personality of every member working in the company. This is what defines its organizational culture, based on the confidence and the values spread in the organization, and it is the guideline for all members. Many authors have stated that organizational culture is a collaborative system made by the members to be unique in the market and differentiated from other companies [25].

Job satisfaction, and its relationship with organizational culture, behavior, and professional phenomena, is one of the most important variables that has been studied. It is the major part of an employee’s feeling about his/her work. The most considerably examined variables in organizational culture, aside from behavior and other professional events, is job satisfaction. Many different components have influenced job satisfaction internally and externally, for example, the person’s values, rules, identity and anticipation and the job’s quality, as well as the chances it provides. Many researchers have studied the relationship between employee’s job satisfaction and organizational culture [26].

2.5. Hypothesis Development

2.5.1. Sustainable Talent Management Practices and Job Satisfaction

Talent Attraction and Job Satisfaction

The implementation of talent management techniques begins with recruiting and selection in the organization. Moreover, among all the ways to attract talented people, recruitment and selection is critical. To enroll a grouping of talent and select the possible people that will lead the company to success is the most difficult mission for any firm [27]. The type of talent attraction in recruitment is the essential stage of determining which employee will be the right person to assist the organization in the best and most effective way. As for selection, this is the explanation of which skills a worker requires in order to succeed in the job given to them and how best to employ the right person for the right task. Thus, recruitment and selection are needed by the firm to compete, and this is the primary mission of talent management strategies. The sustainability and creativity in the organization is best conveyed by recruiting talented employees who are right for the job [28]. Thus, the selection in the company will be completed depending on the candidate who is eligible to do the work required by the organization.

It is necessary for the type of firms that introduce talent acquisition strategies to specifically hire talent and construct competitive talent acquisition in order to conduct organizational productivity. Thus, the first hypothesis in the present study is:

Hypothesis 1 (H1). 

Talent attraction has a positive and significant influence on employee’s job satisfaction.

Knowledge Sharing and Job Satisfaction

In every organization, there is a significant tactical resource called knowledge. The expression of knowledge indicates the truth, details, and proficiency acquired from experience or learning. Many definitions have been mentioned about knowledge sharing, which is the phenomena of engaging the other with information, experience, skills, and the way one believes through their interaction [29]. The cooperation between the employee and the firm is knowledge sharing. It allows an organization to retain its employees, informed and involved in the company. Two types of knowledge sharing are recognized: first, the knowledge contribution points to the person’s readiness to provide information and their knowledge to others. Second, a knowledge group indicates capabilities to recognize information from different people [30]. Knowledge sharing can be gained through social interaction. In a competitive industry, employers need to participate in knowledge sharing with other employees in order to gain experience and learn to promote their intention to stay with the organization.

Hypothesis 2 (H2). 

Knowledge sharing has positively affected employees’ job satisfaction with a significant relationship.

Employee Training and Job Satisfaction

Many scholars have investigated training, which is critical in any business. One of the benefits of training is to empower employees and motivate them to provide high-quality services, as well as to become more proficient in the job given to them. Thus, it was concluded that employee training influences motivation, work engagement, and employee satisfaction [31]. The basic part of talent management has been employee training. For many years, it has been crucial to ensure that any firm has workers with proper capabilities, competitiveness, and motivation. For the organization to be effective, it must invest in employee training and development to produce talented workers and, subsequently, different creative ideas. The training in the company should include different kinds of training and development programs to develop new skills, knowledge, and advanced abilities for the organizational culture. Therefore, the researcher has proposed the third hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3 (H3). 

Training and Development have positively influenced employees’ job satisfaction and significant connection.

Career Development and Job Satisfaction

Talent management and career development work at the same time, with some research showing that some solutions relate to talent management in the organization, and others relate to the career of the person in the first position [32]. The arrangement between the employees and the organization is called job career; it is also explained as a result of the request for employment and the chances that career management can provide. Various researchers have defined career development as the activity of the employee to support his or her future career planning in a particular organization so that both can develop optimally. The career development is the methods used by a company to boost the employee’s abilities to stay in the anticipated career. A first-time applicant will have different knowledge in comparison to a person who has more experience and who has had the job for a long time [33]. For example, a veteran employee will already have respect from others and understand the competitiveness within the organization in addition to the experience previously gained. The fourth hypothesis is:

Hypothesis 4 (H4). 

Career development has a positive and significant effect on employees’ job satisfaction.

Organizational Culture and Job Satisfaction

The implementation of job satisfaction and organizational objectives can be facilitated through organizational culture. The measurement of culture could be a starting point for the help of diagnosing and influencing the change in the organization. In every organization, the general culture appears to be the supposed culture of strength, which is the central origin of impact and power, either for one individual or for a group of people. Job satisfaction can be affected in different ways in terms of the working situation, for example, fellows, organization, and encouragement. The concluding goal of management is the organizational culture of strength, alongside the recognition of the purposes of the employees and those of the organization. For a long time, a parcel or analyst has examined the relationship between organizational culture and work fulfillment. For example, the productive cooperative environment gives structure to a particular organizational culture, along with the involvement of employees’ job satisfaction. Many authors have mentioned in their study that the culture is the beliefs and much more than those of the organization, another researcher has defined the organizational culture as the set of beliefs and values that the employee supports alongside the institution [34]. Beliefs and values manage the attitude of every person and team within the organization. With this method, workers interrelate, connect, and affiliate with the internal and external environmental variables. Here comes the role of talented professionals who feel they are valued and that their contribution provides a competitive advantage for the organization [35]. A good organizational culture needs to have a retention strategy, which is a subject for researchers to focus on [36]. An organization that has a well-defined and specific culture, along with combined objectives, can work more efficiently because employees will have the same ideas about how to be successful. Hypothesis five outlines the mediating impact of organizational qualities on the connection of talent management practices and the employee’s job satisfaction as follows:

Hypothesis 5a (H5a). 

Organizational culture has a partially significant mediating impact on the relationship between talent attraction and job satisfaction.

Hypothesis 5b (H5b). 

Organizational culture has a fully significant mediating impact on the relationship between knowledge sharing and job satisfaction.

Hypothesis 5c (H5c). 

Organizational culture has a partially significant mediating impact on the relationship between employee training and job satisfaction.

Hypothesis 5d (H5d). 

Organizational culture has a partially and significant mediating impact on the relationship between career development and job satisfaction.

3. Methodology

This section describes the research methods used to carry out the study, allowing the researcher to achieve the paper’s objective of assessing how sustainable talent management practices affect employee job satisfaction in Lebanese universities by estimating the mediation role of organizational culture. It also covers the study’s measurements and variables, as well as the processes for collecting and interpreting data.

To achieve the paper’s aims and answer its issues, the authors elected to take a quantitative method. The quantitative technique can reveal trends in the study, which can then be used to construct facts based on quantifiable evidence; hence, primary data was gathered through the use of a questionnaire. This technique is useful and widely used in managerial studies because it allows researchers to gain quantitative knowledge into the policies and practices that institutions apply and embrace, without having to alter changes on these policies and practices [37].

The recommended research model was developed based on the hypotheses and research questions. Using a quantitative method, questionnaires derived from prior research with high validity and reliability ratings were used in a pilot project to gather data and perform statistical analysis. Taking into consideration research methodologies, the hypothesis will be presented through the conceptual model proposed to be studied in.

Figure 1, which displays the relationships between various variables. The model proposes the inclusion of sustainable talent management strategies used by universities to improve employee job satisfaction through the mediation impact of organizational culture. It was assumed that whether institutions conduct sustainable talent management predicts how the institution might increase employee satisfaction, by hypothesizing that organizational culture will partially mediate this connection.

According to the analytical report [38], Lebanon’s higher education industry employs 19,186 academic personnel. Lebanese University employed 32.1 percent of these academic employees (6153 instructors) (LU) across Lebanon’s higher education sector. The study’s target demographic consisted of academic and administrative staff from ten private and one public institution, taking into consideration the margin error of 5%, 95% confidence levels. A sample size of 200 participants was drawn from university branches in the north. It is worth noting that there is no national guideline for the number of staff at any private university.

Hence, the research first examined employee’s job satisfaction in terms of sustainable talent management practices in the Lebanese higher education sector. Organizational culture was then tested in the second part of the study as a mediator variable on the relationship between each practice of talent management and employee’s job satisfaction.

3.1. Measures

The literature reviewed on the measurements of talent management practices was vast; however, the majority of research was in a different sector, such as the banking sector, and research conducted in the higher education sector was rare.

Hence, based on these studies, the questionnaire was designed involving three factors to be studied: sustainable talent management practices (STMP); employee’s job satisfaction (JS); organizational culture (OC). Demographic questions were gathered to determine the respondent profile. In general, STMPs, along with the other variables in this study, were evaluated on a standard five-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree): talent attraction (TA was measured by 8 items); knowledge sharing (KS was measured by utilizing 7 items); employee training (ET was measured by employing 6 items); career development (CD was measured utilizing 6 items); organizational culture (OC was measured by 10 items); employee’s job satisfaction (JS was measured by 7 items). Therefore, the online questionnaire was used in the research as the main quantitative tool in collecting data. The constructed questionnaire, based on The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire [39], included 44 items.

Random sampling based on a practical random sampling technique was used. This method is the most widely used by researchers because it is incredibly fast, easy and affordable. This type of sampling is characterized by the flexibility to get the specified and appropriate information quickly, and at an occasional price, which is why the researchers followed it, particularly due to the crisis of closures that the country was experiencing at the time of the study as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The questionnaire includes a cover page. The respondents were informed about the purpose of the study. The survey was sent through emails to get permission to distribute the questionnaire by ensuring that no internal information was required concerning the university, or even the employees. Hence, the data was collected from September to December 2020. A Google form link was sent to the Dean to different faculties in each university to obtain permission for distributing the questionnaire.

Although the researcher was sampling a large number of individuals among ten universities in North Lebanon, by the end of the period only 200 surveys were received, which was adequate for analysis.

3.2. Data Analysis

Pilot Study

This study recruited professionals and academics who work in the higher education sector in North Lebanon. The participants supervised in the quantitative study were executives at management level (specialist functions) or academic employees at a higher level. Although there were some difficulties in getting a sufficient number of answers in a large sample, large-scale surveys provide a good estimate of the target population [40]. Talented people working in the higher education industry in North Lebanon were recruited. Participant were scientific and professional staff with a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degree, who ranged in level of experience (scientific and professional staff under five to over 16 years) and technical qualifications (academic and professional staff). The researcher randomly selected participants from academic and professional staff who met the criteria for participation in the ten universities.

A pilot study was carried out with 25 talented people. The collected data were analyzed with the Cronbach α test to examine whether the correlation of the components will be acceptable, with at least 0.70 as a value [34]. The values of the Cronbach α coefficient were TA: 0.886, KS: 0.929, ET: 0.818, CD: 0.902, JS: 0.918, and OC: 0.904, all higher than 0.70, which shows the reliability of the global measurement and confirms the investigation. The corresponding results of the questionnaire survey could be evaluated in a larger sample at the universities of North Lebanon. Concerning the analysis of quantitative data, SPSS 23 used descriptive statistics to ensure or show if there were significant differences between populations, in addition to calculating the degree of consistency of the correlation of the data through the participation of the mean and the standard deviation [41].

From the descriptive analysis of the sample, which was well distributed, 200 samples, the participants in which were mostly between 36 and 45 years old (50.5%), with 127 females (63.5%) and 73 males (36.5%). Therefore, the number of females was higher. The number of respondents with a doctorate was highest at 113 (56.5%), followed by those with a master’s degree, 71 (35.5%), and those with a bachelor’s degree, 16 (8.0%). In terms of years of experience, the number of participants with more than 16 years at work was highest 74 (37.0%), while participants with 5 to 10 years of experience totalled 61 (30.5%), while the participants who had 11 to 15 years of experience totalled 51 (25.5%). Administration totalled 63 (31.5%), and the participants having both occupations totalled 20 (10.0%). Finally, the highest number of employees, which was 131 (65.5%), have been working full-time, while 69 (34.5%) were working part-time.

4. Results

In this paper, structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to analyze the data and test the suggested hypothesis in order to demonstrate the mediating role of organizational culture as it relates to sustainable talent management practices and employee job satisfaction. This procedure was carried out using AMOS 22. SEM is recognized as a model-fit method in which mediating factors or moderating variables exist [42,43].

This study was carried out in two steps: evaluating the overall path of the connection inside the model, and examining the mediation impact. A perfect mediation boost if the independent variable has no effect when the mediator is controlled. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and the examination of connections among variables using SEM, were the two levels of analysis performed on the data [44].

4.1. Descriptive Statistics Results

To descriptively determine the presence of, and correlations among, variables in Lebanese universities,

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and correlation among variables.

	Mean	SD	TA	KS	ET	CD
Talent attraction	3.2092	0.90260	1
Knowledge Sharing	3.4264	0.88127	0.789 **	1
Employee Training	3.1867	0.93576	0.867 **	0.803 **	1
Career development	3.0742	0.99856	0.827 **	0.824 **	0.859 **	1
Job Satisfaction	3.1771	1.00202	0.874 **	0.674 **	0.839 **	0.793 **
Organizational Culture	3.3915	1.01984	0.808 **	0.757 **	0.812 **	0.806 **

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

displays standard deviations, and the correlation that exists inside the model’s construct. As a result, the researcher found that the relationship between sustainable talent management practices and employee job satisfaction is statistically significant. On the other hand, the relationships between organizational culture and employee job satisfaction, as well as talent management methods, were investigated. It showed a statistically significant, p-value association between JS and OC (0.855) < 0.01, TA and OC (0.809) < 0.01, KS and OC (0.753) < 0.01, ET and OC (0.811) < 0.01, and lastly CD and OC (0.803) < 0.01 Sig. (2-tailed). As for means variance, the majority of the items proposed in the questionnaire were all greater than 3 or tended towards 3, indicating that there is a general tendency to a neutral level of agreement.

4.2. Measurement Findings

It is necessary to demonstrate the model’s reliability while analyzing hypotheses. Cronbach’s alpha techniques were used to determine reliability for this investigation. It was used to assess the structure’s inherent consistency and dependability. Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.7 or above are considered acceptable. According to

Table 2. Reliability test and convergent validity analysis.

	Weight	Load	Cronbach’s Alpha	AVE	CR
Talent Attraction			0.903	0.954369875	0.994059
TA1	0.97	0.9409
TA2	0.987	0.974169
TA3	0.984	0.968256
TA4	0.96	0.9216
TA5	0.977	0.954529
TA6	0.984	0.968256
TA7	0.985	0.970225
TA8	0.968	0.937024
Knowledge Sharing			0.908	0.965506286	0.994922
KS1	0.976	0.952576
KS2	0.988	0.976144
KS3	0.967	0.935089
KS4	0.99	0.9801
KS5	0.989	0.978121
KS6	0.983	0.966289
KS7	0.985	0.970225
Employee Training			0.897	0.959752	0.993059
ET1	0.983	0.966289
ET2	0.976	0.952576
ET3	0.978	0.956484
ET4	0.979	0.958441
ET5	0.981	0.962361
ET6	0.981	0.962361
Career Development			0.912	0.962131167	0.993482
CD1	0.961	0.923521
CD2	0.99	0.9801
CD3	0.991	0.982081
CD4	0.981	0.962361
CD5	0.982	0.964324
CD6	0.98	0.9604
Job Satisfaction			0.922	0.939037571	0.99081
JS1	0.979	0.958441
JS2	0.965	0.931225
JS3	0.968	0.937024
JS4	0.974	0.948676
JS5	0.96	0.9216
JS6	0.956	0.913936
JS7	0.981	0.962361
Organizational Culture			0.962	0.9361781	0.993228
OC1	0.964	0.929296
OC2	0.948	0.898704
OC3	0.98	0.9604
OC4	0.965	0.931225
OC5	0.975	0.950625
OC6	0.958	0.917764
OC7	0.979	0.958441
OC8	0.979	0.958441
OC9	0.974	0.948676
OC10	0.953	0.908209

, Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.897 (due to employee training) to 0.962. (by organizational culture). Because they all exceed the rate of 0.7, these records have a high degree of practical reliability.

The significant levels of indicators were evaluated for validity. Their average variances extracted (AVE) and square roots were discovered to demonstrate convergence and discriminant validity. For this, each variable’s indicator was scanned to see if it had enough weight within the significant ranges (loading 0.3; p 0.01) and if the associated AVE was equal to or more than 0.5 [45]. The composite reliability (CR) value presented in Table 2 was all above 0.7 which implicates the consistency of the scale’s items. AVE values ranged between 0.936 and 0.965, which was higher than the cutoff level of 0.5. As a result, it is possible to conclude that the model passes the convergence validity test. Furthermore, the square root of AVE was used to indicate the discriminant validity.

4.3. Hypothesis Testing

AMOS 22 was used to examine the hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling (SEM). Structural equation modeling (SEM), which employs various models to describe connections between variables, provided a quantitative evaluation of the theoretical model proposed by the researcher. More specifically, numerous theoretical models that postulate how sets of variables create constructs and how these constructs are connected may be evaluated in SEM. The findings of the analysis were given in two parts. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine which of the hypothesized models better suited the model as a measurement. The results show a fit of χ² = 5485.6, D.F. = 899, CFI = 0.605, TLI = 0.565, RMSEA = 0.16, PCLOSE = 0. The mediation model of organizational culture shows a good fit of χ² = 360.6, D.F. = 2, CFI = 0.752, TLI = −1.606, RMSEA = 0.949, PCLOSE = 0. This demonstrates that corporate culture has mediated the link that exists between sustainable talent management practices (STMP) and employee job satisfaction (JS). The findings indicate that there is a positive and substantial relationship between each practice of sustainable talent management and employee job satisfaction, which supports H1, H3, and H4.

As previously indicated, the findings of assessing the mediation effect of organizational culture on the link between sustainable talent management methods and employee job satisfaction were included in the second stage. Furthermore, the organizational culture was revealed to have a full-fledged mediation impact. According to the findings presented in

Table 3. Mediation effect.

			Standardized Parameter Estimate
OC	←	TA	0.351
OC	←	KS	0.152
OC	←	ET	0.298
OC	←	CD	0.325
JS	←	TA	0.6
JS	←	OC	0.419
JS	←	KS	−0.358
JS	←	ET	0.277
JS	←	CD	0.119

H5 (a), H5 (b), H5 (c), and H5 (d), this impact is also supported by the significance of the relationship between sustainable talent management and employee job satisfaction; however, the hypothesis H2 was negatively statistically significant.

In conclusion, the relationship between sustainable talent management practices and employee job satisfaction was positive, and the hypothesis testing was statistically significant. Moreover, the effect of organizational culture indicated partial mediation between a number of relationships, except for the full mediation of the organizational culture on the relationship between knowledge sharing and employee job satisfaction. The hypothesis was tested for model fit, as shown in Figure 2. The research model indicated that sustainable talent management methods accounted for 41% of the variability in employee job satisfaction when the mediation impact of organizational culture was taken into account.

5. Discussion and Conclusions

5.1. Discussion

In light of globalization, technology, and other factors that have affected the economy and management system, and because of the necessity to regulate and promote sustainable talent management systems in order to attain competitive advantages within the market, it has become increasingly important to review sustainable talent management in terms of its definition and how best it can be attained in institutions. Sustainable talent management entails not just acquiring talents from outside the firm, but also recognizing, promoting, and developing those who are already on staff. Many businesses now think that both sustainability and corporate responsibility are essential for attracting and retaining talent [46]. Previous research has assumed that talent recruitment and employee satisfaction have a beneficial impact on organizational success [47], with a substantial positive association between recruiting talent and work happiness. Such research has mainly focused on theoretical perception. Several studies have found that the better the job satisfaction, the greater the employee’s goals and readiness to share information with others [48]. Employee training and development has a positive relationship with employee job satisfaction, as evidenced by prior studies showing that through training programs, employees become more confident at work, leading to job satisfaction [49].

Hence, this study seeks to contribute to the topic of sustainable talent management and employee job satisfaction by evaluating each practice and its impact on worker satisfaction, as well as the introduction of organizational culture as a mediator between them and employee job satisfaction, especially given the scarcity of empirical research in this field.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of sustainable talent management practices, such as talent attraction, knowledge sharing, employee training, and career development, on employee job satisfaction in Lebanese universities, while also assessing the role of organizational culture as a mediator in this relationship. The developed theoretical model was empirically tested by collecting data from academic and administrative employees in public and private institutions to investigate the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable, as well as the impact of the mediator variable on them.

The findings of the study have improved the talent management literature by assessing the impact of sustainable talent management practices, i.e., talent acquisition, knowledge sharing, employee training, and career development, as well as by estimating the mediation impact of organizational culture between talent management practices and employee job satisfaction. Previous work in the talent management literature has shown the importance of various variables in retention, but have not examined the individual components that assess the organization’s goals.

The empirical implementation of the study was carried out in the higher education sector in northern Lebanon and the study results confirmed a significant connection between the practices of talent management (talent acquisition, knowledge exchange, employee training, and professional development) and job satisfaction of employees, the relationship of which is strengthened by the mediation variables of organizational culture, except knowledge exchange, which was diminished in connection to organizational culture.

These results were aimed at the importance of the relationship between talent management practices and employee job satisfaction. First, talent attraction has positively influenced job satisfaction in the higher education sector. The second hypothesis tested the link between knowledge sharing and job satisfaction, which had a strong, positive relevance. Other studies, e.g., suggest that the higher the job satisfaction, the higher employees’ intentions and willingness to share knowledge with others [50]; however, the finding of organizational culture as a mediator variable has weakened the connection between knowledge sharing and employee satisfaction. The third practice of sustainable talent management was employee training and development, which had a productive connection with employee job satisfaction; through training programs, employees will profit from confidence at work resulting in job satisfaction. The result of the paper additionally concurs with researchers [51] who have shown that colleges, with their various offices, are one of the best settings to apply talent management. Finally, career development, which has been studied by other researchers [52], has a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction. The results of this study have strengthened the validity of this relationship, and institutions will benefit from taking procedures in their culture to achieve greater employee job satisfaction. Sustainable talent management practices have a positive relationship with employee outcomes, especially satisfaction. It will be a benefit for any institution to implement these practices in their culture.

However, the most important conclusions of this study, which distinguish it from other studies, are that there is a significant partial and indirect communication relationship between the practices of sustainable talent management and employee satisfaction and the existence of organizational culture as a mediator variable. The results of the organizational culture indicate a positive and significant connection between sustainable talent management methods and the job satisfaction of employees; hence, there is a strong, negative mediation of organizational culture between knowledge sharing and employee satisfaction.

5.2. Conclusions

Most institutions have recognized the importance of sustainable talent management practices in order to improve their performance in a given sector, to differentiate themselves from other institutions in the market and to create a potential competitive advantage. Sustainable talent management practices are primarily aimed at attracting talent, sharing knowledge, training employees, and developing themselves.

The aim of the research was to examine the influence of organizational culture as a mediating variable in the relationship between sustainable talent management practices (i.e., talent acquisition, knowledge sharing, staff training, and professional development) on the level of job satisfaction of staff in Lebanon’s education sector. Our results demonstrated the positive and significant relationship between sustainable talent management practices and employee job satisfaction. This study reinforces that connection with organizational culture, with the exception of pointing out the poor effect of knowledge sharing and employee job satisfaction in the presence of organizational culture. If organizations in the higher education sector want to attract, develop and retain talent in order to increase employee satisfaction, they must shift their sustainable talent management practices in a changing environment. If they make the necessary changes, they will benefit from the skills of the employees and gain a competitive advantage.

6. Limitations and Future Studies Recommendation

The sample of the study was affected by the severe financial crisis, along with the immigration of young talented graduates, that Lebanon currently faces. The results of this study are based on universities in Northern Lebanon. The same constructs can be transferred to other universities and other cultures/countries. A quantitative research design was created. A mixed-method is recommended for future studies, for example, a qualitative method that utilizes interviews questionnaires as a quantitative method. The author also suggests research techniques such as open-ended questions and focus interviews with employees. The researcher recommends another future study to evaluate various talent management practices, such as mentoring.