Comparing the Present and Ideal Situation of Succession Planning and Talent Management in Higher Education

While in recent years the notion of human resource alternated by human capital، the problem of absorbing، recruiting، and retaining competent employees and succession planning has become more important than past. The present study aimed at comparing the present and ideal positions of succession planning (SP) and talent management (TM) in Tehran’s public universities of which University of Tehran، Allame Tabatabaee University، Shahid Beheshti University، Tarbiat Moallem University، Al-Zahra University and Tarbiat Modaress University were randomly selected. The study was a descriptive-survey type. The statistical population was all of 6572 employees of Tehrans universities in different humanities field. According to Krejcie and Morgans table and using quota sampling، 354 of employees were selected. Research tool was Rosswel’s 30 item questionnaire consisted of six factors in present and ideal situations. Reliability of the questionnaire was estimated (0. 75) using Cronbach alpha. Finally، 297 questionnaires were collected. The rate of return was 83 percent. Descriptive and inferential statistics including frequency، Wilcoxon test and analysis of variance were performed for data analysis. The results revealed that، there is a significant difference between present and ideal positions of SP in all of dimensions، as well as commitment about SP is the most important dimension of it. Therefore، the results showed the necessity of implementing the SP and TM in higher education. In addition، the founding shows the importance of senior management commitment and attention to providing the groundwork for the implementation of this program including informing employees of their current and future job responsibilities in educational institutions.