Talent development in the digital age: implications for self-employability in films and television industry

Talent development in the modern age needs to translate into self-employability. The study aims to investigate the relationship between Talent Development and Self Employability amongst Actors in the creative industry of South Africa and how Talent Development impacts Employability amongst this group. This study is important for Actors to have a framework to assist them with developing their talent for employability purposes. Underpinned by the post-positivism philosophy and using a deductive reasoning approach, the study chose a quantitative research design and Cagne’s Expanded Model of Talent Development as the theoretical framework of the study. The population of the study was the film and television Actors (N=325) as the study’s participants and accounting for the entire population. Simple random probability sampling was chosen (n=150) as it seeks to generalize the findings of the study to the entire population. The data collection tool was a 5-point self-administered structured questionnaire. The data collection instrument was pre-tested using a small sample and the data gathered was analyzed using quantitative data analysis methods which will be used for the main analysis, aided by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27. The study found a clear association between Talent Development and Self-perceived Employability with both constructs having a positive medium correlation. The main elements making a significant contribution were the Actors' cognitive abilities as well as their motivation and they needed to work on their mentorship. The finding of the study seeks to improve the theoretical understanding of talent development and further recommendations for managers within the creative industry to create formal mentorship programmes to aid upcoming Actors. Key Words:Talent Development, Talent Management, Employability, Creative Industry, Film and Television