The notion of talent management has become popular in the Nigerian public sector in its aspiration to realise its development agenda. In view of the socio-economic challenges facing this public sector in its attempt to improve its efficiency, there is a general recognition that there is a need to attract, develop and retain human resource professionals, especially in the knowledge economy and knowledge society. Investing in talent management initiatives as a process remains critical for public sector development, especially considering the debates on its conceptualisation. In that context and based on the Resource-Based View theory, the purpose of this article is to investigate what talent management entails, clarifying its influence and potential benefits at organisational and personnel levels. The investigation involved a review of germane and topical literature regarding the characteristics of talent management. The existing debat