Due to the fact that skilled, competent staff is in high demand, it is important for strategic managers to give precedence to talent management. This calls for obtaining and retaining top talent and making a talent management strategy a priority. This paper aims to find solutions for strategic managers to successfully obtain talent, internally and externally, and retain their best employees. The value of talent management and succession planning will be investigated. The paper will also focus on how South African public sector managers can borrow from international best practice in this respect.