Propuestas de mejora para la gestión del talento humano en Portoparques EP en Ecuador J. Manage. Hum. Resour. (January - June 2026) 4(1): 16-21 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18319356 ISSN 3091-1575 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Proposals for improving human talent management at Portoparques EP in Ecuador  Miguel A. Moreira miguel.moreira@portoparques.gob.ec Portoparques EP, Portoviejo, Ecuador. Received: 09 October 2025 / Accepted: 12 December 2025 / Published online: 30 January 2026 © The Author(s) 2026 Miguel A. Moreira 1 · Oscar A. Muñoz 1 · Alessia M. Putin 2,3 Abstract The objective was to propose improvement strategies for human talent management at the public company Portoparques EP in order to strengthen institutional efficiency, staff motivation, and service quality. A mixed-methods approach was employed, us- ing a quantitative component based on Likert-scale surveys admin- istered to 30 employees. Semi-structured interviews revealed the absence of structured induction processes, effective feedback mech- anisms, and internal coordination. The SWOT analysis identified significant weaknesses, including the lack of continuous training, non-standardized processes, and low motivation. Identified threats included talent loss and regulatory barriers to process reform. Three strategic proposals were developed: a Human Talent Professional- ization Program, an Internal Process Optimization and Institutional Communication Plan, and a set of Organizational Strengthening Strategies. Each proposal includes activities, timelines, responsible parties, and evaluation indicators, and is aligned with the current legal framework. Their implementation is expected to increase em- ployee satisfaction, reduce unplanned turnover, and improve public perception of the services provided by the institution. Keywords human talent management, professionalization, per- formance evaluation, work climate, public sector, Portoparques EP. Resumen El objetivo fue proponer estrategias de mejora para la gestión del talento humano en la empresa pública Portoparques EP para fortalecer la eficiencia institucional, motivación del personal y la calidad del servicio. Se empleó un enfoque mixto, utilizando un componente cuantitativo mediante encuestas tipo Likert aplicadas a 30 colaboradores. Las entrevistas semiestructuradas evidenciaron la ausencia de procesos estructurados de inducción, mecanismos efectivos de retroalimentación y coordinación interna. El análisis FODA identificó debilidades importantes, entre ellas la falta de ca- pacitación continua, procesos no estandarizados y baja motivación. Entre las amenazas se encontraron la pérdida de talento y obstácu- los normativos para la reforma de procesos. Se desarrollaron tres propuestas estratégicas: un Programa de Profesionalización del Talento Humano, un Plan de Optimización de Procesos Internos y Comunicación Institucional, y un conjunto de Estrategias de For- talecimiento Organizacional. Cada propuesta incluye actividades, cronogramas, responsables e indicadores de evaluación, y se alinea con el marco legal vigente. La implementación debe incrementar la satisfacción, reducir la rotación no planificada y mejorar la percep- ción pública de los servicios brindados por la institución. Palabras clave gestión del talento humano, profesionalización, evaluación del desempeño, clima laboral, sector público, Portopar- ques EP. How to cite Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. (2026). Proposals for improving human talent management at Portoparques EP in Ecuador. Journal of Management and Human Resources, 4(1), 16-21. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18319356 1 Portoparques EP, Portoviejo, Ecuador. 2 Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid, España. 3 Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, España.

J. Manage. Hum. Resour. (January - June) 4(1): 16-21 17 Introduction Human talent management in public institutions is fun- damental to achieving organizational objectives, ensuring service quality, and strengthening citizens’ trust. In today’s context of public-sector transformation—marked by in- creasing demands for efficiency, transparency, and institu- tional accountability—it is essential to reassess traditional personnel administration models and move toward more comprehensive, participatory strategies focused on compe- tency development. Within this framework, the profession- alization of human talent, strategic planning, and continuous process improvement become key components for ensuring sustainable organizational performance aligned with societal demands (Gandrita, 2023). In recent years, Ecuadorian public administration has pro- moted a series of regulatory and technical reforms aimed at strengthening institutional capacity, including the implemen- tation of instruments such as the Organic Law on Public Ser- vice (LOSEP), human resources management subsystems, and institutional development plans. Nevertheless, in many entities—especially those operating at the local level or re- cently established—structural and operational constraints persist that hinder the achievement of optimal performance levels. These include the absence of an integrated human talent planning framework, poorly structured induction pro- cesses, limited investment in continuous training, and a weak culture of evaluation and feedback (Al Aina & Atan, 2020). Within this context is the Public Enterprise Portoparques EP, an entity attached to the Decentralized Autonomous Government of the canton of Portoviejo, whose mission is to manage, conserve, and promote recreational public spaces and natural areas within the canton. Despite having a for- mally defined structure and a technical team committed to management, the enterprise faces challenges related to the organization, coordination, and development of its human talent. Weaknesses in internal processes, limited systemati- zation of roles, a restricted training offer, and the absence of formal mechanisms for performance evaluation, feedback, and interdepartmental communication have become factors that negatively affect the institution’s overall performance and the public perception of the services it provides (Stang- Rabrig et al., 2023). The relevance of this research lies in its capacity to pro- vide concrete solutions to a challenge that is common across many public institutions, particularly at the local level. Be- yond its direct usefulness for Portoparques EP, the findings and proposals presented here may be replicated or adapted to other entities with similar characteristics. In this way, the study contributes to strengthening the institutional capacity of the organization under analysis and supports the academ- ic and technical debate on human talent management within Ecuador’s public sector. This research is guided by the objective of formulating improvement strategies for human talent management in the Public Enterprise Portoparques EP, with an emphasis on three core dimensions: institutional strengthening, staff professionalization, and service quality improvement. Build- ing on this purpose, the study advances through the defini- tion of specific objectives and the application of a rigorous methodology, which provides a sound technical basis for the proposed actions and positions their implementation as a tangible contribution to the organization’s performance and sustainability. Methodology The research adopted a mixed-methods approach (qua- litative–quantitative) and a descriptive, non-experimental design, since no variables were manipulated. This approach made it possible to integrate an understanding of human-ta- lent processes and perceptions—through interviews and do- cumentary analysis—with systematized data collected via surveys. The sample included employees holding active contracts during the data collection period, with a minimum tenure of six months in the institution, and who participated voluntari- ly by signing an informed consent form. These criteria ensu- red that the selected participants had sufficient experience in their roles and an informed understanding of the institutional context. The study excluded staff with less than six months of service, as well as those on extended leave, vacation, or official assignment at the time of the research. Employees who chose not to participate were also excluded, in accor- dance with ethical principles of confidentiality and voluntary participation. A non-probabilistic, criterion-based sampling technique was applied, which involves the intentional selection of par- ticipants who meet specific characteristics aligned with the study objectives. In this case, 30 collaborators were selected from areas such as Human Talent, Administrative and Finan- cial Management, Technology, Maintenance, Cemeteries, among others, ensuring representation of operational, techni- cal, and administrative staff. This sampling strategy enabled access to informants with direct experience in institutional processes, thereby strengthening the validity of the diagnos- tic findings and the resulting proposals. Results and discussion Table 1 presents Portoparques EP employees’ perceptions regarding several spects of human talent management. It re- ports the percentages of responses grouped into three cate- gories—agree, disagree, and don’t know/no response (DK/ NR)—across six items: performance evaluation, institutional

J. Manage. Hum. Resour. (January - June) 4(1): 16-21 18 induction, training opportunities, recognition of effort, work motivation, and internal communication. The data were obtained through a structured questionnaire comprising closed-ended Likert-type items, administered to a represen- tative sample of administrative and operational staff as part of the diagnostic phase established under the first specific objective of this research. Table 1. Staff perceptions regarding aspects of human talent management Evaluated item Agree (%) Disagree (%) DK/NR (%) There is objective performance evaluation 26,7 56,7 16,6 I received an induction upon joining 33,3 50,0 16,7 I have opportunities for technical training 30,0 60,0 10,0 My effort or work results are recognized 23,3 66,7 10,0 I feel motivated in my position 26,7 60,0 13,3 There is effective communication between my area and other departments 36,7 53,3 10,0 The results show a predominantly negative perception across all evaluated aspects. A total of 56.7% of respondents believe that there is no objective performance evaluation, while only 26.7% perceive otherwise. Similarly, 50.0% re- port not having received institutional induction upon entry, which reveals significant weaknesses in onboarding and job-orientation processes. Regarding technical training, 60.0% state that they do not have access to training opportu- nities, highlighting the absence of a structured professional development plan necessary to strengthen competencies and improve performance. Another critical issue is the lack of recognition: 66.7% of participants consider that their effort or work results are not valued. This finding is directly related to the low level of mo- tivation reported: only 26.7% indicated feeling motivated in their position, while 60.0% expressed the opposite. Although slightly less negative, 53.3% believe that there is no effective communication between their area and other departments, reflecting weaknesses in interdepartmental coordination and internal information flow. Overall, human talent management within the institution shows substantial gaps in essential processes such as in- duction, evaluation, training, and recognition, which direct- ly affect the work climate, staff motivation, and organiza- tional efficiency. These findings—derived from descriptive quantitative analysis—were consistent with the perceptions gathered through interviews and documentary analysis, and they support the need to implement improvement proposals aligned with the institutional strengthening and professional- ization priorities defined in this research. With respect to Figure 1, the results on employees’ overall satisfaction with human talent management at the Public En- terprise Portoparques EP show a predominantly unfavorable trend. A total of 13.3% of respondents reported being very dissatisfied (level 1), while 36.7% indicated they were dis- satisfied (level 2), which represents the largest group. 33.3% of participants expressed a neutral or indifferent assessment (level 3), reflecting an intermediate perception. Only 13.3% reported being satisfied (level 4), and just 3.4% stated they were very satisfied (level 5). Figure 1. Overall satisfaction with human talent manage- ment at Portoparques EP. This scenario indicates that more than half of the staff hold a negative assessment of institutional management in this area, while fewer than one-fifth report being satisfied, which points to a low overall satisfaction level. These data support the diagnosis of weaknesses in key human talent processes— such as performance evaluation, induction, recognition, and internal communication—and justify the need to implement strategies aimed at improving the organizational climate, staff motivation, and internal efficiency. The low level of overall satisfaction further underscores the need to adopt concrete actions to improve working con- ditions, optimize institutional human talent management, and strengthen employees’ perceptions of their organization- al environment—issues that are addressed through the im- provement proposals developed in this research. Table 2 presents the qualitative findings derived from in- terviews conducted with six employees from different areas of the Public Enterprise Portoparques EP. This information complements and deepens the quantitative results, thereby fulfilling the study’s first specific objective, which focuses on a comprehensive diagnosis of human talent management within the institution.

J. Manage. Hum. Resour. (January - June) 4(1): 16-21 19 Table 2. Emergent categories from the qualitative analysis Category Representative quote Limited professionalization Staff are only trained when there are emergencies or regulatory changes. Weak induction I did not receive a formal welcome; I learned the job ‘on the fly. Lack of feedback We don’t know whether we are performing well. There is no clear evaluation or recognition. Limited interdepartmental communication Each unit does its own thing. There are no spaces to coordinate joint actions. The results reveal four categories that point to significant organizational weaknesses. First, limited staff professional- ization is identified, as training is provided only in urgent situations or to meet regulatory requirements, which pre- vents the sustained development of technical and transversal competencies. Second, weak institutional induction emerg- es, reflected in statements such as “I learned the job on the fly,” which indicate the absence of structured processes for welcoming, orienting, and socializing new staff. A lack of organizational feedback is also evident: employ- ees do not receive formal evaluations or recognition for their performance, which directly affects work motivation and constrains opportunities for continuous improvement. The category of limited interdepartmental communication re- fers to insufficient coordination across units, which hinders process alignment, institutional efficiency, and collaborative work. These qualitative insights help explain, an internal and experiential perspective, the underlying causes of the weak- nesses identified. Taken together, they provide inputs for the formulation of improvement proposals focused on profes- sionalization, the redesign of internal processes, organiza- tional communication, and institutional strengthening. The results obtained in this research reveal an organiza- tional landscape marked by serious limitations inhuman talent management processes, which aligns with previous studies highlighting the structural weakness of the human resources function in Ecuador’s public sector (Vitteri, 2021; Espinoza & Cachipuedno, 2024). The lack of objective per- formance evaluation, reported by 56.7% of surveyed staff, reflects a gap in the implementation of assessment models grounded in clear criteria and linked to results, which contra- dicts the guidelines established by LOSEP and the General Performance Evaluation Regulation (LOSEP, 2016). Like- wise, the absence of formal induction, indicated by 50.0% of participants, confirms the lack of systematized processes for institutional welcome and socialization—widely addressed in the literature as a determining factor for organizational in- tegration and role adaptation (Chiavenato, 2017; Noe, 2017). Limited participation in training programs (60.0% report- ed not having received technical training) points to a reac- tive and unplanned model of staff professionalization, which hinders competency updating and organizational innovation (Al Jawali et al., 2022; Senge, 2006). The interviews rein- forced this perception, noting that training occurs only to meet regulatory requirements or in emergency situations. These findings reveal a disconnect between human devel- opment functions and institutional strategy, contrary to the perspective advanced by Armstrong and Taylor (2023), who emphasize the need to align staff capabilities with organiza- tional objectives. Formal induction or “onboarding” programs are essential for integrating new public servants, although in the Latin American public sector they are often heterogeneous. It has been documented that effective induction—introducing or- ganizational culture and expectations—increases employee commitment, productivity, and retention. In Latin America, most governments provide courses or initial training plans for new hires: 67% of countries have a standardized induc- tion plan (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatema- la, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay), some of which are adapted according to hierarchical level. Another 33% applies differ- entiated induction based on tenure, and only 17% (Brazil and Jamaica) offers partial initial training to a limited group of selected employees. Ongoing staff training is a core component of human tal- ent management in the public sector. Recent studies in Lat- in America confirm that continuous training, together with performance recognition, are key elements for strengthening institutional effectiveness. In practice, Latin American coun- tries have adopted broad training strategies; for example, 92% have developed online training to expand coverage, and 58% have a comprehensive training strategy applicable across government. Priority areas include executive and digital skills, reflect- ing the global emphasis on 21st-century competencies. This focus is consistent with recommendations from interna- tional organizations. The OECD specifies that recruitment, continuous learning, and career development systems are “tools to build a workforce with the skills needed” to address challenges such as automation and demographic change. In Ecuador, professional literature also highlights the strategic role of continuous training, proposing a comprehensive ap- proach spanning from recruitment to the ongoing updating of competencies. Conclusions The three strategic proposals—professionalization, in-

J. Manage. Hum. Resour. (January - June) 4(1): 16-21 20 ternal process optimization, and organizational strengthe- ning—were formulated in direct response to the diagnosed weaknesses and are grounded in recognized continuous im- provement and value-creation models, such as the Balanced Scorecard and people-centered management approaches. The Professionalization and Competency Development Pro- gram promotes a shift from isolated training actions to an institutionalized system of continuous learning, aligned with international recommendations that emphasize meritocracy and sustained capacity building in public service. The Ins- titutional Process and Communication Optimization Plan prioritizes standardization, digitalization, and formal feed- back mechanisms to enhance transparency, efficiency, and internal participation, while the organizational strengthening strategies incorporate participatory leadership and improve- ments to the work climate as key drivers of high-performing public-sector teams. Together, these initiatives address struc- tural, cultural, and regulatory factors rather than superficial symptoms, highlighting the transformative potential of stra- tegic human talent management. International experiences and evidence from organizations such as the World Bank, OECD, IDB, and ECLAC demonstrate that professionalized administrations, digital governance, and collaborative lea- dership improve operational efficiency, strengthen employee commitment, foster citizen trust, and ultimately enhance the quality and sustainability of public services. References Al Aina, R., & Atan, T. (2020). 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The fifth discipline: The art and prac- tice of the learning organization (Rev. ed.). Doubleday. Sixpence, S., De Braine, R., Bussin, M., & Mthombeni, M. (2021). Anchoring human resource management to sustain employee performance at Johannesburg Metro- politan Municipality. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 19. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm. v19i0.1611 Stang-Rabrig, J., Schwerter, J., Witmer, M., & McElvany, N. (2022). Beneficial and negative factors for the devel- opment of students’ well-being in educational contexts. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144- 022-04067-x Conflicts of interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Author contributions Conceptualization: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Data curation: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Formal analysis: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Research: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Methodology: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Supervision: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Validation: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Visualization: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Writing the original draft: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Writing, review and editing: Moreira, M. A., Muñoz, O. A., & Putin, A. M. Data availability statement The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Statement on the use of AI The authors acknowledge the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies to improve the readability and cla- rity of the article.

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