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Small family business (SFB) leaders are constantly challenged with the quandary of how to retain experienced and talented employees from outside the family. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to understand the relationship between Talent Management (TM) retention research findings and TM retention practices in SFBs. The study purposefully sampled 16 SFB senior-level human resource decision makers with at least two years of experience dealing with both family and non-family employees within their organization of 250 employees or less, located in Massachusetts. Moreover, the study contribute to the theory and practice of TM retention in SFBs by providing empirical evidence on factors that promote and inhibit SFBs with regard to the utilization of talent retention research findings toward retaining skilled non-family members necessary to gain or maintain a competitive edge.

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Dr. Shakenna K. Williams, Doctor of Philosophy from Capella University, Master of Business Administration from Oklahoma City University, and Bachelor from Babson College. She is presently the Deputy Academic Director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program at Babson College.

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