Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of talent management (TM) practices on employee performance (EP) among academic staff of Malaysian private universities (MPU) through employee engagement (EE). Design/methodology/approach: This paper used both descriptive and quantitative approaches, while the research unit of analysis consists of MPU academic staff. A simple random and stratified sampling approach was utilized in this study while, the research sample consists of 314 MPU academic staff. A questionnaire was used to collect data from the target population, while partial least squares--structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the study hypotheses through a bootstrapping approach. Findings: This paper results demonstrated that TM practices (succession planning practice, promotion practice and performance appraisal practice) have a significant effect on EP, while EE mediates the relationship between TM practices and EP in MPU. Practical implications: This paper encourages university management to adopt and invest in TM practices for effective EE to achieve and sustain EP. Originality/value: This paper has made a significant contribution to knowledge and to the operationalization of EE, EP and TM practices literature, which could help to develop theory, model, practice and research in areas of work performance.