A Study of Employee Engagement in the Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Purpose: After liberalization of the Indian economy, the impact of privatisation, economic changes, and international markets put pressure on all functions of the organizations (Bhatnagar, 2007; Budhwar, et al, 2026) There is a requirement amongst the managers to build capacities, competencies, and capabilities. With the overall competition, retaining and attracting good talent has become a challenge. Employee engagement is key to the retention of talent in an organization. During the last decade, several studies related to talent management have been conducted, but mostly in developed countries and in a corporate context. Even within the employee engagement framework, very little has been done on teaching faculty and staff in colleges and universities. Methodology: There is a strong need to study employee/ faculty engagement in the education sector. The literature study on employee engagement shows very little study on faculty engagement and motivation. Faculty engagement and motivation are possible if organizations, i.e., colleges and institutes provide the teachers with a passion for work and an engaging ambience which their performances and give them a continuous satisfying work experience. Result/Analysis: The research titled, “A Study of Employee Engagement in the Higher Education Institutions”, is carried out as there is an immense need to study faculty engagement in the education sector. The previous studies on employee engagement have very little emphasis on faculty engagement and motivation. The study is a descriptive study and is based on primary data. Primary data from 72 teachers/ faculty members were collected from colleges and institutes of higher education across India. A structured questionnaire was adopted for collecting primary data through the questionnaire method and in few cases, wherever possible through the interview method, to collect in-depth information about the education system. Originality/Value: This paper discusses a very important observation of the research study, i.e., the reason for the change in the engagement pattern of faculty members/teachers in the HEI. What has been discussed and seen during the research interview is that the faculty has expressed the support of the senior management and academic leaders in their meaningful contribution. Paper Type: Empirical study.