HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: A STUDY AMONG ACADEMICIANS IN MALAYSIAN PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Academicians represent the key factor in providing education service to students and universities cannot work well without academicians. This study aimed to examine the influence of human resource practices (HR practices) on employee engagement among academicians in Malaysian private universities. This paper examined four HR practices, namely employee compensation, performance appraisal, training, and employee development. The conceptual framework developed for this paper aimed to fully understand the influence of HR practices and employee engagement. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to academicians in Malaysian private universities using the proportional stratified random sampling technique. This study was conducted on 331 respondents. Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis were performed with SPSS to test the hypotheses and secure results. The results indicated that each HR practice (performance appraisal, training, and employee development) has significant impact on employee engagement among academicians in Malaysian private universities. This study could provide useful information for decision-makers in Malaysian private universities in designing more appropriate and effective HR practices to improve employee engagement among academicians and for the government, in improving human resource employment acts, policies or legislation related to Malaysian private universities.