A JOURNAL OF COMPOSITION THEORY ISSN : 0731-6755

The Impact of Human Resource Practices on Employee Retention

in the Education Sector
Dr. Silbert Jose S. V.
Assistant Professor,
Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore.

Abstract:
This study examines the human resource (HR) practices that promote employee retention. Effective HR practices
can reduce employee turnover and increase retention within an organization. Key employees are the instrument for
overall growth and development of an organization. This study focuses on Education sector of India. The most
important HR practices have been identified with the help of literature. These practices are training and
development, compensation and working environment or culture.

The study seek to identify the best human resource practices of education sector sector in Indian scenario and also
drafted the pros and corns of human resource practices in this conglomerate. It is a form of service which rendered
to students, good will and reputation created by society to teacher from this service. In Indian educational arena
retention of employees is a challenge in this century because of pay and perks, family benefit services, incentives
and other activities which inculcate the employee loyalty towards the institution. Employees are the greatest asset
for an organization. Therefore, every educational institution must treat their employees as ends and not means to
ends because they add value to the institution and the minds of the youth.

Key Words: Employee Retention, Employee Loyalty, Family Benefits, HR practices, conglomerate, Goodwill.

I Introduction
Employee retention is a strategic and tactical tool for the success of the institution. Having the
best and the most talented employees is not the only the need of the hour but it is equally
important to retain them for long term to both the organization and employees to become
productive and attaining of the institution goals. Encouraging employees to remain in the
organization for a long period is known as employee retention. It is a process in which the
employees are encouraged to remain with the organization for life time or maximum period of
time. The top talent involves a constant balance between the human desires and the strategic and
financial needs of the business. Employee retention is a technique adopted by organizations to
maintain an effective workforce and at the same time meet operational requirements. Employees
are the greatest asset for an organization. Therefore, every organization must treat their
employees as glittering pearls because they add value to the organization. Long-term health and
success of any organization depends upon the retention of key employees. To a great extent
student satisfaction, academic performance in terms of increased demands in education sector,
satisfied colleagues and non-teaching staff, effective succession planning of institution etc., is
dependent upon the ability to retain the best employees in any organization. This paper is an
attempt to find out Impact of Human Resource Practices on Employee Retention in the
Education Sector.

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II Literature Review

Good HRM practices in the area of compensation, reward, career development,

supervisors‟ support, and culture and work environment can help to improve retention (Meyer
and Allan, 1991; Solomon, 1992; Snell and Dean, 1992). Many organizations now utilize
extensive range of human resources management factors that influence employee commitment
and retention (Stein, 2000; Beck, 2001; Clarke, 2001; Parker and Wright, 2001). According to
them, the factors which influence employee retention are work environment, supervisor support,
organization image, employee value match, remuneration, reward and recognition, employees‟
career development etc. Hay Group study(2011) has identified five key factors that differentiate
“stayers” (those committed to the company more than two years) from “leavers” (those planning
to leave in two years or less).The key factors are confidence in the organization and leadership,
room for employees to grow.
Chipunza and Samuel (2009) highlight that it is not only the private sector, but
governments are also facing difficulty in retaining skilled employees Employee turnover is such
a phenomenon, for the understanding of which no standard formula exists; therefore, so many
elements have been determined which would be helpful in understanding employee turnover
(Kevin et al., 2004). There are different human resource (HR) practices employed by the
organization to increase the retention level (Khan et al., 2014). In long run the organization
losses the long-time employees that possess specific knowledge, know-how and skills
(Yamamoto, 2011). The HR manager must know how to attract and keep good employees
because these are the employees who can make or break the organization‟s goodwill (Wisnefski,
2008; Rasli et al., 2014).
Successful employee retention does not rely on a single strategy. The decision of an
employee to stay in the organization is effected by a number of factors depending on a variety of
elements like the individual‟s age, the family situation, mentoring, career and learning
opportunities, good benefits, networking and the external job market or job title (Musser, 2001;
Sinnott et al., 2002; Yusoff et al., 2013). Retaining talented employees is highly important for the
long-term growth as well as success of the business (Heathfield, 1995). Organizations should opt
the retention approach that amalgamate the organization‟s distinct culture, pay, total rewards,
and value key talent by making them feel important (Zingheim et al., 2009).

Research Objectives
 To finding the Impact of Human Resource Practices on Employee Retention in the Education
Sector.
 To analyze the Human Resource Practices on Employee Retention in Indian education sector.
 To chart out the different strategies for retaining employees in education sector.
 To analyze overall employee retention activities of institutions related to Indian education
sector.

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Research Methodology
This paper is prepared upon secondary data. The data required is collected from the
published and unpublished information and from the internet sources wherever necessary

Human Resource Management

Human resource management is considered the joint responsibility of national authorities and
public higher education institutions. However, in almost as many cases, human resource
management is considered mainly a task of the institutions. In some cases, the fact that
institutions are solely responsible is an outcome of a lack of national strategies in human
resource management, whereas in others, human resource management is considered an
important area of institutional autonomy and as such, not interfered with by national authorities.
However, as human resources management is often understood in a rather restricted sense, the
fact that in most countries, national authorities set the framework for contracts, salaries and
recruitments may have led countries to opt for „shared responsibility‟, even in cases where
human resource development is not part of the task of one or both levels. While the importance
of human resource management is recognized in many countries and regions included in this
study, only five countries reported on specific human resource‐related strategies at national level.
At the same time, national strategies are considered very important by institutional actors and
they are needed to support and give direction to institutional initiatives

Human Resource Management in Education sector

Educational institutions in India especially those in higher education operating in the public
sector have always been in a protected environment. Though privatization has started these
institutions are even today cocooned in their existence because of a number of reasons. To begin
with higher education in the private sphere is exorbitantly expensive given the limited paying
power of the masses. Further a number of private universities and institutions are yet to make a
name for them as they have not been in existence long enough. In sharp contrast to our
government funded, established universities and even some colleges affiliated to them that have
been around for over hundred years. These established institutions have strong alumni and are
recognized as brands .Further government regulatory bodies and their rules also often deter the
growth of private players in the higher education segment. However these conditions are
temporary. State funded universities are already feeling the pressure of reduced government
funding. In times to come other changes will further threaten them. The paying power of the
middle classes will increase, already the liberal study loans given to students for higher
education has made education more affordable. Simultaneously private universities will have
been around long enough to make a name and establish themselves as a brand. The question is
without managing their human resources effectively can the government funded institutes
survive and thrive in the face of competition from private institutions. The answer is a definite
no. In the context of higher educational institutions like universities, human resources are also
referred to as intellectual capital, so it follows that their effective management is crucial to not
only the competitive advantage of the educational institution but also the progress of the nation

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Human resource Management involves many functions in the corporate world however when
applied to the education sector and particularly universities and affiliated colleges these functions
will be modified to suit the demands of this sector. Some of the core functions that must be of
importance are discussed in detail below.

Recruitment and Placement-These are two important human resource functions that ensure
that the organization has an adequate supply of human resources at all levels and in all positions
at the right time and in the right place. However recruitment and placement must be done on the
basis of personnel forecasting. Strategies must be devised for recruitment of good and adequate
number of teaching and non teaching staff keeping in minds the current needs as well as
expansion plans if any. In forecasting internal demand for teaching, the student enrollment in all
different courses has to be considered. Timelines for recruitment should be established. Currently
we don‟t find this happening at all. Often posts lie vacant for months especially in highly
bureaucratic state funded universities or they are simply filled up from year to year on an adhoc
basis. This happens because a single recruitment involves a lot of clearances from various
government departments and the whole process is both long drawn and rigid. Lee (2005)
mentioned that to gain a competitive edge in the teacher recruitment process it is important to:
reduce the bureaucracy of the selection process. In a fast changing environment this approach
will have to change or else we may find that the best talent may be quickly absorbed by the
private players and the state funded institutions are left with the rejects, thus seriously affecting
quality.

Training and Development-These human resource functions are crucial because employees
once recruited and placed think of how they can grow on the job and within the organization.
This is beneficial to organizations also because employees can be best partners in any enterprise
if they are maximally developed and when they reach their optimum potential. This also makes
them ready to take on additional responsibilities in their current and future positions. This
function is all the more important for educational institutions, as training to faculty will have a
dual impact, because not only they will get trained but they will also be able to deliver better in
terms of teaching, thus benefitting students as well. Currently the only training that takes place
after appointment as teaching faculty is the mandatory orientation and refresher courses that staff
is supposed to complete. These need to be updated and made more practical and relevant so that
faculty is able to gain from such programs. Soft skills training is a must because educational
institutions are people places and in a competitive scenario people skills are prime.

Performance Appraisal-The performance appraisal function is an assessment of employees‟

job performance levels (Kleiman, 2000).A good and effective performance appraisal will help to
direct employee behavior towards the goals of the organization and it will also help to monitor
how well the goals are being achieved. Educational institutions need to move beyond the
mandatory appraisal systems laid down by regulatory bodies and work out their own systems
which help them to decide who the good performers are. This is necessary because the objectives
of each institution and the students they cater to are different so the standardized parameters laid
down by regulatory bodies do not often yield the results organizations are looking for.

Compensation and Benefits-Determining the compensation plans keeping in mind the

compensation philosophy of the management is a crucial human resource function. Two factors

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must be considered with reference to the compensation package namely the management
philosophy underlying the package and the conditions prevalent in the market. Any
compensation package must ensure internal equity as well as market competitiveness hence it
needs review from time to time especially in the present dynamic scenario. This is one area
where the system is very slow to respond and is more reactive than proactive. With reduced state
funding and increasing cost it has difficult for institutions to sustain. Further where an institution
is partly privately funded and partly funded by the government, the differences in compensation
packages add to internal inequity, which is not conducive to organizational health. Time has
come for institutions to work out their own innovative incentive schemes so as to motivate
employees to put in their best so that an institution can create and sustain a competitive
advantage.

Employee Relations-This constitutes the core of the human resource function in any
organization .Employee voice mechanisms must be encouraged to improve employee
management relations. This is all the more important while dealing with the intellectual work
force we find in educational institutions. Unfortunately today there is a void in this area .One
factor that has created this void is the massive expansion of institutions and the high level of
centralization resulting in a sense of alienation .Employees in large universities today do not
often identify with their institutions. Efforts must be made to change this and improve employee
relations to foster competitive advantage.

Findings and suggestions

 The human resource practices in education sector of India are Recruitment and
Placement, Training and Development, Performance Appraisal, Performance Appraisal,
Compensation and Benefits, Employee Relations.
 The retain strategies of employees are family benefits, incentives for conferences and
seminars, increase in pay and perks.
 Human resource managers are regulating the retention strategies in education sector.
 In education sector the employees are loyal towards the institution if institution maintains
reputation and academic excellence.

III Conclusion

Considering the importance of Human Resource Management to the success of educational

institutions it follows that it must get its due place in India state funded universities and affiliated
colleges there is no separate department dedicated to performing this function Until privatization
started this did not make any difference because there were uniform policies across all
institutions. Privatization has changed this uniformity and today there are vast variations both in
terms of policies and their implementation. Most of the private universities have realized the
importance of the Human Resource Management and are having departments dedicated to
performing this function instead of leaving this crucial role in the hands of academicians and
administrators who may not be trained and equipped to perform this role effectively. Functions
of managing human resources can become strategic to an educational institution and become a
source of competitive advantage. It is important that employees have one department to contact

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and deal with for all issues surrounding placement, training, promotion and compensation etc.
human resource to change from an administrative function to a strategic one so that educational
institutions continue to attract quality human capital and gain competitive advantage.

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