Factors Affecting Employee Engagement Practices in Higher Education Institutions

The human resource management concept of employee engagement has gained significant importance in higher education institutions, as it is believed to affect employees' performance, institutional effectiveness, and academic quality. In the current study, the major factors that impact employee engagement practices in higher education institutions across Mumbai are studied. The study pinpoints certain dimensions like internal communication, participative leadership, faculty development, and recognition practices that help in employee engagement. A structured questionnaire with five-point Likert scale was administered to 232 faculty members and primary data was collected. Data analysis techniques used were Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with the aid of SPSS software. The results showed that all found dimensions play an important role in the Employee Engagement Practices in Higher Education Institutions. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value and Bartlett’s Test confirmed the suitability of the data for factor analysis. From the analysis four major factors were extracted which accounted for a high level of cumulative variance. The study findings suggest that the improvement in employee engagement and institutional performance is more likely to occur in institutions that foster transparent communication, collaborative leadership, faculty development opportunities, and effective recognition systems.