The relationship of talent management and succession planning with employee retention in higher education institutions : roles of career development and employee engagement as mediators

Abstract

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia contribute an imperative and unique role in the growth of the nation’s labour force and the economy. The education is perceived as to groom the people with the ability to quickly and creatively respond to economic changes. At that juncture, HEIs need to cultivate strategies to attract, develop and retain their best people through an effective talent management and succession planning practices. The new era of development in the higher education industry in Malaysia brings the researcher to identify why the right people are needed to serve HEIs at the right time. When these people start leaving, it is an indication that the HEIs are in trouble. This matter has also been also highlighted since Malaysian HEIs are fronting talent deficiency and high turnover. Thus, this study investigates the relationship of talent management practices and succession planning practices at Malaysian HEIs towards employee retention. Those practices were determined according to their level of effectiveness. In addition, this study also determines the mediating effect of employee engagement and career development on the relationship between talent management and employee retention at Malaysian HEIs. Moreover, this study determines the mediating effect of employee engagement and career development on the relationship between succession planning and employee retention at Malaysian HEIs. Employees who are eager to retain in the organisations feel more influential when they are engaged and satisfied with their career development goal. For this study, proportionate stratified sampling was employed. The respondents who represented the employees of HEIs were selected from each stratum of three groups of public universities in Malaysia (research universities, comprehensive universities and focus universities). The data collection for this study was carried out through self-administered questionnaires. The data collected was processed using computer software; Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19.0 and Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) version 20.0. There were thirteen hypotheses examined in this study. The results indicate that talent management and succession planning practices were effective at HEIs. Most importantly, there is a significant influence of effective talent management and succession planning towards employee retention. Furthermore, the findings partially support the hypotheses on mediating effects. Employee engagement and career development mediates the relationship of talent management and succession planning towards employee retention. Undoubtedly, employees who are engaged and whose careers are being developed to be more likely to report higher levels of retention. The useful guidelines for human resource management practices in the present and future Malaysian HEIs can be outlined based on the results of this study.