Nguyen, Anh Thu (2019) The impact of human resource development policies on lecturers’ job engagement : a university case study in Viet Nam. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The university under examination has a strategic objective of integrating into global higher education (HE) and being a pioneer of Vietnamese HE innovation. Therefore, it is having to face profound changes in global and national HE which create pressures on lecturers who perform vital jobs in the university. This may lead to lecturers’ overload and stress (Bowen, Rose and Pilkington, 2016), reducing their job engagement in their key job responsibilities (Byrne and MacDonagh, 2017). This can diminish staff’s well-being and performance, leading to worse outcomes for the organization (Harter, Schmidt and Hayes, 2002; Rich, LePine and Crawford, 2010). This is because employees who are engaged in their job are more productive, creative, and willing to do extra work (Bakker and Demerouti, 2008), while disengaged ones present a lack of commitment and motivation which can negatively affect organizational success (Fleck and Inceoglu, 2010; Gallup, 2018). Thus, lecturers’ job engagement should be a key concern of the university.

Because engagement is a two-way relationship, organizations need to create the right work environment for employees’ engagement, e.g. workplace relationships and values (Wildermuth and Pauken, 2008). This can be done through organizational tools such as human resource development (HRD) policies (i.e. interventions to develop employees) (Shuck, Nimon and Zigarmi, 2014). This research aims to examine the psychological mechanism of how HRD policies can affect lecturers’ job engagement from a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) perspective. Specifically, it is argued that, through satisfying lecturers’ basic psychological needs at work (BPNW) (i.e. needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness), HRD policies can enhance their job engagement. Two main research questions were developed, namely: 1. How are current HRD policies affecting lecturers’ BPNW, and through this, their job engagement at Tiên Phong University? 2. How can the university use HRD policies to enhance its lecturers’ job engagement?

406 out of 1570 lecturers returned useable responses to the online questionnaire of this study. 43 out of 84 volunteers also participated in in-depth interviews.

Twelve findings of the study indicate a positive relationship between job engagement and lecturers’ overall evaluation of the positive impact of the university’s HRD policies on their psychological needs at work. In other words, lecturers who have higher level of job engagement tend to say that the HRD policies more satisfy their needs for autonomy, competence, and a trustworthy and supportive work environment. The findings also indicate reasons for lecturers’ job engagement and confirm the mediating role of BPNW in the relationship between HRD policies and lecturers’ job engagement. Specifically, the way that the contents and implementation of HRD policies do or do not satisfy lecturers’ BPNW links to the reasons for their job engagement or disengagement. Finally, specific solutions related to all groups of HRD policies, namely training, work system, support to competence development, career development, performance management, organizational communication, and recognition/reward/compensation/punishment were recommended by lecturers in order to keep lecturers’ job engagement at the right level, helping the university keep effective.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Personnel management -- Vietnam, College teachers -- Job stress -- Vietnam, College teachers -- Workload -- Vietnam
Official Date:	September 2019
Dates:	Date Event September 2019 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Education Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Mercer, Justine
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain)
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	xiii, 387 leaves : illustrations (some colour)
Language:	eng

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