Employee Retention and Job Performance Attributes in Private Institutions of Higher Education

Higher education is no longer an alternative but a requirement. Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in Malaysia are a destination for both local and international students, in which the focus is on the creation of knowledge workers in the country. The number of PHEIs and student enrolment increases yearly as spaces in the public universities is scarce. For quality assurance, high staff turnover has always been a concern in PHEIs. Hence, this research explores the factors affecting job performance and employee engagement for both academic and non-academic staff. A quantitative, self-administered questionnaire was employed in this research. 200 respondents from the top ten PHEIs participated in this study. Career development, employee engagement and work-life balance were found to have significant relationships with employee retention and job performance