Does Employee Engagement Strategy Matter? An Intervention to Improve Job Embeddedness of Employees in the Private Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Private universities face a high turnover rate. The employment issue is compounded by factors such as long working hours, heavy workloads, customer aggression, stress levels, uncomfortable work schedules, and other work-related challenges commonly faced by employees in these institutions. Addressing this employment issue involves the concepts of job embeddedness and employee engagement. This study aims to understand the factors that can enhance job embeddedness and explore the mediating role of employee engagement strategy in the relationship between work-family conflict, work overload, and job embeddedness. The study involved 205 faculty members from private universities as respondents. This study use a quantitative method and Structural Equation Modeling Partial Least Squares (SEM PLS) was used for analysis. The findings reveal that work overload and work-family conflict have a significant negative impact on both employee engagement strategy and job embeddedness. Conversely, employee engagement strategy positively influences job embeddedness. Moreover, employee engagement strategy mediates the relationship between work-family conflict, work overload, and job embeddedness.