VALUING FACULTY, RETAINING TALENT: RECOGNITION AS A MEDIATOR BETWEEN HRM PRACTICES AND TEACHER RETENTION

Abstract

This study examines the mediating role of recognition in the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and teacher retention in public and private universities in Punjab, Pakistan. Adopting a positivist paradigm, the study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 400 university teachers selected through stratified random sampling from a target population of 23,626 teachers. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, which were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, regression, and bootstrapped mediation analysis. The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between HRM practices and teacher retention. Mediation analysis demonstrated that recognition partially mediated this relationship, with a significant indirect effect (B = 0.079, 95% CI [0.031, 0.136]). HRM practices significantly predicted recognition, which was positively associated with teacher retention after controlling for HRM practices. The direct effect of HRM practices on retention remained significant, indicating that recognition represents one pathway through which HRM practices are associated with teachers’ intentions to remain in their institutions. These findings highlight the importance of acknowledging faculty contributions through fair, meaningful, and consistent recognition practices. Universities should therefore integrate effective recognition mechanisms into their HRM strategies to support teacher retention.