Impact of Work Engagement on Performance in Indian Higher Education System

The moments in which employees attach themselves with their work roles are called as the moments of engagement (Kahn, 1992). The number of higher educational institutions is rapidly growing in India to cater to the increasing demand for advanced studies (KPMG, 2014). As a result, Indian academia is facing the challenge of keeping academics engaged so that academics can happily and efficiently perform a larger role. So, this study examines the influence of job resources on engagement along with how the interaction among job resources and perceived autonomy impacts performance in service delivery. We also examine the mediating role of work engagement between the job resources and service employee performance relationship. Two hundred sixty one academics elected from different Indian universities were asked to rate themselves on the support, autonomy and engagement scales. Further, 261 students were asked to rate the performance of these academics. Structural equation modeling was used to test the formulated hypotheses. The results suggest that work engagement mediates the relationship between supervisory support and service employee performance. Moreover, perceived autonomy moderates relationship between co-worker support and work engagement relationship. These findings extend the theoretical understanding of engagement enhancing the performance in service delivery as reflected in the feedback from students. Results also urge universities to make policies that enhance coworker and supervisory support which can create a culture of co-operation. Certain limitations and future research directions of this study have also been discussed in greater detail.