Journal of Human Resource Management

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Lecturers’ Perceptions of Factors that Attract Talent in a Ghanaian Higher Learning Institution

Received: 02 October 2018    Accepted: 25 October 2018    Published: 07 May 2019
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Abstract

Creating a sustainable competitive advantage requires higher learning institutions to attract, motivate, develop and retain the talented staff they need now and in the future. However, the technical universities in Ghana are facing significant challenges in attracting and retaining talents to academic positions since their conversion. Besides, there exists limited research on factors that attract talented academics to these institutions as preferred employers. The main objective of this study was therefore to examine lecturers’ perceptions of factors that attract talents to academic positions within a Ghanaian higher learning institution; in this instance, Sunyani Technical University (STU). A qualitative approach was adopted for this study; semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain data. The study participants comprised of 23 lecturers selected from the university under study. The findings show that nine themes are related to the attraction of talents to the universities: career development and advancement, opportunities to make a contribution, employer branding and prestige, job security, flexible working hours, intellectual stimulation, innovation, opportunity to apply skills and autonomy. The results challenge higher learning institutions to develop a superior employer brand with a strong employee value proposition (EVP) that would attract, develop and reward talented academics for their work efforts. The study provides important practical guidelines that could assist the university studied and other higher learning institutions to attract talented lecturers and become employers of choice.

DOI 10.11648/j.jhrm.20190701.11
Published in Journal of Human Resource Management (Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2019)
Page(s) 1-10
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Talent Attraction, Employer Brand, Career Development, Lecturers’ Perceptions, Technical Universities

References
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Business and Management Studies, Sunyani Technical University, Sunyani, Ghana

  • Faculty of Business and Management Studies, Sunyani Technical University, Sunyani, Ghana

  • Faculty of Business and Management Studies, Sunyani Technical University, Sunyani, Ghana

  • Registry Department, Valley View University, Techiman Campus, Techiman, Ghana

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  • APA Style

    Justice Solomon Korantwi-Barimah, Alex Ofori, Faisal Mohammed, Emmanuel Addai Kyeremeh. (2019). Lecturers’ Perceptions of Factors that Attract Talent in a Ghanaian Higher Learning Institution. Journal of Human Resource Management, 7(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20190701.11

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    ACS Style

    Justice Solomon Korantwi-Barimah; Alex Ofori; Faisal Mohammed; Emmanuel Addai Kyeremeh. Lecturers’ Perceptions of Factors that Attract Talent in a Ghanaian Higher Learning Institution. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 2019, 7(1), 1-10. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.20190701.11

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    AMA Style

    Justice Solomon Korantwi-Barimah, Alex Ofori, Faisal Mohammed, Emmanuel Addai Kyeremeh. Lecturers’ Perceptions of Factors that Attract Talent in a Ghanaian Higher Learning Institution. J Hum Resour Manag. 2019;7(1):1-10. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.20190701.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jhrm.20190701.11,
      author = {Justice Solomon Korantwi-Barimah and Alex Ofori and Faisal Mohammed and Emmanuel Addai Kyeremeh},
      title = {Lecturers’ Perceptions of Factors that Attract Talent in a Ghanaian Higher Learning Institution},
      journal = {Journal of Human Resource Management},
      volume = {7},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-10},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jhrm.20190701.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20190701.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jhrm.20190701.11},
      abstract = {Creating a sustainable competitive advantage requires higher learning institutions to attract, motivate, develop and retain the talented staff they need now and in the future. However, the technical universities in Ghana are facing significant challenges in attracting and retaining talents to academic positions since their conversion. Besides, there exists limited research on factors that attract talented academics to these institutions as preferred employers. The main objective of this study was therefore to examine lecturers’ perceptions of factors that attract talents to academic positions within a Ghanaian higher learning institution; in this instance, Sunyani Technical University (STU). A qualitative approach was adopted for this study; semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain data. The study participants comprised of 23 lecturers selected from the university under study. The findings show that nine themes are related to the attraction of talents to the universities: career development and advancement, opportunities to make a contribution, employer branding and prestige, job security, flexible working hours, intellectual stimulation, innovation, opportunity to apply skills and autonomy. The results challenge higher learning institutions to develop a superior employer brand with a strong employee value proposition (EVP) that would attract, develop and reward talented academics for their work efforts. The study provides important practical guidelines that could assist the university studied and other higher learning institutions to attract talented lecturers and become employers of choice.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AB  - Creating a sustainable competitive advantage requires higher learning institutions to attract, motivate, develop and retain the talented staff they need now and in the future. However, the technical universities in Ghana are facing significant challenges in attracting and retaining talents to academic positions since their conversion. Besides, there exists limited research on factors that attract talented academics to these institutions as preferred employers. The main objective of this study was therefore to examine lecturers’ perceptions of factors that attract talents to academic positions within a Ghanaian higher learning institution; in this instance, Sunyani Technical University (STU). A qualitative approach was adopted for this study; semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain data. The study participants comprised of 23 lecturers selected from the university under study. The findings show that nine themes are related to the attraction of talents to the universities: career development and advancement, opportunities to make a contribution, employer branding and prestige, job security, flexible working hours, intellectual stimulation, innovation, opportunity to apply skills and autonomy. The results challenge higher learning institutions to develop a superior employer brand with a strong employee value proposition (EVP) that would attract, develop and reward talented academics for their work efforts. The study provides important practical guidelines that could assist the university studied and other higher learning institutions to attract talented lecturers and become employers of choice.
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