IMPACT OF WORK AUTONOMY AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ON EMPLOYEE PERFOMANCE IN ACADEMIA: CASE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTE, KARACHI

Abstract

Background: One of the most critical organizational challenges faced by practitioners and scholars is reduced level of Employee Engagement (EE) and one of its major outcome is reduced employee performance (EP) in workplace. Theories also suggest that work autonomy (WA) can increase employee engagement, commitment, and hence employee performance. Objective: This research fills this gap by exploring the impact of work autonomy and employee engagement on employee performance. Methods: This study was conducted on academic employees currently working at Higher Education Institute. This study uses a quantitative study design; data was collected from 265 participants through an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic details, two independent variables WA and EE, and one dependent variable EP adapted from validated tools measured from 5-pointLikert scale.  Data analysis show high reliability of WA, EE, and EP i.e. 0.843, 0.878, and 0.71, respectively was analyzed using SPSS. Results: Regression analysis showed that WA and EE has 57% of the variance in EP. Both WA (β = 0.317, t = 4.484, p < 0.001) and EE (β = 0.473, t = 6.680, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of EP. Conclusion: These results highlight the role of autonomy and engagement in enhancing employee performance in academic institutions. According to the results study recommends that institutions should work on nurturing environments that enhance WA and EE to improve EP.