Human Resource Development Climate and Employee Satisfaction in Higher Education Institutions: An Empirical Study from NCR, India

Human Resource Development (HRD) is a strategic activity that has been being increasingly identified to be useful in promoting organizational performance, especially in institutions of higher learning that are knowledge intensive, e.g. universities and professional colleges. Higher education institutions are in a complex environment that is marked by academic self-governance, regulatory factors, accountability and workforce diversities. In this situation, the HRD climate, which is the perception that employees have on whether the organization supports learning, development, openness, trust, participative decision-making, and career advancement, is a crucial factor in determining employee attitudes and behaviors. In turn, employee satisfaction is also a major factor in defining the quality of teaching, research productivity, institutional stability, and sustainability. Although the role of HRD in higher education has increased, empirical research investigating the correlation between the climate of HRD and employee satisfaction at regional level in India is still inadequate. The objective of the current research will be to empirically test the effects of Human Resource Development climate on employee satisfaction at the higher education and professional institutions of choice in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The research design is descriptive and empirical study and it relies on primary data gathered among teaching and non-teaching employees on specific institutions selected. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data that would help measure the major dimensions of HRD climate such as training and development, performance appraisal, participative management, openness, trust, and organizational support, and general employee satisfaction. Published books, peer-reviewed journals, policy documents, and previous empirical studies were used to get secondary data because they provided a powerful theoretical and contextual background. In general, it can be said that the study supports the belief that Human Resource Development must not be just an administrative role, but an organizational force of employee satisfaction and institutional performance in the higher education. The results have significance in enhancing HRD policies and practices in higher institutions of learning and the professional institutions particularly in fast changing learning institutions like the NCR.