“Mediating role of employee motivation for training, commitment, retention, and performance in higher education institutions”

The motivation of the individuals working in higher education institutions has been a topic of great interest for managers and researchers for a long while. This study has been taken to estimate the importance of faculty development program (FDP) as per- ceived by a faculty member, the role of FDP on faculty motivation and faculty performance, exploring whether faculty motivation mediates the relationship between FDP and employee performance. To achieve the stated aim, data has been collected from 311 faculty members associated with government and private sector institutions of higher education in Uttarakhand State (India). Important factors that motivate faculty to participate in FDP and its influence on faculty motivation and performance were analyzed using factor analysis, regression analysis, and Sobel test to establish the relationship. The findings indicate that FDP has a positive effect on the teaching of faculty, enhances their skills, helps control their emotions, and strengthens their capacity to perform academic and administrative duties. Moreover, FDP enhances work motivation and, in turn, helps faculty in improving their performances. To strengthen faculty motivation, the emphasis must be put on improving faculty recognition and reputation, making work more challenging and exciting, providing better career advancement prospects, and focus more on appropriate salary and compensation benefits for faculty members. is to strengthen the teaching and research skills of future, new and experienced teachers, researchers, and trainers. Most of the definitions of faculty development programs primarily consist of several activities that prepare faculty in their role in terms of knowledge, skills, and behavior. Hence, the faculty training and development program should be designed in such a way that it should strategically be able to enhance teacher’s capability and ability to han-dle the greater responsibility when progressing from junior to senior positions and be able to create a teacher’s unique identity.


INTRODUCTION
Higher education institutions are facing several challenges in the contemporary competitive market environment created by business dynamics, emerging technology, new competition, varying productivity, evolving nature of employment, and high turnover of employees. Faculty of higher education institutions is supposed to be both active teachers and researchers and stay at the frontiers of knowledge by acquiring working knowledge from other interdisciplinary fields in the subject domain. For this, it is essential to participate in research and development activities. The goal of the faculty development program (FDP) is to strengthen the teaching and research skills of future, new and experienced teachers, researchers, and trainers.
Most of the definitions of faculty development programs primarily consist of several activities that prepare faculty in their role in terms of knowledge, skills, and behavior. Hence, the faculty training and development program should be designed in such a way that it should strategically be able to enhance teacher's capability and ability to handle the greater responsibility when progressing from junior to senior positions and be able to create a teacher's unique identity.
Without FDP, teaching is mostly restricted to teachers who communicate their knowledge of the subject by one-way teaching. Many people are entering the teaching profession immediately after graduation. These people have no industrial experience, knowledge of the methodologies of professional development, an idea of the industry's exact requirements, and a research-oriented approach. Therefore, they can hardly go beyond the subjects provided in the syllabus and, in most cases, cannot share the requisite details with the practical aspects. Similarly, basic teaching skills are also lacking, such as class discipline, slow learning, successful implementation, etc. When an educator progresses from junior to senior level, administrative duties increase horizontally apart from high teaching responsibilities. A faculty is expected at the senior level to be aware of cross-domain knowledge, have sufficient orientation for study, and serve as a mentor for other junior faculty. Given this situation and the different training criteria of instructors, business schools are taking a range of measures to improve and enhance the skills of faculty members to boost expertise, knowledge, and skills, and thereby improve the teaching-learning process. Thus, business schools are organizing various FDPs related to research, development, teaching methodologies, domain knowledge, etc.
The importance of faculty training and development and its role in improving the educational quality, students' satisfaction, teacher performance, and organizational effectiveness in a larger context has provoked an interest in examining its utility. Faculty members whether working in private or public higher education institutions cannot perform better without proper training and development. Keeping this in view, this study has been taken up to analyze the importance of faculty development programs as perceived by faculty members of higher education institutions. Another objective is to examine the role of faculty development programs on faculty motivation and their performances and analyze the mediating role of employee motivation in the relationship between faculty development programs and faculty performances. Accessibility to faculty working in private and public sector higher education institutions in Uttarakhand State (India) has been a source of motivation to select them as the preferred sample of the proposed study.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Training and development have always been a motivating factor for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of teachers. The effect of faculty training and growth on their efficiency and success in teaching in the classroom and their administrative work was analyzed by Khan and Abdullah (2019). In a survey of 58 teachers, it was found that some important training components such as skills, experience, motivation, improvement, ability, job awareness, maturity, technical/technology training had a positive effect on teacher productivity and performance. A similar effect was observed by Hervie and Winful (2018), El Afi (2019), and Chahar and Hatwal (2018). A faculty development program is one of the important training strategies used for faculty development. The professional growth and academic status of the faculty members of an institution are related to its educational vibrancy (Guraya et al., 2016b). This can be achieved by a creative and enthusiastic FDP, which can contribute to the enhancement of the facul-ty's skills in all five areas of concern like teaching, evaluation, curriculum development, organizational leadership, and mentoring (Guraya et al., 2016b). Faculty development supports educational improvements and programs that have been carried out in a dignified and competent manner. Technical associations and experts have proposed FDPs for greater understanding and knowledge development in teaching and learning (Ghazvini et al., 2014;Jones et al., 2015). Steinert et al. (2009) proposed some important characteristics of FDP that include experiential education, prompt and effective feedback, relationships between peers and colleagues, ordered programs in education and learning principles, and various educational strategies. Tenzin et al. (2019) analyzed the role of the faculty development program and found significant improvement of competencies, self-efficacy, and positive change in attitude, and greater involvement of faculty in the quality improvement of medical education after participating in faculty development programs. A similar result was indicated by Eze (2016), who studied teachers' pro-ductivity. It was concluded that teachers have to be trained and retrained at regular intervals to improve their workplace productivity.
A faculty development program guides the faculty for improvements in the classroom results that allow faculty members to build a positive environment within the institution and enables them to assess and focus on the personal values and attitudes as they impact the professional life. Instructional development, organizational growth, and personal development thus become central elements of a successful faculty development program ( Rowbotham (2015) indicated that the relationship between the faculty development program and its impact on the enhancement of faculty experience was found to be positive and beneficial in adapting new teaching pedagogy to student benefits. Sarkar et al. (2015) found that most faculty members were student-focused and responsive. It was noticed that researcher as a faculty was lacking in enthusiasm and concentration. Hnin (2018) suggested that many result areas are theoretically influenced by faculty training and development systems, such as instructor awareness, instructor attitudes and values, teaching practice, school-level practice, and student accomplishment.
Motivation may be either intrinsic or extrinsic, and, as motivators or demotivators, individuals may identify different causes. Abbas (2014) highlighted that some employees lack job knowledge, skills, and competence. A faculty development program is an effective training tool to bring qualitative change by designing an effective faculty development program, course content, the preferred teaching style of the faculty member, the preferred learning styles of the students, and the educational environment in which the course is taken. Apart from these factors, skills, knowledge, and motivation of the teachers are critical for effective education. The primary objective of any FDP should be to provide faculty members with skills and tools to prepare and incorporate educational practices that are sensitive to different types of learning, content, and environment. A successful faculty development program is the one that includes elements that have immediate application to the faculty member's primary pur-pose, i.e. instruction in the classrooms. Training and growth strengthen the motivation of a person to do his or her job well. According to Oyitso and Olomukoro (2012), training brings job knowledge, higher worker confidence, increased efficiency, facilitates performing skills, and enhances faculty performance. All these factors lead to employee enhanced motivation and higher productivity.
It has been experimentally proved that motivation is a significant driver of employee performance. In the education system of any country, teachers are indispensable and are pivots around which education wheels revolve. Ashimole (2011) emphasized that learning and teaching depend on teachers, and the efficacy of all educational structures, development, and growth is dependent on the number, quality, and dedication of teachers. Therefore, remuneration of teachers has a major effect on motivation, increased teacher absenteeism, interpersonal relationships between students and teachers, as well as work commitment, thus leading to the declining quality of education and academic performance. Empirical studies have shown that the performance of teaching staff in a HEI is moderated by the level of education, training, and exposure to research work (Shah et al., 2012). Teaching staff motivation is the real driver of performance. It has been shown that faculty training and the level of motivation of the employee in HEI is positively associated with performance (

AIMS AND HYPOTHESES
The following are the aims of the study: • To assess the importance of faculty development programs as perceived by faculty members of higher educational institutions; • To examine the role of faculty development programs on faculty motivation and their performances; • To analyze the mediating role of employee motivation in the relationship between faculty development programs and faculty performances.
The argument leads to the following hypotheses: H1: Faculty training and development program has a positive influence on employee performance.
H2: Faculty training and development program has a positive influence on employee motivation.
H3: Faculty motivation makes a positive effect on performance among teaching staff of HEIs in Uttarakhand State (India).
H4: Faculty motivation mediates the relationship between FDP and faculty performances among teaching staff of HEIs in Uttarakhand State (India).

METHODOLOGY
This study is descriptive in nature. It is based on primary as well as secondary data. Professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and various other academic personnel affiliated with higher education institutions in the state of Uttarakhand (India) were the population for this study. The data was collected using a well-structured questionnaire covering different dimensions of faculty development programs, employee motivation, and perceived outcome in terms of academic quality and performance improvement. Findings made by Arreola et al. (2003) helped in developing the ques-tionnaire. To gather data on the variables in this study, a well-structured questionnaire consisting of different dimensions including demographic characteristics, an attitude of faculty members towards different dimensions of initiatives for faculty development (18 items), faculty motivation (12 items), and faculty performance (9 items) were created based on previous studies. The initial questionnaire was validated by discussing different constructs of the study with a small group of academic professionals and faculty members. Important suggestions from the members were incorporated, the questionnaire was finalized and pilot testing on 30 respondents were carried out. Reliability test was carried out and the value of Cronbach's alpha index was found to be 0.893, which is within the limit for carrying out further statistical analysis. Few corrections were made, the final questionnaire was prepared, and full-scale data was collected from faculty members. Both online and offline data collection methods were used. Some information was collected personally by visiting different institutions in Uttarakhand.
Remaining data was collected electronically using Google docs. Email addresses were collected from the university websites and other references. As a result, a total of 325 responses were received. After editing, 311 responses were found fit and taken for the study. To achieve the aims of the study, the data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.0.

RESULTS
The demographic profile as presented in Table  1 indicates that the sample is the combination of middle-aged respondents as more than half of the respondents ( The information presented in Table 2 indicates the importance of FDP programs as perceived by faculty members. It is observed that out of 311 respondents, 180 respondents are of complete agreement that faculty training and development is a must for enhancing faculty performance. In comparison, 32 respondents partially agree with the statement, 60 respondents disagreed with the statement, and 39 respondents were not sure about the role of faculty training and development as a must for enhancing faculty performance. Further chi-square test was carried out to test the hypotheses of whether the perceived importance of FDP in improving faculty performance differs significantly across the length of experience of faculty. The calculated value of chi-square test was found to be 14.321 at 6 DF and 5% level of significance which is greater than the table value (12.59). Hence, test statistics support the research hypothesis indicating significant difference in the perceived importance of FDP in improving faculty performance differs significantly across the length of experience of faculty. Information presented in Table 3 indicates outcome of factor analysis of the entire measurement variable identified for faculty development program affecting their motivation and performance. Five factors were identified. The factor loading of all measurement variables in each factors, AVE and CR and descriptive statistics for various items of faculty development programs is presented in Table 3. Reliability of all factors was found to be in the range of 0.736 to 0.823, which is within the acceptable range (Glen, n.d.). It is observed that com-   Information presented in Table 4 indicates the outcome of factor analysis of the entire measurement variable identified for faculty motivation. Four factors were identified. The factor loading of all measurement variables in each factor, AVE, CR, and descriptive statistics for various items of faculty motivation is presented in Table 4. Reliability of factors was found to be in the range of 0.715 to 0.802, which is within the acceptable range Information presented in Table 5 indicates descriptive statistics of all measurement variables identified for measuring faculty performance and their factor loading and reliability statistics. Reliability of employee performance was found to be 0.850, which is within the acceptable range (Glen, n.d.). It is observed that employee performance (AVE = 0.711666667, CR = 0.511531667) has scored combined mean of 3.8725 with SD = .56279. Variable like "My level of confidence has improved after  training" has scored highest mean = 4.0386 with SD = .76945. Variable "There is a continuous reduction in the product defect after training" has scored the lowest mean of 3.6527 and SD = .92369.
Regression analysis was carried out for modeling the relationship between factors of faculty development, faculty motivation, and faculty performance. Multicollinearity test was carried out to test whether there is a similarity between independent variables in the model. Based on the coefficient output as presented in Table 3, collinearity obtained VIF value between 1.261 to 4.655, meaning that the VIF value obtained is between 1 to 10 and hence it can be concluded that there is no multicollinearity symptom in the model. In the first step, regression analysis was carried out to assess the direct impact of faculty development programs on faculty performance. In the next step, the impact of the faculty development program on faculty motivation and the impact of faculty motivation on performance was calculated using SPSS software. Results are presented in Tables 6, 7, and 8, and Figure 1.
The information presented in Table 6 indicates the outcome of the regression analysis between factors of faculty development program on faculty performance. The impact of FDP on faculty performance was found significant (F = 380.050, P = 0.000, R 2 -0.798). The results indicate that beta values (β) for faculty development program is significant except in the case of institutional benefits. Hence, H1 is accepted indicating faculty develop-    Table 7 indicates the impact of FDP on employee motivation and found significant (R 2 = .546, F = 73.793, P = 0.000). The test statistics revealed that all the components of faculty development have a significant effect on faculty motivation except institutional orientation. Hence, H2 is accepted indicating the FDP has a significant effect on faculty motivation. Further impact of faculty motivation on faculty performance (Table 8) found significant (F = 1218.719, P = 0.000; t = 34.910, p = .000) and contributed 89.3% (R 2 = 0.893) to faculty performance. The results revealed that the beta value of consumer trust is 0.788 and it has a significant effect on faculty performance. Hence, H3 is accepted indicating the faculty motivation has a significant influence on performance.
The information presented in Table 9(A) and 9(B) indicates the test outcome of Sobel test, Aroian test, and Goodman test that were conducted to evaluate the effect of mediating variable (faculty motivation) of a given independent variable (faculty development programs) on a given dependent variable (faculty performance). Sobel test indicated that p-values are less than 0.05 assuming a twotailed z-test is greater than 1.96 and hence H4 is accepted. It is concluded that faculty motivation mediates the relationship between faculty development programs and faculty performance.

DISCUSSION
Higher educational institution in India is passing through transformation stage. Higher education-  Note: a = raw (unstandardized) regression coefficient for the association between IV and mediator. s a = standard error of a. b = raw coefficient for the association between the mediator and the DV (when the IV is also a predictor of the DV). s b = standard error of b. al institution in India has to keep the global competition into consideration and shoulder the responsibility for the employable workforce. Faculty plays a key role in achieving the larger objective of the institution. Therefore, higher education institution is paying greater attention for training its employee by organizing different short-term and long-term training program. FDP is one of the most important training and development tools. This study has been taken to understand the importance of FDP as perceived by a faculty member, the role of FDP on faculty motivation and faculty performance, and explore whether faculty motivation mediates the relationship between FDP and employee performance. The study showed that members of the faculty have a positive attitude towards FDPs in enhancing their performances.

Figure 1. Proposed model
Looking at the various factors driving faculty in participating in faculty development programs, it is found that competency motives were rated the highest (m = 3.9486, SD = .69486). They believe that faculty development programs have a positive effect on their teaching, enhance their skill, help to control their emotion and strengthen their capacity to perform academic and administrative duties. The finding indicates that FDP enhances the work motivation and in turn helps them in improving their performances, which supports Murphy When comparing the relative importance of various motives of joining FDP, it should be noted that individual competency motives drive them most which leads to a higher level of motivation and strengthening performances.

CONCLUSION
This study aimed at analyzing the mediating role of employee motivation between training and commitment, retention, and performance in higher education institutions in the Indian context. The results show that there was a significant relationship between faculty training and development program and faculty performance. It is also reported that faculty motivation mediates the relationship between faculty training and development program and faculty performance. These results support previous findings. Employee motivation was found to have an impact on employee performance (Moodley & Hove, 2018). These conclusions are meant to emphasize that on the one hand, motivation is the top priority issue the universities have to deal with nowadays. On the other hand, the more acknowledged the contributions of university employees to organizational performance are, the more engaged and involved the employees become. In terms of management practices and styles, performance may be gained beginning with coaching, which is defined as a management style that leverages the emotional intelligence of university employees to identify their potential and utilize the resources available to them. To strengthen faculty motivation, the emphasis must be put on improving faculty recognition and reputation, making work more challenging and exciting, providing better career advancement prospects, and focus more on appropriate salary and compensation benefits for faculty members. Furthermore, to create an inclusive working environment, the faculty training and development program must be prioritized. This will improve their knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes, allowing them to serve better their students and society. Organizations should identify what truly motivates employees and take the necessary steps to guarantee that employees are consistently motivated at work.