Faculty perceptions and satisfaction levels with human resource management at the American University of Beirut -

Abstract

Human resource management plays a critical role in every organization. This study aims to assess the importance of human resource management practices in a higher education setting, namely, the American University of Beirut. Many workplace factors are affected by human resource management’s implementation and creation of policies and procedures. This study’s examination of a faculty satisfaction survey provided key insights into the areas where human resource management efforts are having beneficial results and identified which areas can be improved with relation to workplace-compensation satisfaction alongside career-related stress factors such as work-family conflict and gender equality. The purpose of this study is to illuminate the areas of human resource management within the American University of Beirut which are generating goodwill and satisfaction among faculty members and which policies and-or procedures are hindering overall satisfaction levels. The results generally indicate that the American University of Beirut’s human resource management efforts are functioning well compared to other similar universities (comparison groups surveyed). Ultimately, the areas in which the American University of Beirut human resource management efforts could improve would be in relation to diversity training (with a focus on gender equality) a reevaluation of the compensation packages currently being offered, as well as an assessment of how personal time for each faculty member is determined and provided. As long as human resources is viewed as an external and faceless department operating alongside the university, faculty members will likely continue to view this administrative function with distrust and apprehension. The measures for improvement proposed above should attempt to serve as a preliminary step toward the enhancement and further integration of human resource management within the university, and hopefully, toward improved and sustained faculty satisfaction with the human resource manage