Internal Marketing Efforts on Employee Satisfaction, Performance, and Retention in the Higher Education Sector. A Case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Universities rely on the commitment and capability of their employees to deliver teaching, research, and student support, yet institutions in developing countries often struggle to keep their staff satisfied and in post. This study examines how internal marketing efforts, carried out through human resource management (HRM) practices such as training, communication, empowerment, rewards, leadership support, and recognition, relate to employee satisfaction, performance, and retention in the higher education sector. The research focuses on the three women universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, which together employ 671 staff. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design is adopted. Institutions are selected purposively, and respondents within each institution are drawn through proportional probability sampling, giving a target sample of 245 teaching, administrative, and support employees. Data are to be collected with a structured five-point Likert questionnaire that was pilot tested before the main survey. The article develops a conceptual framework in which HRM practices function as internal marketing tools that shape satisfaction, performance, and retention, states five testable hypotheses, and sets out the analytical plan. The study is expected to give university administrators an evidence-based view of which staff-oriented practices merit investment, and to extend internal marketing research to a context that has received little attention. Keywords: internal marketing, human resource management, employee satisfaction, employee performance, employee retention, higher education, Pakistan
Source: Perspectives in Social Sciences
Authors: Saima Rahman, Ghazala Yasmeen
Institutions: University of Peshawar, Women University Swabi
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225436660