Employee Performance, Service Quality and Satisfaction in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Rapid changes and developments in the world affect service-based as well as product-based organisations. Higher education institutions, which can be considered service-based organisations, play a crucial role in developing countries by training qualified human resources. To compete in the international arena, higher education institutions should prioritize the services of units that contribute significantly to the development of R&D infrastructure. As such, this study aims to examine the effect of employee performance on service quality and satisfaction in the coordination unit of scientific research projects in a higher education institution. It also aims to investigate whether service quality has a mediating effect between employee performance and satisfaction. The questionnaire method was used in the study and 281 participants responded to the questionnaire. The findings of the study show that employee performance affects satisfaction in a weak and statistically insignificant way, while it affects service quality in a strong and statistically significant way. While service quality has a strong and statistically significant effect on satisfaction, it was also found to have a mediating effect between employee performance and satisfaction. The insignificant impact of employee performance on satisfaction revealed in this study indicates that managers should not ignore the need for competent and sufficient human resources to ensure a high level of satisfaction.