Assessment framework for workforce agility in higher education institutions

Abstract

PurposeThe higher education sector has been lately facing new challenges. The ease and speed with which the workforce adapts to these changes determine their agility level. This study attempts to develop a conceptual model to measure workforce agility in higher education.Design/methodology/approachAn extensive literature review revealed limited research on workforce agility assessment. This study addresses the research gap by developing a workforce agility assessment framework and testing the model in a higher education institution (HEI). The study applied the fuzzy logic method for the assessment.FindingsThe computed value of the fuzzy-workforce agility index (3.72, 5.27, 6.86) indicates that the HEI chosen for the assessment is Agile. The fuzzy performance importance index helped identify the six-weak attributes that require immediate attention and improvement.Practical implicationsThe proposed framework would help the institution's management understand the current agility level of their workforce and take corrective actions to improve the identified weak attributes.Originality/valueThe study has contributed to the literature of workforce agility assessment by creating a conceptual model for evaluating workforce agility in higher education. This model can be applied to any HEI.

Nexus between Workforce Agility and Employee Loyalty - An IT Sector Perspective

“…Further, the current study out comes matches with (6) which also concludes that if managers intend to develop a sustainable and competitive business, they should adopt practices to increase their agility. The present research outcome match with (7) which also indicates the positive relationship between workforce agility and innovative performance. As suggested, new model to different workforce agility measures has been developed.…”

“…As WFA increases the market share, IT firms needs to be upgraded for meeting the revised client requirements periodically which needs to be studied in detail. Thus, study of employee empowerment, decision-making agility and knowledge management is very important for IT organizations (7) . The steps to be initiated to make the workforce agile needs to be focused for detail (8) .…”

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“…Higher education institutions, like other organisations, operate in an extremely uncertain, dynamically changing environment. In order for them to compete successfully not only in the local but also in the global education market, they must be ready to adapt and redesign their processes quickly, which characterises so-called organisational agility (Menon, Suresh, 2022;Kerrum et al, 2020;Shewchuk, 1998). In the literature, in the context of responding to change, one can find, in addition to the term 'agile organisations', other synonyms such as 'flexible organisations' or 'adaptive organisations' (Sherehiy, 2007;Loiro et al, 2019).…”