Maritime instructors' competence, retention, and attrition: Basis for strategic human resource development plan

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between the level of competence, employee retention, and attrition among 124 maritime instructors who have taught at selected maritime higher education institutions in Region IV-A with accredited maritime programs by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation in the last five years.The adapted questionnaire underwent a reliability test to establish its usefulness. Data were collected through purposive sampling and analyzed using SPSS software with a descriptive research design and correlation analysis as part of a quantitative research method. The research confirmed that the level of competency of maritime instructors was very good in terms of subject knowledge/technical skills, communication skills, pedagogical skills, and soft skills. Most of maritime instructors had very good soft skills. Respondents agreed that work environment, work motivation, and training and development were factors that kept them from leaving, with training and development being the most important factors leading to retention. They disagreed on the factors leading to attrition, such as salary, organizational climate, growth, and responsibilities, and thought that organizational climate was the least important factor for them to leave. There was a significant relationship between competency level and employee retention between subject knowledge/technical skills and the work environment, as well as between communication skills and the work environment. In terms of the correlation between competency level and employee attrition, it was found that there was a statistically significant relationship between subject knowledge/technical skills and salary, as well as between pedagogical skills and growth and responsibilities. Finally, a strategic human resource development plan was developed to further enhance the human resource process of maritime higher education institutions.