Motivation and Retention Factors in Research Administration | Part 1: Literature Review and Focus on Topic Exploration
The Spotlight starts the new year with a three-part series focusing on employee motivation and retention challenges in research administration. Part 1 discusses the current body of literature on this topic. A recent research study that examined factors prompting research administrators to remain with or leave their current institutions is also highlighted.
Employee motivation and retention is an ongoing topic in business administration as in many other industries, as companies seek to understand methods for retaining personnel. Research Administration, although a new field compared to stalwarts such as banking or commercial services, is also plagued by understaffing and turnover. While employee motivation and retention have been studied extensively in other fields, little research has been conducted to examine these areas in Research Administration.
Scott et al. note that “effective retention strategies can decrease the significant financial and nonfinancial burdens associated with employee turnover” (2021), while Tera and Weddle found that positively addressing an employee’s psychological well-being at work tends to increase retention (2022). While higher pay is a significant motivator for retention, Tera and Weddle posit that unmet psychological well-being decreases the motivation for employees to stay, particularly for lower-earning employees.
In order to effectively gather data on this topic, a public-facing survey was created through Redcap, a comprehensive data collecting web-based application that allows the user to create multiple choice and open answer questions. The questions were crafted by exploring common motivation and retention strategies from published literature. Interestingly, much of the literature published before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 showed different motivational factors than the more recent literature published in the post-pandemic era. Therefore, an optional question was appended to the survey to determine the impact of the recent pandemic on the respondents’ motivation and preferred retention factors.
In Research Administration, lower pay tends to correlate with newer or less experienced employees. Addressing the psychological well-being for new professionals could be one way of increasing retention. However, it is unclear to what extent this motivator influences the retention of mid-life research administrators when these individuals are drawing higher salaries. Ferrazzi and Clementi observed that during the Great Resignation, the time period in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic when many employees resigned from their jobs en masse, those who left their jobs felt unfulfilled in both a personal and professional capacity. The authors believe that creating individualized retention plans for each employee is one method to retain talent and personnel (2023). They note key foci for these plans: prioritizing purpose, supporting flexibility, and bringing variety and passion to the workday. These beliefs are reinforced by a recent survey by Achmad et al., in which respondents indicated that job satisfaction was a key motivator to remaining at an organization (2023).
While there is an exhaustive amount of available literature that studies and reviews employee motivation and retention, far fewer writings are published specifically on the Research Administration field. This is acknowledged in a singular study by Welch and Brantmeier, published in the Journal of Research Administration. In their 2020 examination of employee retention and motivation trends in Research Administration, Welch and Brantmeier asked survey respondents to list their motivations for remaining at or leaving their current position (2021). The three highest ranked motivations for remaining with respondents’ current employer were: (1) support from supervisors, (2) good work/life balance, and (3) positive relationship with coworkers. Unsurprisingly, motivation for leaving their positions included: (1) no supervisor support, (2) feeling undervalued, (3) lack of career advancement, and (4) inadequate pay/benefits. While these results are in line with similar research, Welch and Brantmeier focused on the respondents’ length of time in their current positions rather than the total length of time worked in the Research Administration field. Additionally, the authors focused primarily on university research administrators rather than those at a variety of research organizations, which could impact motivation and retention trends.
The application of Welch and Brantmeier’s in-depth analysis of retention and motivation in Research Administration is hampered by the fact that their study was conducted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019 and early 2020. The results, while enlightening, may no longer be helpful as many research administrators and their leaders struggled to learn in the face of a “new normal.” Many of the motivators – particularly those that include face-to-face interaction – were lost when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and many were moved to work-from-home positions (Sharma, 2023). While many personnel are now back in the office, new motivators such as the ability to work remotely, a renewed focus on mental health, and a reduction in expenses for commuting and childcare have emerged (Sharma, 2023). Indeed, as Sharma’s study revealed, many RAs showed a desire to continue to work from home or to utilize a hybrid work schedule. Just as COVID-19 changed the work landscape, so it may have changed research administrators’ personal motivating factors for retention.
Back to the Redcap Survey – after the questions were finalized and the survey was published, a message was posted through two of the larger communications methods for Research Administrators – the Research Administration Listserv (RESADM-L) and the Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI)’s CONNECT forum. The survey was opened on 18 September 2023 and the invitation to participate was posted to CONNECT and RESADM-L on the same day. Initially, the intent was to keep the survey open through 6 October 2023 or until 200 responses were received. However, the survey was unexpectedly popular, achieving a 200-count response rate within four days. Thus, the survey remained open until the original deadline to obtain additional data points for analysis. By the time the deadline passed, the final count totaled 316 responses. Further analysis will be discussed in part three of this series.
Next Month: What motivating factors cause Research Administrators to remain with or leave their current institutions?
Achmad, K., Noermijati, Rofiaty, & Irawanto, D. (2023) Job Satisfaction and Employee Engagement as Mediators of the Relationship Between Talent Development and Intention to Stay in Generation Z Workers. International Journal of Professional Business Review. Vol. 8, Nº. 1.
Ferrazzi, K., & Clementi, M. (2022, June 22) The Great Resignation Stems from a Great Exploration. Harvard Business Review. Accessed 13 September 2023 from https://hbr.org/2022/06/the-great-resignation-stems-from-a-great-exploration
Scott, J., Stephen Waite, S., and Reede, D. (2021) Voluntary Employee Turnover: A Literature Review and Evidence-Based, User-Centered Strategies to Improve Retention. Journal of the American College of Radiology. Volume 18, Issue 3, Part A., Pages 442-450.
Sharma, A. (2023, March 20) Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Research Administration in Canada. Journal of Research Administration. Volume LIV, No 1. P 94-127.
Tera, A., and Weddle, B. (2022, July 14). This is what drives job satisfaction. World Economic Forum. McKinsey and Company. Accessed from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/psychological-needs-mental-health-wellbeing-workplace/
Welch, L. and Brantmeier, N. (2021, November 22) Examining Employee Retention and Motivation Trends in Research Administration. Journal of Research Administration. Volume LII, No 2. P 70-86.
Authored by Meaghan Ventura, MS, CRA, Senior Sponsored Projects Officer
Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
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