Managing Academic Personnel Flow at Universities

Universities experience increasing difficulty in staffing their academic positions. Attracting and retaining highly qualified employees is a general problem that has received much attention in recent HRM literature. But several authors have claimed that the academic career has lost much of its attractiveness. This paper presents seven levers that universities may use to enhance their recruitment and retention power on a difficult job market. Suggestions are made based on experiencefrom innovative organisations, both universities and business organisations. Special attention is given to the creation of multiple and flexible career paths within academia. We contend that a successful application of these suggestions will require major cultural and institutional change atuniversities.