Strategic Hrm for Managing Multigenerational Academic Workforces in Higher Education

Purpose: To examine how strategic HRM can manage multigenerational academic workforces in higher education and address the gap in tailoring practices to reflect values across Baby Boomers to Gen Z. Design/methodology/approach: Explanatory sequential mixed-methods design with triangulated data from surveys and in-depth interviews (n > 300) across multiple universities.The analysis integrates AMO (Ability-Motivation-Opportunity) and life-course perspectives within an SHRM framework, considering governance constraints in HEIs.Findings: Significant generational differences emerge in leadership preferences, career development priorities, and work-life balance needs.Uniform HR practices are insufficient to sustain engagement and retention; an integrative, generationally informed SHRM framework better aligns individual needs with institutional goals, fostering higher perceived organizational support and commitment.Practical implications: Universities should implement cohort-responsive HR policies-such as differentiated development pathways, flexible performance management, and adaptable work-life arrangements-within existing governance structures to enhance engagement, productivity, and retention.Originality/value: Provides a theoretically grounded, methodologically robust framework for generationally informed SHRM in higher education, offering actionable guidance for policy and practice and a blueprint for future empirical testing..