International Journal of Management Studies ISSN(Print) 2249-0302 ISSN (Online)2231-2528 http://www.researchersworld.com/ijms/ Vol.–V, Special Issue - 3, August 2018 [97] DOI : 10.18843/ijms/v5iS3/12 DOIURL :http://dx.doi.org/10.18843/ijms/v5iS3/12 A Study on Employee Retention in Higher Education with Special Reference to Thanjavur District Dr. M. Lakshmi Bala, Head of the Business Administration, Kunthavai Naachiyaar Government College for Women, Thanjavur, India. Mrs. V.R. Jayavardhini, Research Scholar, PG and Research Department of Business Administration, Rajah Serfoji Govt. College (Autonomous), Thanjavur, India. ABSTRACT Faculty preservation and employee earnings are most important anxiety for higher education institutions since they are behind extremely qualified staff to the private sector and to other higher education institutions that are talented to offer better rewards and remuneration. The turnover of talented staff is, therefore, a major concern for the institution under investigation. The retention and voluntary turnover assessments among a workforce of 4651 employees were thus inspected. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted by means of the objective analysis of managerial data in arrangement with the structured questionnaire managerial climate investigation. explanatory and inferential information was used to investigate the data across socio - demographic groups, including gender, age, educational qualification employment category (Academic as well as professional and support), etc. The study discusses the reasons why a particular sector faces more attrition as compared to another. The research has been conducted in the academic organizations such as the universities and colleges of Thanjavur district region as per the objectives of the research. Keywords: Work environment, Career advancement, Organizational stress, Job security, Job satisfaction. INTRODUCTION: Education is a sector associated with continuous knowledge up gradation, learning, and development and at the same time delivering the best performance. There has always been an argument with respect to the most preferred work destination; between the government universities/institutes and the private universities or institutes. While there hold some pros and cons associated with working in private and the government academic organization; both have been attracting potential employees at their end. While some consider the private organization to be best for frequent opportunities to change from one organization to another, some believe government organizations to be the best platform for work and easy work-life balance. The research has made efforts to bring forward the difference in the two sectors associated with the academics. The research paper covers primarily the faculty members from private and the government professional institutes/universities of Thanjavur district that hosts some of the most reputed educational institutions of National and International majesty. REVIEW of LITERATURE: The review of the literature reveals that retention is essential to sustain business operations, but it can be very well proved as a competitive advantage for an organization in the long run. Bogdanowicz & Bailey (2002) states that in today's economic conditions, intellectual capital and knowledge management are significant indicators of