Kabarak j. res. innov. 3 No. 1, 65-73 (2015) Kabarak Journal of Research & Innovation Volume 3 Number 1 (2015) ISSN 2305-784X (print) ISSN 2410-8383 (online) http://eserver.kabarak.ac.ke/ojs/ The Role of Staff Counseling in Promoting Work Engagement and Productivity: A Case of Kabarak University Kay James  & Tumwet Emily Kabarak University Submitted: 31 st July 2014; Accepted: 20 th April 2015; Published online: 24 th April 2015 Abstract Significant shifts in the global economy have accelerated the need for organizations to find innovative ways to address new technological, demographic and marketplace realities. These shifts have also forced institutions of higher learning in Kenya to reevaluate costs associated with talent, necessitating a need to maximize productivity with minimal work force. Employees of any institution are expected to be proactive, show initiative, take responsibility for their own professional development and to be committed to high quality performance standards. These expectations place high job demands on the staff and in so doing predispose them to burnout. However, there is no comprehensive staff counseling programs aimed at helping the human resource develop their positive psychological capital that would inoculate them from psychological indisposition and thus boost work engagement for higher output. This paper explores the role of counseling in promoting work engagement and increasing productivity at Kabarak University. The article theorizes that engagement, conceptualized as the investment of an individual’s complete self into a role, is a significant factor in job wellness and correlates positively with counseling. Mixed methods research was used to conduct the study. Secondary data was augmented with the participant observation data collection procedure. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis was done using SPSS 22. It was established that at Kabarak University, work engagement is a human resource concern that can be strengthened by staff counseling programs. The job specification for the professional counselors within the university precluded their active involvement with psychological welfare of staff. HRD researchers seeking to conduct original research in universities, and practitioners interested in creating greater levels of engagement in their organizations will find the discussion and implications sections valuable. Key words: staff counseling, productivity, engagement, attrition Introduction In recent decades, it has been postulated that the productivity of an organization depends on lower level of employees’ burnout and stress at workplace (Al-Kahtani, 2013). The human resource capital can be the biggest asset as well as its biggest liability in any institution of higher learning (Das, Narendra, & Mishra, 2013). In the present era that is full of competition and demand for quality, the one thing that creates sustainable competitive advantage of our universities is the workforce, the people who are the institution. Investment in human resources development could be viewed as the only exclusive factor that makes an institution more successful than another. Das et al. (2013) argue that although better products, services, strategies, technologies or, perhaps, a better cost structure contribute to superior performance, all of them can be copied over time. When it comes to people, research has shown, time and again, that work engagement drives employees to significantly outperform work groups that are not engaged. Organizations need to attain competitive advantage over others, which is possible not simply through number of workforce but talented and engaged workforce. In the fight for competitive advantage in Kenya academic institutions, an engaged human resource are the ultimate goal.  Corresponding author: kaykaytar@gmail.com