A Study on the Incentive Mechanism for Highly Educated Employees in Enterprises from the Perspective of Psychological Contract Theory

In the vigorous development process of China's knowledge - based economy, highly educated employees, with their knowledge, skills, information, and technology, have become the core force in corporate value creation. For modern enterprise management, they are already crucial strategic resources for building corporate competitive advantages. In view of this, in the new economic situation of the 21st century, how to effectively motivate highly educated employees, fully stimulate their work initiative and enthusiasm, maximize their creativity, and enhance corporate competitiveness has become a vital issue. This paper first analyzes the unique nature of the psychological contract of highly educated employees based on the psychological contract theory and under the guidance of the equity theory, incentive theory, etc. Subsequently, the psychological contract of highly educated employees is accurately divided into three dimensions: transactional, relational, and developmental. Finally, starting from these three dimensions, corresponding incentive mechanisms are constructed respectively, aiming to provide comprehensive and in - depth theoretical support and practical guidance for enterprises to effectively motivate highly educated employees.