Employee Commitment

Definition

Employee Commitment is the psychological attachment and the resulting

loyalty of an employee to an organization.

According to Kanter ('68) there are 3 types of EC:

1. Continuance,
2. Cohesion
3. Control Commitment.

According to Meyer and Allen (1991) there are 3 mindsets for an employee to be
committed to an organization:

1. Affective Commitment: positive feelings of identification with, attachment

to, and involvement in the organization.
2. Normative Commitment: feelings of obligation to remain with the
organization resulting from values and beliefs.
3. Continuance Commitment: the result of the perceived cost associated with
leaving.

Employee Commitment
https://www.effectory.com/thought-leadership/knowledge-center/what-is-employee-commitment/

Employee commitment can take different forms. As a result it is often seen as

an HR variable which is difficult to define. The context, direction and
development of commitment, as well as the extent to which commitment
influences behaviour can result in confusion and debate. Here are some
definitions of commitment in different contexts1:

Connection to a goal: being bound to a goal or the determination in

respect of a goal, regardless of the origin of the goal.2 Believing in a goal
and wanting to achieve it also reflects a certain degree of commitment.

Connection to an organization: a psychological state that binds an

individual to the organisation.3 As a result employees are more loyal to an
organization and less likely to leave it.

Connection to a job: the probability that someone continues to work in

that job and feels psychologically bound to it. This is regardless of
whether it is fulfilling or not.4

Someone's attitude towards their work.5

All these definitions essentially have the same meaning, namely that
commitment is a stabilising or binding force (mind-set), which directs
behaviour.6 In order to show how commitment can contribute to improving

performance, we use the commitment of your employees towards your

organisation. In other words, the bond with your organisation. When working
with multinational organisations, we use the following general definition:

Commitment is the bond employees experience with their organisation.

Broadly speaking, employees who are committed to their organisation
generally feel a connection with their organisation, feel that they fit in
and, feel they understand the goals of the organisation. The added value
of such employees is that they tend to be more determined in their work,
show relatively high productivity and are more proactive in offering their
support.
The difference between engagement and commitment
At Effectory International, were often asked to explain the difference between
employee engagement and commitment. Engagement is an intrinsic attitude
that denotes an employees enthusiasm for his or her job. Commitment, on the
other hand, denotes an employees enthusiasm for the company he or she
works for. In short:
Engaged employees are engaged in their work, but not committed to the
organization.
Committed employees are committed to the organization, but not engaged
in their work.

Types of Employee Commitment

The description above is a very good indicator of employee commitment, but
does only offer a broad description. In their article Three component model of
commitment John Meyer and Natalie Allen 8 discuss commitment in great

detail. We can see from their insightful research that there exists three distinct
types of employee commitment:

Affective commitment
Affective commitment relates to how much employees want to stay at their
organisation. If an employee is affectively committed to their organisation, it
means that they want to stay at their organisation. They typically identify with
the organisational goals, feel that they fit into the organisation and are satisfied
with their work. Employees who are affectively committed feel valued, act as
ambassadors for their organisation and are generally great assets for
organisations.

Normative commitment
Normative commitment relates to how much employees feel they should stay at
their organisation. Employees that are normatively committed generally feel
that they should stay at their organisations. Normatively committed employees
feel that leaving their organisation would have disastrous consequences, and
feel a sense of guilt about the possibility of leaving.
Reasons for such guilt vary, but are often concerned with employees feeling
that in leaving the organisation they would create a void in knowledge/skills,
which would subsequently increase the pressure on their colleagues. Such
feelings can, and do, negatively influence the performance of employees
working in organisations.

Continuance commitment
Continuance commitment relates to how much employees feel the need to stay
at their organisation. In employees that are continuance committed, the
underlying reason for their commitment lies in their need to stay with the
organisation. Possible reasons for needing to stay with organisations vary, but
the main reasons relate to a lack of work alternatives, and remuneration.
A good example of continuance commitment is when employees feel the need to
stay with their organisation because their salary and fringe benefits wont
improve if they move to another organisation. Such examples can become an
issue for organisations as employees that are continuance committed may
become dissatisfied (and disengaged) with their work and yet, are unwilling to
leave the organisation.

As the American author Henry David Thoreau advised more than 150 years
ago: Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for the
love of it.

The Importance of Commitment

In recent years commitment has garnered a lot of attention in HR
literature. Information about employee commitment is seen as an important
predictor of employee loyalty and the performance of an organisation.
The pressure on organisations to perform is increasing all the time. Due
to globalisation, among others, competition is fiercer than ever. This increased

pressure has resulted in the commitment of employers towards employees

becoming less of a given. The concept of lifetime employment has also become
outdated. These days, organisational units that perform badly are reorganised.
As a rule this leads to job cuts. In addition, employees who perform badly are
more likely to be let go.
As a result of this phenomenon, combined with people's greatly increased
individualism, employee commitment to the organisation has also become
much less of a given. This makes it even more important that employees feel
bound to the organisation and display certain (positive) behaviour.
Committed employees bring added value to the organisation, including
through their determination, proactive support, relatively high productivity and
an awareness of quality. They are also less likely to call in sick or to leave the
organisation.9 Non-committed employees can work against the organisation and
hold back the organisation's success.

References:
1.
Meyer, J.P. and Herscovitch, L. (2001) Commitment in the Workplace: Toward a General
Model. Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 11, 299-326

2.
3.

4.

5.
6.

7.
8.

9.

Locke, et al (1988) The Determinants of Goal Commitment. Academy of Management

Review, Vol. 13, 23-39
Allen, N.J. and Meyer, J.P. (1990) The Measurement and Antecedents of Affective,
Continuance and Normative Commitment to the Organization. Journal of Occupational
Psychology, Vol. 63, 1-18
Rusbult, C.E. and Farrell, D. (1983) A Longitudinal Test of the Investment Model: the
Impact of Job Satisfaction, Job Commitment and Turnover Variations in Rewards, Costs,
Alternatives and Investments. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 69, 429-438
Blau, G.J. (1985) The Measurement and Prediction of Career Commitment. Journal of
Occupational Psychology, Vol. 58, 277-288
Meyer, J.P., Vandenberghe, C. and Becker, T.E. (2004) Employee Commitment and
Motivation: A Conceptual Analysis and Integrative Model. Journal of Applied Psychology,
Vol. 89, 991-1007
Meyer, J.P. and Herscovitch, L. (2001) Commitment in the Workplace: Toward a General
Model. Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 11, 299-326
Allen, N.J. and Meyer, J.P. (1990) The Measurement and Antecedents of Affective,
Continuance and Normative Commitment to the Organization. Journal of Occupational
Psychology, Vol. 63, 1-18
Iles, P. et al (1990) HRM Practices and Employee Commitment: Possibilities, Pitfalls and
Paradoxes. British Journal of Management, Vol. 1, 147-157