A belief in the positive value of commitment has been confidently expressed by
Walton (1985b): ‘Underlying all these (human resource) policies is a management philosophy, often embedded in a published statement, that acknowledges the legitimate
claims of a company’s multiple stakeholders – owners, employees, customers
and the public. At the centre of this philosophy is a belief that eliciting employee
commitment will lead to enhanced performance. The evidence shows this belief to be
well founded.’ However, a review by Guest (1991) of the mainly North American
literature, reinforced by the limited UK research available, led him to the conclusion
that ‘High organizational commitment is associated with lower labour turnover and
absence, but there is no clear link to performance.’
It is probably wise not to expect too much from commitment as a means of making a direct and immediate impact on performance. It is not the same as motivation. Commitment is a wider concept, and tends to be more stable over a period of time and less responsive to transitory aspects of an employee’s job, hence the importance of the concept of job engagement, which is immediate. It is possible to be dissatisfied with a particular feature of a job while retaining a reasonably high level of commitment to the organization as a whole.
In relating commitment to motivation it is useful to distinguish, as do Buchanan and Huczynski (1985), three perspectives:
● The goals towards which people aim. From this perspective, goals such as the good of the company, or effective performance at work, may provide a degree of motivation for some employees, who could be regarded as committed in so far as they feel they own the goals.
● The process by which goals and objectives at work are selected, which is quite distinct from the way in which commitment arises within individuals.
● The social process of motivating others to perform effectively. From this viewpoint, strategies aimed at increasing motivation also affect commitment. It may be true to say that, where commitment is present, motivation is likely to be strong, particularly if a long term view is taken of effective performance.
It is reasonable to believe that strong commitment to work is likely to result in conscientious and self-directed application to do the job, regular attendance, nominal supervision and a high level of effort. Commitment to the organization will certainly be related to the intention to stay – in other words, loyalty to the company.
It is probably wise not to expect too much from commitment as a means of making a direct and immediate impact on performance. It is not the same as motivation. Commitment is a wider concept, and tends to be more stable over a period of time and less responsive to transitory aspects of an employee’s job, hence the importance of the concept of job engagement, which is immediate. It is possible to be dissatisfied with a particular feature of a job while retaining a reasonably high level of commitment to the organization as a whole.
In relating commitment to motivation it is useful to distinguish, as do Buchanan and Huczynski (1985), three perspectives:
● The goals towards which people aim. From this perspective, goals such as the good of the company, or effective performance at work, may provide a degree of motivation for some employees, who could be regarded as committed in so far as they feel they own the goals.
● The process by which goals and objectives at work are selected, which is quite distinct from the way in which commitment arises within individuals.
● The social process of motivating others to perform effectively. From this viewpoint, strategies aimed at increasing motivation also affect commitment. It may be true to say that, where commitment is present, motivation is likely to be strong, particularly if a long term view is taken of effective performance.
It is reasonable to believe that strong commitment to work is likely to result in conscientious and self-directed application to do the job, regular attendance, nominal supervision and a high level of effort. Commitment to the organization will certainly be related to the intention to stay – in other words, loyalty to the company.
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