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EXAMINE WAYS IN WHICH ORGANIZATIONS CAN SEEK TO CREATE ANDSUSTAIN A HIGH LEVEL OF COMMITMENT AND ENGAGEMENT WITHIN

THEIR WOKFORCE

INTRODUCTION

Employees who are engaged in their work and committed to their organizations givecompanies crucial competitive advantages including higher productivity and lower employeeturnover. Thus, it is not surprising that organizations of all sizes and types have investedsubstantially in policies and practices that foster engagement and commitment in their workforces.

The effective functioning of an organization highly depends on the commitment of itsemployees. In fact, the commitment of employees may be a key factor that determines thesuccess of a company in the modern world since, in the situation of the growing competitionand the constant implementation of new technologies a company needs to have well-qualifiedand reliable personnel to maintain its position in the market. At the same time, the

effectiveness and productivity of work of employees still remain the major factors that cancontribute to the progress of the company. On the other hand, nowadays it is obvious thatfinancial stimuli solely can hardly motivate employees to work more effectively and

productively. In such a situation, employees commitment turns to be of a paramountimportance since it is due to the high commitment of employees they can perform positiveresults of their work, increase its effectiveness and productivity, while low commitmentleads, as a rule, to poor results of the functioning of the entire organization.

Current research concerning employee commitment and engagement highlights the pitfalls of viewing commitment and engagement as a one-dimensional construct that can be enhanced

by a particular human resource policy. This assumes that a particular practice, for example

offering flexible working arrangements or more training, will have a significant and beneficial effect on employee commitment and engagement. Unfortunately, in practice it isnot that simple because there is no single solution. All employees’ wants and needs cannot beaddressed by a single policy.

Origins of Employee Engagement and CommitmentEmployee Engagement is the extent to which workforce commitment, both emotional andintellectual, exists relative to accomplishing the work, mission, and vision of theorganization. Engagement can be seen as a heightened level of ownership where eachemployee wants to do whatever they can for the benefit of their internal and externalcustomers, and for the success of the organization as a whole.

Employee engagement was described in the academic literature by Schmidt et al. (1993). Amodernized version of job satisfaction, Schmidt et al.'s influential definition of engagementwas "an employee's involvement with, commitment to, and satisfaction with work." Thisintegrates the classic constructs of job satisfaction (Smith et al., 1969), and organizationalcommitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991). Harter and Schmidt's (2003) most recent meta-analysiscan be useful for understanding the impact of engagement.



Linkage research received significant attention in the business community because of correlations between employee engagement and desirable business outcomes such asretention of talent, customer service, individual performance, team performance, businessunit productivity, and even enterprise-level financial performance. Some of this work has

been published in a diversity context. Directions of causality were discussed by Schneider

and colleagues in 2003.

Employee engagement is derived from studies of morale or a group's willingness toaccomplish organizational objectives which began in the 1920s. The value of morale toorganizations was matured by US Army researchers during WWII to predict unity of effortand attitudinal battle-readiness before combat. In the postwar mass production society thatrequired unity of effort in execution, (group) morale scores were used as predictors of speed,quality and militancy. With the advent of the knowledge worker and emphasis on individualtalent management (stars), a term was needed to describe an individual's emotionalattachment to the organization, fellow associates and the job. Thus the birth of the term"employee engagement" which is an individual emotional phenomenon whereas morale is a

group emotional phenomenon of similar characteristics. In other words, employeeengagement is the raw material of morale composed of 15 attitudinal drivers, (Scarlett,2001).

Engaged employees care about the future of the company and are willing to invest thediscretionary effort. Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organization thatemploys them, (Dilys et. al., 2003).

Emotional attachmentThe following findings were from a research done by Schmidt (1993); the findings showedthat only 31% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs. These employees work with

passion and feel a profound connection to their company. People that are actively engagedhelp move the organization forward. 88% of highly engaged employees believe they can

positively impact quality of their organization's products, compared with only 38% of thedisengaged 72% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively affect customer service, versus 27% of the disengaged 68% of highly engaged employees believe they can

positively impact costs in their job or unit, compared with just 19% of the disengaged.Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organization that employs them. Thisis associated with people demonstrating willingness to recommend the organization to othersand commit time and effort to help the organization succeed. It suggests that people aremotivated by intrinsic factors (personal growth, working to a common purpose, being part of a larger process) rather than simply focusing on extrinsic factors (pay/reward).

InvolvementEileen Appelbaum and her colleagues (2000) studied 15 steel mills, 17 apparelmanufacturers, and 10 electronic instrument and imaging equipment producers. Their

purpose was to compare traditional production systems with flexible high-performance production systems involving teams, training, and incentive pay systems. In all threeindustries, the plants utilizing high-involvement practices showed superior performance. Inaddition, workers in the high-involvement plants showed more positive attitudes, including



trust, organizational commitment and intrinsic enjoyment of the work. The concept hasgained popularity as various studies have demonstrated links with productivity. It is oftenlinked to the notion of employee voice and empowerment.

Commitment

It has been routinely found that employee engagement scores account for as much as half of the variance in customer satisfaction scores. This translates into millions of dollars for companies if they can improve their scores. Studies have statistically demonstrated thatengaged employees are more productive, more profitable, more customer-focused, safer, andless likely to leave their employer.

Employees with the highest level of commitment perform 20% better and are 87% less likelyto leave the organization, which indicates that engagement is linked to organizational

performance. For example, at the beverage company of Molson Coors, it was found thatengaged employees were five times less likely than non-engaged employees to have a safetyincident and seven times less likely to have a lost-time safety incident. In fact, the average

cost of a safety incident for an engaged employee was $63, compared with an average of $392 for a non-engaged employee. Consequently, through strengthening employeeengagement, the company saved $1,721,760 in safety costs in 2002. In addition, savings werefound in sales performance teams through engagement. In 2005, for example, low-engagement teams were seen falling behind engaged teams, with a difference in

performance-related costs of low- versus high-engagement teams totaling $2,104,823.3(Susan de la Vergne, 2005).

ProductivityIn a study of professional service firms, the Hay Group found that offices with engagedemployees were up to 43% more productive. The most striking finding is the almost 52%gaps in operating incomes between companies with highly engaged employees andcompanies whose employees have low-engagement scores. High-engagement companiesimproved 19.2% while low-engagement companies declined 32.7% in operating incomeduring the study period. For example, New Century Financial Corporation, a U.S. specialtymortgage banking company, found that account executives in the wholesale division whowere actively disengaged produced 28% less revenue than their colleagues who wereengaged. Furthermore, those not engaged generated 23% less revenue than their engagedcounterparts. Engaged employees also outperformed the not engaged and actively disengagedemployees in other divisions. It comes as no surprise, then, that engaged employees have

been statistically linked with innovation events and better problem solving.

Generating engagementRecent research has focused on developing a better understanding of how variables such asquality of work relationships and values of the organization interact and their link toimportant work outcomes. 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positivelyimpact the quality of their organization's products, compared with only 31 percent of thedisengaged. From the perspective of the employee, "outcomes" range from strongcommitment to the isolation of oneself from the organization. The study done by the GallupManagement Journal has shown that only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their



jobs. Those "engaged" employees work with passion and feel a strong connection to their company. About ⅔ of the business units scoring above the median on employee engagementalso scored above the median on performance. Moreover, 54% of employees are not engagedmeaning that they go through each workday putting time but no passion into their work. Onlyabout ⅓ of companies below the median on employee engagement scored above the median

on performance, (Dilys et. al., 2003). Access to a reliable model enables organizations toconduct validation studies to establish the relationship of employee engagement to productivity/performance and other measures linked to effectiveness. It is an important principle of industrial and organizational psychology (the application of

psychological theories, research methods, and intervention strategies involving workplaceissues) that validation studies should be anchored in reliable scales (organized and relatedgroups of items) and not simply focus on individual elements in isolation. To understand howhigh levels of employee engagement affect organizational performance/productivity it isimportant to have an a priori model that demonstrates how the scales interact.

There is also overlap between this concept and those relating to well-being at work and the psychological contract. Research by Gallup Consulting has shown a strong correlation between the degree of well-being of an individual and the extent to which they are engagedas am employee - high well-being yields high engagement. A well and engaged employee islikely to have less sick days, lowering the cost of lost productivity to their organization, andcome to work energized and focused. A well and engaged employee is efficient and effectiveand a valuable asset in the workplace. As employee productivity is clearly connected withemployee engagement, creating an environment that encourages employee engagement isconsidered to be essential in the effective management of human capital.

Definitions of TermsEmployee engagement, also called work engagement or worker engagement, is a businessmanagement concept. An "engaged employee" is one who is fully involved in, andenthusiastic about, his or her work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization's interests. According to Scarlett Surveys, "Employee Engagement is ameasurable degree of an employee's positive or negative emotional attachment to their job,colleagues and organization which profoundly influences their willingness to learn &

perform at work". Thus engagement is distinctively different from satisfaction, motivation,culture, climate and opinion and very difficult to measure.

Employee engagement is the extent to which employees think, feel, and act in ways thatrepresent high levels of commitment to their organization. Engaged employees are motivatedto contribute 100% of their knowledge, skills, and abilities to help their organization succeed.They care deeply about their company, want to contribute to its success, and regularly have

peak experiences at work.

CommitmentMeyer & Allen 2001 define commitment as a stabilizing force that acts to maintain

behavioural direction when expectancy/equity conditions are not met and do not function.According to Salancik, (1977) commitment is a state of being in which an individual



becomes bound by his action to beliefs that sustain his activities and his own involvementAllen & Meyer, 1990, commitment is a psychological state that binds the individual to theorganization.

Employee Commitment

It is the psychological bond of an employee to an organization, the strength of which dependson the degree of employee involvement, employee loyalty and belief in the values of theorganization. As defined by Porter (1974) Employee commitment is the relative strength of the individual's identification with and involvement in a particular organization. It consists of three factors: A strong desire to remain a member of the organization; a strong belief in, andacceptance of, the values and goals of the organization and a readiness to exert considerableeffort on behalf of the organization.

Actively disengaged employees are the true problem area of staff chemistry and company performance. Not only unhappy at work, they typically demonstrate, in word and deed, their dislike of their jobs and/or employer. They often undermine the performance of the engaged

employees by voicing their displeasure and the many reasons behind it. This negative attitudecan often cause operational and performance issues with the rest of their co-workers. Thecliché, "one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch," was never more true than when activelydisengaged employees are allowed to voice their unhappiness to all those willing to listen.

For many employees, at least for many of those in unhealthy workplaces, this feeling might be familiar. There are numerous workplaces in which employee relations are oftencharacterized by utter indifference or, worse, jealousy, mistrust, and outright animosity

Negative workplace relationships may be a big part of why so many American employees arenot engaged with their jobs. The Gallup Management Journal's semi-annual EmployeeEngagement Index puts the current percentage of truly "engaged" employees at 29%. A slimmajority, 54%, falls into the "not engaged" category, while 17% of employees are "activelydisengaged." (See Figure 1.1: The Three Types of Employees). Are negative workplacerelationships a big problem?



Figure 1.4: Engagement for Results

When the concept first emerged, there was apprehension among HR professionals, linemanagers and researchers over the connection between the levels of engagement of anemployee and the quality of their work. The notion is no longer shrouded in mystery but nowa fact. Says Tsukudu, "We know that employee engagement is a step-up to employeecommitment, therefore, we can convincingly conclude that it is employee engagement thatserves as a true differentiator," she explains.

Employee engagement requires a realistic employee value proposition from the HumanResource function in an organisation, because HR's value-add is integrally linked to or influenced by its employee value proposition. BEST Employers™ South Africa researchesthe employer value proposition. Using the HR Benchmark™, the project assesses those areasthat attract and retain talent to and within various organisations i.e. training and developmentopportunities offered by organisations; rewards, recognition and incentive programmes for high achievers; mentorship, coaching and promotion opportunity as well as diversity,innovation and knowledge sharing. "Employee value proposition is defined as the holisticsum of everything people experience and receive while they are part of an organisation,"explains Tsukudu.



Human Resources' value-add will certainly be judged by how it builds and maintainsemployee engagement and commitment, and how it positions itself as a key driver in this

process. It is therefore, the role of HR to understand and determine what drives thisengagement. The exercise of being researched by the HR best practice research survey: TheHR Benchmark™ is a good way for companies to assess their employer value proposition

relative to the general market, and their industry. This in turn allows participating companiesto adjust their HR strategy in line with what is needed to fully engage employees. From this,organisations are accredited with a third-party endorsement of their employer value

proposition. This BEST Employer™ accreditation stamp visibility communicates to talent, both externally and internally, that they are working for an organisation that has their bestinterests at heart indeed a solid step toward boosting engagement and therefore a productiveand profitable return from employees to the organisation.

Factors fostering Employee EngagementWe have been studying employee attitudes since 1972. Based on a careful analysis of nearlyfour decades of survey data, we have found that employees seek three fundamental things

from their work:Achievement : The vast majority of employees want to achieve something important andmeaningful at work. They want to grow and develop their skills and capabilities and theywant to be rewarded and recognized for their efforts.

Camaraderie : We are social beings. Employees enjoy working productively with otherswhile developing healthy interpersonal relationships. How managers interact with their teamsis especially important in motivating employees to go above and beyond.

Equity : Employees want to be treated fairly when it comes to pay and benefits, day-to-daytreatment, and psychological and physical safety.Employer engagement - A company's commitment to improving the partnership betweenemployees and. employer. Employers can stay engaged with their employees by activelyseeking to understand and act on behalf of the expectations and preferences of their employees.

Employee perceptions of job importance - According to a 2006 study by Gerard Seijts andDan Crim, "...an employees attitude toward the job['s importance] and the company had thegreatest impact on loyalty and customer service then all other employee factors combined.

Employee clarity of job expectations - "If expectations are not clear and basic materials andequipment not provided, negative emotions such as boredom or resentment may result, andthe employee may then become focused on surviving more than thinking about how he canhelp the organization succeed.

Career advancement/improvement opportunities - "Plant supervisors and managersindicated that many plant improvements were being made outside the suggestion system,where employees initiated changes in order to reap the bonuses generated by the subsequentcost savings.



Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors - Feedback is the key to giving employees asense of where they’re going, but many organizations are remarkably bad at giving it. "'WhatI really wanted to hear was 'Thanks. You did a good job.' But all my boss did was hand me acheck.

Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and subordinates -...if employees'relationship with their managers is fractured, then no amount of perks will persuade theemployees to perform at top levels. Employee engagement is a direct reflection of howemployees feel about their relationship with the boss.

Perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization - 'Inspiration and values' is themost important of the six drivers in our Engaged Performance model. Inspirational leadershipis the ultimate perk. In its absence, [it] is unlikely to engage employees.

Effective Internal Employee Communications -which convey a clear description of what'sgoing on. If you accept that employees want to be involved in what they are doing then this

trend is clear (from small businesses to large global organisations). The effect of poor internal communications is seen as its most destructive in global organisations which suffer from employee annexation-where the head office in one country is buoyant (since they areclosest to the action, know what is going on, and are heavily engaged) but its annexes (whoare furthest away from the action and know little about what is happening) are dis-engaged.In the worst case, employee annexation can be very destructive when the head officeattributes the annex's low engagement to its poor performance… when its poor performanceis really due to its poor communications.

Reward to engage -Look at employee benefits and acknowledge the role of incentives. Anincentive to reward good work is a tried and test way of boosting staff morale and enhancingengagement. There are a range of tactics you can employ to ensure your incentive schemehits the mark with your workforce such as: Setting realistic targets, selecting the rightrewards for your incentive programme, communicating the scheme effectively andfrequently, have lots of winners and reward all achievers, encouraging sustained effort,

present awards publicly and evaluate the incentive scheme regularly.

Increasing Engagement Starts with Your ManagersSome organizations attempt to increase engagement by buying it. That is, they offer aboveindustry standard compensation and benefits, share options, child care facilities amongothers. These things can increase engagement to some degree, but it is the relationship theemployee has with their immediate manager that matters most.

Do your managers, at all levels, have the emotional intelligence to understand the impactthey are having on employee engagement?

Almost everyone starts out as an engaged employee. When they turn up to your organizationon day one they are excited about getting the job and want to make a contribution. Whatmanagers do from that day onward will determine whether the employee continues to beengaged or switches off and becomes not engaged or actively disengaged.



Many organizations make the mistake of attempting to increase emotional intelligence andleadership skills with some form of event training . A two, three or even five day training

program on its own will not produce behavior change, except in the case of those rareindividuals who have the self-discipline to work on what they have learned until it becomes a

habit.

In the best-selling book Primal Leadership , authors Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis andAnnie McKee explain why most management and leadership development fails to result in

behavior change:“... although we've sometimes referred to leadership development "programs" in these

pages, in fact what many organizations need aren't just one-time programs but a processbuilt as a holistic system that permeates every layer of the organization. The best of theseleadership development initiatives are based on an understanding that true change occursthrough a multifaceted process that penetrates the three pivotal levels of the organization:the individuals in the organization, the teams in which they work, and the organization's

culture.”And since it is primarily the manager’s behavior that creates the culture that employees work in, the goal of leadership development should be a measurable change in culture andemployee engagement.

Achieving high levels of employee engagement across the entire organization not only can bedone, it is being done... hopefully, not by one of your competitors. You have the opportunityto set yourself apart from the competition, but you can’t do it without a serious commitmentto creating a culture that sustains the high level of engagement your employees start out with.

Employee Engagement: A catalyst for changeInternational research undertaken by Gallup, the pioneers of this concept, revealed thatemployee engagement can be a catalyst for change and transformation. This is in large partdue to its link to business outcomes such as:RetentionProductivityEffective service delivery or profitabilityCustomer engagement, andSafety orientation

According to international research commissioned by Robinson, Perryman and Hayday(2004), engaged employees generally displayed the following behaviour patterns:Belief in their organisationDesire to work towards making things better Understanding of business context and the bigger pictureRespectful of and helpful to their colleaguesWillingness to go the extra mileKeeping up to date with developments on the ground



Tsukudu explains that because of this positive linkage, it is, therefore, in the best interest of managers and employees to raise the levels of engagement among employees. She says thereare no quick-fix solutions to building and maintaining employee engagement, given that it isa two-way process. According to the Chartered Institute of People Development (CIPD),

employee engagement is not something that can be factored into one's contract, but rather aquality that employees have to offer and are, therefore, at liberty to decide what levels of engagement they render.

Employee engagement strategy:The Times of India published results of a survey in October 2007, which highlighted thatonly one in five global workers felt engaged. This is consistent with research findings whichdepict that only between 17% and 29% of employees in any organisation, are activelyengaged in their work. It is a frightening statistic that poses serious challenges to HR

professionals. This means that barely 250-350 employees out of a workforce of 1000 areactively engaged.

Alluding to the fact that employee engagement is a matter of choice, Tsukudu points out thatit remains in the best interest of managements to work harder in raising this awareness. Shesays employee engagement is not about the employee but about effective leadership andgood management. Critical to this employee engagement strategy are the key engagementdrivers that happen to be specific and particular for any organisation. Each employee isengaged to a greater or lesser extent by a set of key drivers.

These may differ from one organisation to the next and even for different sub-groups in thesame organisation. In this vein, it is incumbent upon managers to see to the following:Determine and understand what drives employee engagement in their organisationIdentify what gets the right things done in a company. Despite the uniqueness of these driversin each company, central features to engagement are the ability to attract the right people andretain them through the following: Capacity and willingness to create an environment whereemployee motivation keeps rising Scope and enough flexibility to respect and listen toemployees and being able to take advantage of their initiatives Building a strong employer

brand which employees will proudly associate with.

Tsukudu says organisations have come to understand that their people are a key differentiator and a source of competitive advantage. But significantly, it is the commitment of staff thatcan transform an organisation into outperforming competitors.

The concept of employee engagement has gained widespread recognition and credibility inmanagement practice in the last few years, according to Phuti Tsukudu, former chairpersonof the South African Post Office and executive director of Tsukudu Associates, amanagement and Human Resources Consultancy based in Cape Town. She says any manager worth their salt will only ignore this function at their own peril,

because employee engagement is not a Human Resource (HR) fad that will lose currency



with the passage of time. Rather it has become a business imperative that is generatingresearch interest, as well as HR and management attention in organisations that truly valueemployees.

When CEOs state at every opportune occasion that employees are their most important

assets, they do not do this as a public relations exercise, but this can always be backed up byhard evidence to that effect," explains Tsukudu. The Institute of Employment Studies (IES)defines employee engagement as "a positive attitude by employees towards an organisationand its values". The engaged employee understands the business context of a company andworks well with colleagues to improve general performance of their organisation.

According to the Gallup Organisation, the success of a company does not depend on theunderstanding of economics, organisational development or marketing. Rather this dependedquite simply on your understanding of psychology, which is how each individual employeeconnects with your company and how they subsequently connected with your customers.

Employee engagement is, therefore, a measurement of emotional and intellectualcommitment to an organisation and this has a direct link to productivity. It is a step-up fromcommitment and overlaps with both commitment and a positive psychological contract

between employer and employee, according to Tsukudu.

Engagement seems to be the buzzword these days, but many worry that despite its vernacular popularity, it’s in short supply. Workplace research, conference agendas and business journals carry a consistent message that engagement is critical for business success, butrecent surveys show that only a fraction of the U.S. workforce is highly engaged Gallupestimates as low as 26 percent; Watson Wyatt, as high as 57 percent. It’s becoming apparentthat knowing how to create and sustain employee engagement is a crucial part of successfultotal rewards strategies.Today’s increased focus on engagement is due in part to the turbulent changes,organizational churn and cost cutting of the last few years. As organizations find they need toask even more of employees than in the past, they worry whether they will be able to keepthe commitment of their top talent and whether employees will indeed be willing to work harder to help the business succeed. Companies have reason to worry. In the wake of toughdecisions that examined every expense to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and investments, few organizations have asked how the current work environmentaffects the commitment of their workers. And even fewer have made plans to leverage andgrow employee engagement.

Employee commitment, or engagement, as it is more recently called, is not just about havingenthusiastic, happy workers. Rather, it refers to a well-defined, research-based cluster of employee attitudes and behaviors that can be measured and has been shown to make adifference to business results. Moreover, engagement is something that organizations either foster or undermine. It is more influenced by management practices and features of the work environment than by employee demographics or personality. So if a company is notintentionally building commitment, chances are it is minimizing it or even crushing it.



The Products of EngagementRecent studies have made it clear that high employee engagement translates into increaseddiscretionary effort, higher productivity and lower turnover at the employee level, as well asincreased customer satisfaction and loyalty, profitability and shareholder value for theorganization. According to a 2004 Hewitt study, companies with the highest employee

engagement levels have a four-year average total shareholder return (TSR) of 20 percent or higher, nearly triple that of companies with lower levels of engagement.

The Great Place to Work Institute found that stocks of the public companies on Fortune’s“100 Best Companies to Work for” list produced more than three times the gains of the broadmarket between 1998 and 2004. And Watson Wyatt found three-year TSR to be three timeshigher for high-commitment firms compared to low-commitment firms (24 percent versus 8

percent). Gallup studies estimate that highly engaged employees account for 90 percent of acompany’s productivity.

By contrast, employers also need to be concerned about the costs of disengagement. Workers

who are actively disengaged tend to be less productive, less loyal to their companies, morestressed, and absent more and less satisfied with their personal lives. Gallup estimates thatthe 19 percent of U.S. workers who are actively disengaged miss 118.3 million moreworkdays than engaged employees. They have 33.3 million more sick days than engagedemployees, and use seven times as much health care as engaged employees.

Taken together, these statistics indicate much room for improvement: either increasing thenumber of highly engaged employees or reducing the number of disengaged employees canhave a huge impact on the business in terms of health-care costs, productivity, retention,customer loyalty and profitability.

How Engagement WorksEngagement is what fuels discretionary efforts and concern for quality. Engaged employeesare highly involved and attached to the organization. They believe they have a stake in theorganization, and that belief is reflected in their behavior. Engagement is what promptsemployees to identify with the success of the company, recommend the company to others asa good place to work, and “go the extra mile” in looking for creative solutions that help theorganization succeed. Given how engaged employees behave (see What Do EngagedEmployees Look Like?), imagine the benefit to your organization if you could increase by

just 5 percent the number of engaged employees.

Causes of High Employee EngagementBased on its studies in many industries and organizations, WFD Consulting developed theCommitment Pyramid to show the hierarchy of factors that are the building blocks of employee engagement within an organization. The bottom of the pyramid is made up of thethreshold factors: factors that have to be in place in order for an organization just to be at thetable as an effective competitor for the best human capital. The second level contains theenablers: the ingredients that begin to set a business apart from the competition and enableemployees to align their activities toward the organization’s objectives. Although these



building blocks are essential to creating an effective workplace, the real competitive payoff for employees and the business is at the top of the pyramid in the commitment drivers. Theseare the factors that encourage the full engagement of employees in the business of theenterprise. It is crucial that an organization address these factors if it is to derive a realcompetitive advantage from its workforce by attracting and keeping the best employees, and

by drawing out their full potential.

The Role of EngagementSignificant shifts in the global economy have accelerated the need for organizations to findinnovative ways to address new technological, demographic and marketplace realities. Theseshifts have also forced companies to reevaluate costs associated with talent, necessitating aneed to do more with less. While new strategies are executed in response to these changes,high workforce performance and organizational success must be maintained. Key to ensuringthis is the introduction of processes that will measure and improve employee engagement.

Research has consistently shown that employee engagement is powerfully linked to a range

of business success factors such as:• Employee performance/efficiency• Productivity• Safety• Attendance and retention• Customer service and satisfaction• Customer loyalty and retention• Profitability

Economic disruptions come and go. The way businesses react to economic cycles often predicts how well they succeed or if they will survive. During turbulent times and uncertainforecasts, many organizations have been less focused on how to manage their talent andengage their employees, instead focusing on how to reduce costs by cutting salaries, bonuses,rewards and development costs. Some shortsighted leaders may even think that employeeengagement no longer matters because their employees have fewer options and will stay

because of their need for job security.

However, smart leaders realize that while they may need to find short-term solutions to cutcosts, they must also identify longer-term talent management strategies to remain viable. Adownward cycle may require leaders to look for immediate solutions to cut costs by reducingtheir workforce, but they may lose sight of the fact that engaged employees will be thedifference between surviving and thriving. In an upturn, when there is the opportunity togrow and prosper, engaged employees are ready to seize the opportunity and put forth theeffort to achieve it. During recovery periods, engagement becomes even more crucial, asorganizations ask fewer people to do more, creating increased risk that top-performingemployees may leave as conditions improve.

Right Management conducted global research to gain a clearer understanding of the factorsmost closely associated with driving employee engagement. Our study of more than 28,800



Source: WFD Consulting, National Study 2002 .

These findings about the relationship of flexibility, work-life supports, commitment andretention are confirmed by other research, such as the 2002 National Study of the ChangingWorkforce, which found that employees who have flexibility are 18 percent more likely to behighly engaged than employees who do not have flexibility. A study conducted at FirstTennessee Bank explicitly linked flexibility, employee engagement and financial

performance. A 0.5 increase in ratings of leaders’ work-life supportiveness led to a 2.08- percent increase in customer loyalty, resulting in $16.3 million more profit over five years.

Summing UpThe evidence is clear that employee commitment/engagement has powerful effects on

business outcomes. Cross industry research conducted over a decade has shown repeatedly

that commitment is not driven primarily by compensation and benefits but by the totalrewards of a supportive and flexible workplace characterized by the commitment drivers atthe apex of the Commitment Pyramid. Employers who are concerned about leveragingemployee commitment will not only offer a competitive benefits and compensation package,

but also will develop a broad engagement strategy that encompasses advancementopportunity, effective managers, job challenge, diversity, flexibility and work-life supports.

Table 1.1: The Power of Job Enrichment

61%

39%

15%

8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Low Med-Low Med-High High

Commitment Level

P e r c e n t a g e w h o e x p e c t t o l e a v e C o m p a n y w i t h i n 2 y e a r s



Commitment PyramidIronically, most companies focus HR efforts on the base of the pyramid, but thedifferentiating aspects of total rewards are actually at the top of the pyramid. Whatdifferentiates the Commitment Pyramid is that it highlights what research has repeatedlyfound but which is often overlooked in other models of commitment: namely that work-lifesupport, flexibility and diversity/inclusion are critical components for building a highlycommitted, engaged workforce, see figure 1.3 below.



Figure 1.3: Commitment Pyramid

Source Author 2011

Creating an Engaged WorkforceEmployee engagement drives improved organizational performance.So how do you create and sustain engagement in your workforce?Our recommendations include:

Measure Engagement LevelsThe only way to gain accurate information about employee engagement in your business is tomeasure it. Organizations need not only to understand their current level of employeeengagement, but also to have confidence that the measures used to evaluate engagement arereliable and valid. The most accurate way to achieve this is through a quantitative surveysupported by qualitative interviews and focus groups. Surveys need to be tailored to your organization, your strategy, your values and your language.

A robust discovery process can be implemented without a significant investment in money,time and resources. However, careful survey design is critical. If you don’t ask the rightquestions, you will never uncover the behaviors and practices your organization needs toaddress in the design of a solution.

Commitment Drivers• Communication• Diversity and Inclusion• Job Satisfaction• Flexibility• Management Effectiveness• Work-Life-Support• Career Advancement

Enablers (Sustainers)• Rewards Tied to contribution• Skills Acquired/Developed• Effective leadership• Good management• Emotional intelligence

Threshold Factors• Reasonable compensation and Benefits• Safe Working conditions/required tools• Human Resource Training and Development• Safety and Health• Employee and labour Relations



Surveys also need to measure performance against each of the key elements of organizationaleffectiveness, such as Strategy, Structure, Roles, Capability, Leadership, People Systems,Culture & Values, Employee Engagement and Customer Satisfaction. A survey also providesthe benefit of comparing demographics by Business Unit, Job Type and Location, whichallows you to target solutions where they are needed. In addition, the survey provides a

benchmark to track and monitor progress against future tracking or pulse surveys.

Determine the Drivers of EngagementEvery organization is characterized by its own unique dynamics, structure and culture. Theanswer to what drives employee engagement will be different for each organization. Everyorganization should undertake research that incorporates robust design and analysis todetermine its drivers or levers of engagement. Uncovering barriers to engagement anddesigning the right solutions only comes from robust interpretative analysis, rather than asole reliance on descriptive data. The lowest performance score is not necessarily the place tostart as it may have a limited or negligible overall influence on organizational effectivenessand engagement. Similarly, the drivers of employee engagement that are unique to your

organization cannot be determined by looking at frequency counts and percentages alone.However, aggregate analysis by country and industry does provide some insight into thethings that typically impact engagement levels.

Our study found that the global drivers of employee engagement are:The study also found that the drivers of engagement do vary by country, with only one driver constant across all countries: Commitment to organizational values. This result highlightstwo things: the importance of creating and building a values-driven organization; and,conducting your own research to determine other unique drivers of engagement for your

business.

Approach to Engagement According to WFDEngagement is a two-way process between employees and an organization. The organizationattempts to engage employees who return a level of engagement to the employer. Research,however, has revealed that engagement is more complex than this, and can be directed byemployees in one of two ways (or both). The first is the level of engagement employees havewith their career or profession, and the other is the engagement employees feel toward their employing organization.

The distinction between these constructs was evident in work conducted by the Institute for Employment Studies. This work showed clearly that many employees, such as health

professionals in the UK National Health Service, had extremely high levels of engagementwith their career and professions, but were very disengaged in many instances from their employer (usually a Hospital Trust). For this reason Right Management’s approach uses atwo-construct model describing both Job Engagement (the level of engagement people hastheir job, career or profession) and Organization Engagement (the level of engagement theyhave to their organization).



Employee Engagement: Maximizing Organizational Performance Our Approach toEngagementEach construct is measured using four components: Pride, Commitment, Satisfaction andAdvocacy. Therefore, an engaged workforce is achieved when there is a high number of employees whose hearts and minds are aligned to both the job that they do and the

organization that they work for.

Engaged employees are :The four components of the model describe the emotional and behavioral aspects of engagement. When people positively evaluate their experience of the job and organization,they are more likely not only to feel satisfied, committed and proud, but also to be advocatesfor the company and engage in behaviors that enhance both job and organizational

performance. To maintain the integrity of this engagement measure, Right Management doesnot calculate engagement using a mean or average. A person is only described as ”engaged”if he or she responds positively to all engagement questions. This ensures that the analysis

provided is able to differentiate between employees who respond to half of the items

negatively and half positively and employees who respond moderately to all items, which canmask the true reality.

For example, when assessing health, you can’t claim that an individual who answered themajority of questions positively (e.g., diet, exercise, and stress) is healthy if he or sheanswered one negatively (e.g., smoking). It is powerful information for business leaders toknow what proportion of their workforce is engaged to both the organization and their jobs,versus what proportion is engaged to just the organization or just their jobs.

If employees are engaged only to their job or profession, then they will not be aligned toorganizational goals and strategy. If employees are engaged to the organization but not their

job, they will be aligned to organizational goals but will find it difficult to do their jobs welland to deliver extra discretionary effort in the work that they do. Driver analysis can beconducted to determine the key drivers of engagement for each employee segment, providinga solution for how an organization engages employees with their jobs and the company.

Models of Commitment: A Three Model Conceptualization of OrganizationCommitment This model of organizational commitment model was developed by Meyer and Allen.According to the model, organizational commitment reflects at least three general themes.

i) Affective commitment to the organizationii) Continuance Commitment–The perceived cost associated with leaving itiii) Normative Commitment- The obligation to remain with it.

Affective CommitmentIt’s the employees’ emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in theorganization. Employees with a strong affective commitment continue employment with theorganization because they ‘ want to’ .



Continuance CommitmentThe individual commits to the organization because he/she perceives high costs of losingorganizational membership including economic costs (such as pension accruals) and socialcosts (friendship ties with co-workers) that could be incurred. The employee remains with theorganization because he/she “has to”.

I t refers to an awareness of the costs associated with leaving the organization. The potentialcost of leaving an organization include the threat of wasting the time and effort spentacquiring non transferable skills, losing attractive benefits, giving up seniority – based

privileges or having to uproot family and disrupt personal relationships. It also develops as aresult of lack of alternative employment opportunities. Employees in this category remain

because they need to .

Normative CommitmentsRefers to a feeling of obligation to continue employment. Employees in this category remainin the organization because they feel they ought to .

Organization can develop normative commitment by providing reward in advance e.g. paying college tuition. Normative pressures may also make an individual feel that they oughtto remain within the organization. Acknowledging these investments makes employees feel asense of obligation to reciprocate by committing themselves to the organization until the debthas been paid.

One important point is that not all forms of employee commitment are positively associatedwith superior performance (Meyer & Allen, 1997). For example, an employee who has lowaffective and normative commitment, but who has high continuance commitment is unlikelyto yield performance benefits. The main reason such an employee remains with anorganisation is for the negative reason that the costs associated with leaving are too great.

The Characteristics of High Commitment ModelHigh commitment model embraces workforce commitment and identification with theorganizations values and goals. The main features of high commitment model are:

1. Development of career ladders and emphasis on trainability and commitment as highlycharacteristic of employees at all levels in the organization.

2. A high level of functional flexibility with the abandonment of potentially rigid jobdescriptions.

3. The reduction of hierarchies and the ending of status differentials.

4. Heavy reliance on the team structure for dissemination of information (team building)structure work and problem solving.

5. Job design as something management consciously does in order to provide jobs whichhave a considerable level of intrinsic motivation.



6. A policy of no compulsory layoff or redundancies and use of permanent employee with possible use of temporary workers to cushion fluctuation in the demand for labour.

7. New forms of assessment and pay system and more specifically merit pay profit sharing

8. A high involvement of employees in the management of quality.

Types of CommitmentO’Malley (2000) contends that a review of the commitment literature produces five generalfactors which relate to the development of employee commitment:

Affiliative Commitment:An organization’s interests and values are compatible with those of the employee, and theemployee feels accepted by the social environment of the organization.

Associative Commitment:Organizational membership increases employees’ self-esteem and status. The employee feels privileged to be associated with the organisation.

Moral Commitment:Employees perceive the organization to be on their side and the organization evokes a senseof mutual obligation in which both the organization and the employee feel a sense of responsibility to each other. This type of commitment is also frequently referred to in theliterature as Normative Commitment.

Affective commitment:Employees derive satisfaction from their work and their colleagues, and their work environment is supportive of that satisfaction. Some researchers (eg Allen & Meyer, 1991)suggest that this is the most important form of commitment as it has the most potential

benefits for organizations. Employees who have high affective commitment are those whowill go beyond the call of duty for the good of the organization. In recent literature this formof commitment has also been referred to as ‘engagement’ and is the form of commitment thatis most usually measured by organizations.

Structural commitment:Employees believe they are involved in a fair economic exchange in which they benefit fromthe relationship in material ways. There are enticements to enter and remain in theorganization and there are barriers to leaving. This type of commitment is also frequentlyreferred to in the literature as Continuance Commitment.



Factors Affecting Employee CommitmentThe workplace is a dynamic field and to remain competitive, employee commitment isimportant. The following factors affect employee commitment:

Workplace valuesIf employees believe that their organization values quality products they will engage in behaviors’ that will contribute to high quality. If employees are convinced that their organization values participation they will be more likely to feel as though their participationwill make a difference. They will thus be motivated and be more willing to seek solutionsand make suggestions to contribute to the organization success.

Subordinate–supervisor interpersonal relationshipSupervisors behavior include sharing appropriate information, allowing mutuality of influence, recognizing and rewarding good performance and not abusing the vulnerability of others . The extent to which the supervisor displays these behaviors will thus largely

determine subordinate commitment levelJob characteristicsThe extent that a job is structured to provide regular feedback and autonomy as well as asense of task completion.

An increase in perceived control strengthens emotional bonds with an organization. Aheightened sense of personal control has a positive consequence for employee’s attitudes and

behaviors’ at work.

When tasks are intrinsically satisfying, employees tend to be more committed. Commitmentis low when employees are given repetitive routine tasks to complete. A job that allows ahigh degree of autonomy and the absence of close supervision increases commitment.

DemographicsAGEA range of demographic variables have been found to be related to employee commitment(Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). For a variety of reasons, age has been found to be a positive

predictor of employee commitment. As Mathieu & Zajac (1990) suggest, the older employees become, the less alternative employment options are available. As a result, older employees may view their current employment more favourably. Dunham et al. (1994)suggest older employees may be more committed because they have a stronger investmentand greater history with their organization.

GENDER:With regard to gender, a number of studies (eg Mathieu & Zajac, 1990) have reportedwomen as being more committed than men. This is typically explained by women having toovercome more barriers than men to get to their position in the organization.



Marital StatusMarital status has also been shown to relate to commitment, with married employees usuallyshowing more commitment (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). However, it is suggested that thereason for this is because married employees will typically have greater financial and family

responsibilities, which increases their need to remain with the organization. Note, however,that this refers to structural commitment (or continuance commitment) in that the costassociated with leaving the organization increases commitment to the organization. Asmentioned previously, structural commitment does not necessarily relate to increased

performance.

Recruitment ProceduresO’Malley (2000) suggests that organizations need to pay more attention to addressingemployees’ social need to affiliate and belong, in order to create commitment; theorganization must have the right sort of employees in the first instance.Employees’ feelings of belonging start to develop long before employees join the

organization. The following information should be shared with employee to enhancecommitment• share details about the organization• provide employees with help and support throughout the recruitment and selection

process• Convey the interests and values that the organization shares with employees.

Organizations need to be attractive to the right sort of people; thus the initial contact betweenthe organization and the prospective candidate is very important. Developing an Employer BrandAs Troy (1998) points out, increasingly organizations are attempting to communicate with

prospective employees in a coherent manner by developing an employer brand. The brandshould condense the basic nature of the organization, what its values are and what it would be like to work there. The principal purpose of the brand is to efficiently bring employers andemployees together in order to establish a relationship. Thus, a good brand should convey

both the unique benefits of the organizational environment and the type of person who islikely to do well in that setting. The organization must then ensure that it delivers these

promises to its employees, or its efforts will have been wasted. Employers should, therefore,devote a portion of the selection process to assessing cultural fit.

Met ExpectationsEmployees will be more committed if there is a good match between what the person is

looking for in a job, and what the job provides. Commitment will be greater whenemployees’ experiences on the job match their expectations. Unmet expectations are a sourceof low morale and dissatisfaction. Such expectations usually relate to the type of work employees are given to do and the opportunities they receive for training and development.



Measuring Employee CommitmentThis can be done through an attitude survey, employee satisfaction survey, employeecommitment survey and performance appraisals. Questioners are usually administered tocollect relevant data that management later uses when deciding ways of increasing employeecommitment.

Sample of a questioner attached (Annex 1)

Ways of Enhancing Employee CommitmentOrganizations can use various strategies to increase employee commitment. These strategiesinclude:

Induction and TrainingThe induction programme should be the final step of the recruitment and selection process.

A good induction programme will make new employees more familiar with and more at easewithin the organization. Employees enter the organization with an assumption of compatibility and should be welcomed.

Relationships with ManagersThis refers to how the quality of the relationship between managers and their employeesrelates to the development of commitment.

Employees’ commitment reflects their day to day contacts with their line managers abouttheir job, and the way in which objective targets are set. Effective communication on job-related issues is a key ingredient in securing individual performance. To a great extent,individual line managers are responsible for ensuring that these maintenance behavioursoccur.

With poor management, the most well developed organizational programme can break downat the point of transmission.

Relationships with ColleaguesEmotional attachment to colleagues in the workplace is an important element of commitment, though it is not enough on its own. Unless there is occasion for frequent andrewarding interaction, stronger feelings of belonging that can bind employees to theorganization are unlikely to emerge. Organizations that want to build high levels of commitment should look for ways to build this through group activities both in and out of work

Group MembershipTo build commitment, being a member of a particular organization must not only satisfyemployees’ social need to affiliate and belong, but must also create a sense of collectiveidentity that differentiates the group from other organizations.

There are many situational features that contribute to a sense of group membership. Themore exposure that employees have to these features, the more likely they will be to feel likea part of the group and to incorporate that membership into their concept of who they are.



Organizational Justice and Trust It is also argued that employees evaluate their experiences at work in terms of whether theyare fair and reflect a concern on the part of the organization for the well-being of theemployees (Meyer, 1997). Treating employees fairly, communicates the message thatmanagement is commitment to the employees. This suggests that organizations wanting to

foster greater commitment from their employees must first provide evidence of their commitment to their employees.

When there is trust, employees are willing to suspend judgement and defer to the authorityof others. In addition, trust permits organizational flexibility because a payback need beneither immediate nor of equivalent value. O’Malley (2000) identifies four areas in whichemployees’ sense of trust in the employer can be increased:

i) Growth: As most employees want to be more proficient in their job, a good wayto instil trust is to attend to employees’ development needs.

ii) Work-Life balance: Most employees would like organizations to allow greater personal time when needed.

iii) Individual accommodation: Acts of organizational flexibility or benevolencetoward employees.iv) Health and Safety: Organizations that are committed to protecting employees’

health and safety are more likely to be trusted. PromotionPolicies and practices concerning promotion can also affect commitment. . Among those whoare considered for promotion, the outcome of the decision is likely to have an effect oncommitment.But, for some, the perception of fairness in the decision-making process might be even moreimportant. This suggests that organizations should communicate clearly how their decisionswere made and why those who did not succeed were not suitable.

Work-Life BalanceA key issue emphasized by research, especially in recent years, is the extent to whichemployees perceive they are able to achieve the right balance between home and work.Organizations are beginning to recognize this, and are making more concerted efforts tointroduce a host of programmes intended to ease employees’ burdens. These includeinitiative such as: flexible work arrangements; child care; time off policies; elderly care;healthcare; information and counseling; and convenience services to name but a few.

Job SatisfactionHow happy an employee is in a job has profound effects on behaviour and commitment. Inrelation to commitment, job satisfaction and work-life satisfaction are very important. Jobsatisfaction is an enormous area; however, to be concise a satisfying job typically has three

properties:i) It has intrinsically enjoyable features: Mathieu & Zajac (1990) found that the

strongest correlation with commitii) ent were obtained for job characteristics, particularly job scope (enrichment).iii) It provides an opportunity for growth and development.



iv) It makes employees feel effective in their roles (that they can positively influenceorganizational outcomes).

Pay and Reward As mentioned previously, employees may remain with an organization because there are

constraints against leaving and incentives for staying. It is important for organizations tostructure the economics of the relationship in a way that will not obstruct commitment. Oneof the reasons to stay in a relationship is because it makes sense economically. Pay makescontinuation of the employment relationship worthwhile because there is mutual dependence.

Developing HR Practices That Enhance CommitmentAccording to Armstrong 2005 the following ten (10) practices contribute to increase of employee commitment.

1. Advise in methods of communicating the values and aims of management andachievements of the organization, so that employees are more likely to identify with it

as one they are proud to work for.2. Emphasize to management that commitment is a two way process employees cannot

be expected to be committed to the organization unless management demonstratesthat it is committed to them.

3. Impress on the management the need to develop a climate of trust by being honestwith people, treating them fairly justly and consistently, keeping its word andshowing willingness to listen to the comments and suggestions made by employees

4. Develop a positive psychological contract by treating people as stakeholders rely onconsensus and cooperation rather than control and coercion and provision of opportunities for learning and career progression.

5. Advise on and assist in the establishment of partnership agreements with trade unionswhich emphasize unity of purpose, common approaches to working together and theimportance of giving employees a voice.

6. Recommend and take part in the achievement of single status for all employees sothat there is no an “us and them “culture.

7. Encourage management to develop a policy of employment security and ensure stepsare taken to avoid involuntary redundancies

8. Develop performance management process that provide for the alignment of organizational and individual objectives.

9. Advise on means of increasing employee identification with the company throughrewards related to organizational performance (profit sharing or gain sharing).

10. Develop job engagement: identification of employees with the job they are doingthrough job design process that aim to create higher levels of job satisfaction.



Developing A Commitment StrategyA commitment strategy is based on the high commitment model described above. It aims todevelop commitment using the following approaches.

1. Developing ownership

I t involves involving employees in those decisions that affect them so that they feel theyown, i.e. Create a feeling of ownership among employees, listening to their ideas. Employeesshould feel they are genuinely accepted by the management.

2. Communication programmesCommitment can only be gained if people understand what they are expected to commit to.Thus in sufficient attention should be paid when delivering messages so that rightinformation is passed. Proper use of newsletters, briefing groups videos and notice boardsshould be emphasized.

3. Leadership development

Commitment is enhanced if managers can gain the confidence and respect of their teams.Management training should therefore be used to increase the competence of managers thusmaking them efficient enough to cultivate a sense of commitment in their teams.

4. Developing a sense of excitement .Concentrating on the intrinsic motivating factors e.g. achievement, responsibility andrecognition creates job excitement, which leads to commitment. Management should thusgive their staff the scope to use their skills and abilities and design jobs which encouragecreativity and innovativeness, avoid monotony

5. Use of career development programThey help employee develop caters related skills and recognize the developmental need they

posses. If used effectively if creates commitments it send the signal that the employer caresabout the employee career success and thus deserves employee commitment.

8.0 SummaryThis paper has presented a review of the current thinking about defining and creatingemployee commitment, which is an evolving topic currently receiving considerable attention.It has been identified as a multi-dimensional concept which has important impacts on anorganization through its effects on employee performance, turnover and absence, and via itsinfluence on customer attitudes to the bottom line.

Commitment can be divided into five components, each of which is created by differentfactors. These are defined as follows:

Affiliative : The compatibility of the employee’s and the organization’s interests and values.

Associative : The employee’s perception of belonging to the organization.

Moral : The sense of mutual obligation between the employee and the organization.



ConclusionsEngaged employees lead to increased productivity, retention, customer loyalty and

profitability. Savvy organizations focus on both the lead and lag indicators of businesssuccess, so business leaders need to know about engagement levels in the same way they

need to know about other critical management information, such as financial, productivityand customer data. Robust, business-oriented measurement and analysis is required toidentify the key drivers of engagement for your organization. Survey design should bealigned to your organization, your strategy, your values and your people.

Key insights are provided when organizations know whether employees are engaged to boththe jobs that they do and the company that they work for. This knowledge enablesorganizations to predict behavior and its impact on key business metrics. Measurementwithout action can do more harm than good. Simply surveying for the current engagementlevel and then doing nothing with that information often leads to employees feeling that theyaren’t being heard, which in turn can negatively impact morale and trust levels. Identifying

and analyzing engagement levels and the drivers of success is the first step.The real challenge is in equipping your business to act and ensuring that change is embeddedin your culture so that your workforce remains focused and aligned to the business strategy.An engaged workforce is the key to sustained competitive advantage and accelerated

business performance.

It is possible to conclude that employee commitment is a very significant factor contributingto the positive organizational outcomes. It may increase productivity, effectiveness of work and motivation of employees, while low commitment leads to the opposite outcomes. At thesame time it is necessary to maintain high level of employee commitment through leadership,development, empowerment, and supervision..Radical organizational changes often lead to reduced commitment caused by increased jobinsecurity, increased stress, decreased trust and job redesign. Since organizationalcommitment has strong correlation with job performances it is very important to reinforce it

by applying the right human resources polices

RecommendationsHaving examined the concept of employee commitment our group gave the followingrecommendations that would enhance the commitment of employee in the workplace. Fair

profit sharing based on an established policy that seeks to make employees feel that themanagement is committed to them, regular team building activities and designing jobs so thatthere is flexi time for those employees who may not be in a position to work between 8am – 5pm.

Providing such incentives e.g. Medical scheme, housing scheme, car loans, furniture loans, pension scheme and increasing the number of year’s employees can work in an organizationeven after reaching the retirement age sends the message that the organization is committedto its employees and so the employees in turn will seek to be committed to the organization.



Another way of enhancing employee commitment is by conducting exit interviews; since theinterviewee will be leaving the organization it is believed that they will reveal loopholes inthe management or job design that contribute to low morale among employees. Themanagement can then use the information to put necessary measures in place to enable

employees develop commitment in their work.

Management should also ensure that confidentially is practiced especially where there issensitive information concerning employees. Such information may include health status,marital issues and financial position of employees among many others.

Leaders and managers need to master a new set of abilities to engage their people and sustainand enhance performance, especially in today’s increasingly challenging businessenvironment. The senior leadership has a significant impact on engagement. The topengagement driver both globally is employees’ belief that senior management has their bestinterests at heart. Yet, only about four out of 10 respondents believe this is true in their

organizations. More than half also felt that senior management “treats us as just another partof the organization to be managed” or “as if we don’t matter. Senior leaders get relativelylow marks on empathy, communication and transparency. Managers who help deliver thework experience and represent the pool of future leaders also get low marks on key aspects of their role.

The following values should also be practiced.FairnessIt implies the elimination of one’s feelings, prejudices and desires to achieve a proper

balance between conflicting interests

TrustTo nurture commitment employers must create an environment of trust. If employers wish todevelop and maintain trust they should do what they say will do, be consistent, maintainconfidence, and be a role model of behaviour, encourage employee involvement, allow

people to make we decisions that affect their work, allow people to make mistakes withoutfear or ridicule, learn from mistakes.

Concern for employees.Employees should be regarded as people not factors of production. Employers should

provide job security train and develop employees, be flexible to accommodate employeeissues, be open and honest and allow employees to have a life outside work. Today’semployees have a strong sense of self worth- they recognize their value and want their employers to as wellThe organization is the most powerful influencer of employee engagement.

There is no single “right model” for a high-performance culture; the most effective approachdepends on an organization’s strategic priorities.



Employees are eager to invest more of themselves to help the company succeed, but want tounderstand what’s in it for them.

Senior leaders need to make the leap to a more inspirational and engaging style of leadershipto help drive higher engagement.

Companies need to understand their employees as well as they understand their customers todesign a work environment and experience that will drive higher engagement and

performance.



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