Employee Commitment Theory

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 background of the study

For the past five decades, workers have been accustomed to the promise of long-term job security. At the same time, organizations could generally rely on committed employees who spent their entire careers supporting them. Organizations value commitment among their employees because it is typically assumed to reduce withdrawal behaviour, such as lateness, absenteeism and turnover. Hence, there is no doubt that these values appear to have a potentially serious consequences for overall organizational performance. The study of employee commitment is important because; a Lo (2009) noted that employees with sense of employee commitment are less likely to engage in withdrawal behaviour and more

1.10 definition of terms

Commitment: This is the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity. it is the function of the rewards and costs associated with organizational membership (Reichers,2000).

Employee Commitment: According to Akintayo (2010) employee commitment can be defined as the degree to which the employee feels devoted to their organization. Ongori (2007) described employee commitment as an effective response to the whole organization and the degree of attachment or loyalty employees feel towards the organization.

Employee Turnover: employee turnover refers to the number or percentage of workers who leave an organization and are replaced by new employees.

Organisational performance: According to Richard et al. 2009 organisational performance involves the recurring activities to establish organisational goal ,monitor progress toward s the goal, and make adjustment to achieve those goals more effectively and

dissatisfaction increases the possibility that employees will negatively adjust the quantity and quality of their inputs.( ichniowski,1986,p.80). Research has also shown that employees who believe management is unsupported of quality and 24 customer service are likely to be less satisfied with their organisation (Walsh&Deery,2006, p.574). job satisfaction has gone a long way to claim acknowledgment for increasing performance (Worren 1999,p.279) Anyone aware of the trends within management literature has seen the relative importance of job satisfaction especially in relation to human resource management. human resource management has been critiqued because of an over-emphasis on job satisfaction, were increased productivity is attempted though, more than anything else, satisfying employee needs and wants, However studies within production engineering have seen a predicament described by Klein (1996,p.33) in where he proclaims that an increase in productivity can simultaneously decrease job satisfaction. this does suggest a precarious relationship between job satisfaction and performance and