Strategies for Building Organisational Commitment: A Literature Review

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Strategies for Building Organisational Commitment
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Organisational Commitment: A key to organisational success
The concept of organisational commitment has become highly popular in the global business
market due to the need for employee retention. Employee retention becomes necessary for
organisations due to the increased competition. Organisational commitment deals with the high
desire of an employee for remaining a part of the organisation for a long time. It is evident that
organisational commitment leads to the determination of what value an employee places within
an organisation. Highly committed employees towards the organisation share some common
characteristics such as pro-activity, high permanence, and constructivism.
Organisational commitment affects the organisation in different ways. It influences the employee
turnover rate, employee productivity, employee behaviour, and organisational citizenship and so
on. Such effects enhance the significance of maintaining high organisational commitment within
an organisation for attaining competitive advantage and success.
Organisational Commitment
In the words of Gutierrez, Candela, & Carver (2012), organisational commitment implies the
bond shared between the employees and organisation that enhances their productivity and
performance. It has realised that committed employees put their best efforts in terms of high
work determination, more pro-activity, and excellent level of productivity. They further
suggested that it would not be wrong to consider such employees as the organisational assets
since they help the organisation in surviving the intense competitiveness of business market
(Gutierrez, Candela, & Carver, 2012). Supporting his views, Mateja Lorber & Brigita Skela-
Savič (2014), viewed that developing organisational commitment should consider as one of the
key strategies for an organisation. Organisations should consider some factors that influence the
degree of organisational commitment. These factors comprise assignment of decision-making
power to the employees, motivational benefits, job security, and degree of stress related to the
assigned job and others.
Lambert et al., (2013), suggested that there are three forms of organisational commitment named
continuance, effective, and normative commitment. Continuance commitment states the motive
of an employee continuance within an organisation. Normative commitment deals with the moral
obligation of an employee for maintaining a relationship with the organisation. Affective
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commitment implies an employee’s emotional attachment towards the organisation for staying
within the organisation. From the work of Frone, Michael, (2018), it can be said that managers
need to understand the commitment level possessed by employees. It should be the responsibility
of the organisational managers for developing appeals to the employees. There are many ways
available to the organisational managers for integrating commitment within the employees.
Appreciating excellent performance and development of corporate culture are the proven ways
for developing high commitment from the employees towards the organisation.
Need for building organisational commitment
Every organisation is very well-aware with the values brought by employee commitment within
the organisation. Continuing this, Dhondt et al., (2014), viewed in their work that committed
employees to perform with positive attitude and behaviour and also reflect positivity in the
organisation. Development of a positive working environment motivates other employees as well
for giving their best efforts. Moreover, it becomes less complicated for the organisation to
implement changes for coping with the external environment. Chances of resistance reduce when
the employees possess high organisational commitment. They added that it becomes fruitful for
the organisations as the business environment is highly dynamic and flexible where frequent
changes persist quickly. Every organisation requires coping up with these changes for surviving
in the long run.
Puangyoykeaw, Kevalin & Nishide, Yuko (2015), also provided their opinions regarding why
the organisations need for focusing on organisational commitment. Employee retention is the
most significant gift an organisation gets from having organisational commitment. With
employee retention, an organisation can deal with any difficulty since it causes enhancement in
the overall organisational performance. They said that this performance realises from the market
share, profitability level, customer base, brand image, and sales growth, and other metrics.
Organisational commitment ensures future stability in the long run indirectly. It makes sure that
the employees are well-integrated into the organisational goals, objectives, mission, and vision.
Human resource regards as one of the critical organisational strengths, and organisational
commitment contributes towards the maintenance of this strength.
Strategies for Building Organizational Commitment
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Increasing competition made it realised to the organisations the need for inculcating high level of
organisational commitment. Prediction of employee satisfaction, job performance, and job
insecurity becomes an uncomplicated task when a determination invests in organisational
commitment. Organisations have conducted different research and put great efforts into finding
the best ways to instil organisational commitment within the employees.
Employee Motivation
Motivation is always a key player in enhancing employee commitment within the organisation.
An organisation can leverage on motivational strategies for appealing highly to the employees.
Supporting this, Muslim Djalil, Mirna Indriani & Muttaqin Muttaqin (2017), described that
positive influence of motivation realises on the organisational commitment. Employee
motivation helps in driving the emotional attachment of the employees for the organisation as
well as improved productivity. Motivational strategies are mainly of two types named financial
and non-financial strategies. The financial strategy involves incentives, reward and recognition
system, fair pay, pension benefits, and a bonus system. They further suggested that non-financial
strategy for employee motivation deals with open communication, career advancement
opportunities, developing trust, employee empowerment, and providing an adequate degree of
flexibility.
Communication
Naz, Sumara & Gul, Seema (2014), mentioned in their work that every employee desires to be a
vital part of the organisation in the long run. Clear communication provides a foundation to make
employees understand their respective job and how to attain job excellence. Such understanding
brings a sense of belongingness and motivation to the employees that help in gaining the desire
for maintaining long term relationship with the organisation. They further described that the
employees should communicate clearly with the organisational goals as well as expectations. It
depicts a sense of ownership and such sense ensures the long-term retention of the employees.
Apart from this, from the work of Mahajan, Ashish, Bishop, James & Scott, Dow (2012), it is
evident that transparency and encouragement to open communication constitutes the critical
communication strategy for organisational commitment. Providing employees with the
opportunity to participate and engage in the essential activities of the organisation. Participative
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opportunities for employees make them feel valued for the organisation. Not only had this, but
they emphasised open communication and transparency for improving employee performance.
Foster a teamwork culture
An organisation comprises of people belonged to different educational background, experiences,
and cultures. Suhaimi, Shahidah et al., (2018), provided their views that it is obvious to have
differences and conflicts among the employees due to varied perspectives. A healthy work
environment is the outcome of an influential teamwork culture within the organisation.
Promotion of teamwork culture helps in boosting employee morale for attaining the
organisational goals. They mentioned that the organisation could achieve higher levels of
employee commitment and the harmony-oriented environment with the strategy of team
development.
Efficient job delegation
It is significant for managers to understand that job delegation impacts mostly organisational
commitment. Flores-Fillol, Ricardo, Iranzo, Susana & Mane, Ferran (2017), mentioned in their
work that it is worthy of maintaining the alignment of tasks with the employee qualification,
capabilities, and skills. Job delegation should always undertake considering the skills and
abilities of the employee as it makes them more productive and efficient. Moreover, effective job
delegation helps in reducing the stress level of an employee as the whole work gets divided
among more than one employee. It also results in more productive work which is beneficial for
the organisation. They further suggested that job delegation is an art which should undertake in a
way that the employee gets the opportunity to exhibit his capabilities and skills. Therefore,
organisational commitment can enhance by using the strategy of job delegation effectively and
efficiently.
Promoting Innovation
Innovation is one of the critical strategies for the betterment of an organisation. Innovation in an
organisation demands the new ideas and suggestions from the organisational members whether
management or employees. When an organisation provides participative opportunities to the
employees, it should consider those ideas or opinions in any way. Innovation encourages when
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the employees feel that their ideas or suggestions are getting valued by the organisation.
Encouraging innovation is beneficial not only for the employees but also for the organisation.
Feedback
Steffens, Niklas et al., (2018), emphasised the constructive feedback for enhancing employee
commitment levels. Timely feedback to employees would identify what things are going right
and what are going wrong. The employees would get to know where they need to improve for
attaining better performance and productivity. However, they suggested that managers must
know the difference between constructive feedback and criticism. It should realise that criticism
provides with what is wrong while constructive feedback not only depicts what is wrong but also
provides a solution for making it right. Constructive feedback would place a positive influence
on employees and employee commitment towards the organisation.
Conclusion
With the literature review, it is evident that organisational commitment is vital for attaining
success in a highly competitive business environment. Organisational managers highly
recommend for adopting the best ways to improve organisational commitment. The need for
organisational commitment would increase with the increase of business competitiveness. Job
satisfaction and employee engagement are critical elements of organisational commitment. It
would not be wrong to consider the satisfied as well as engaged employees as the assets of an
organisation. The organisations should focus on employee commitment by identifying the key
issues and analysing the root causes of these issues to develop effective solutions.
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References
 Dhondt, Steven, Delano Pot, Frank, O. Kraan, Karolus & Rolfsen, Monica 2014, ‘The
importance of organizational level decision latitude for well-being and organizational
commitment’, Team Performance Management, vol. 20, no. 7/8, pp. 307–327.
 Flores-Fillol, Ricardo, Iranzo, Susana & Mane, Ferran 2017, ‘Teamwork and delegation
of decisions within the firm’, International Journal of Industrial Organization, vol. 52, pp.
1–29.
 Frone, Michael R. 2018, ‘What happened to the employed during the Great Recession? A
U.S. population study of net change in employee insecurity, health, and organizational
commitment’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, vol. 107, pp. 246–260.
 Gutierrez, Antonio P., Candela, Lori L. & Carver, Lara 2012, ‘The structural
relationships between organizational commitment, global job satisfaction, developmental
experiences, work values, organizational support, and person‐organization fit among
nursing faculty’, Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 68, no. 7, pp. 1601–1614.
 Lambert, Eric, Kelley, Thomas & Hogan, Nancy 2013, ‘The Association of Occupational
Stressors with Different Forms of Organizational Commitment Among Correctional
Staff’, American Journal of Criminal Justice, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 480–501.
 Mahajan, Ashish, Bishop, James & Scott, Dow 2012, ‘Does Trust in Top Management
Mediate Top Management Communication, Employee Involvement and Organizational
Commitment Relationships?1’, Journal of Managerial Issues, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 173–
190,122.
 Mateja Lorber & Brigita Skela-Savič 2014, ‘Factors affecting nurses’ organizational
commitment’, Obzornik zdravstvene nege, vol. 48, no. 4.
 Muslim A. Djalil, Mirna Indriani & Muttaqin Muttaqin 2017, ‘The Influence of
Organizational Commitment and Motivation in the Relationship between Budget
Participation and Managerial Performance (Empirical Study on Provincial Government
Agencies ( SKPA) of Aceh Province, Indonesia)’, Brand Research in Accounting,
Negociation and Distribution, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 12–24.
 Naz, Sumara & Gul, Seema 2014, ‘Moderating Role of Organizational Commitment
between Communication Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions Among Nurses’, Pakistan
Journal of Psychological Research, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 39–52.
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 Puangyoykeaw, Kevalin & Nishide, Yuko 2015, ‘Organizational Commitment and
Turnover Intention in Low-Skilled Immigrant Workers in Thailand: An Empirical
Assessment of Need Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction and Overall Life Satisfaction Factors’,
International Journal of Business and Management, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 98–112.
 Steffens, Niklas K., Fonseca, Miguel A., Ryan, Michelle K., Rink, Floor A., Stoker,
Janka I. & Nederveen Pieterse, Anne 2018, ‘How feedback about leadership potential
impacts ambition, organizational commitment, and performance’, The Leadership
Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 637–647
 Suhaimi, Shahidah, Abdullah, Siti, Mohamad, Mafuzah, Yahya, Khairi, Razali, Nor &
Marzuki, Wan 2018, ‘The Effects of Employee Empowerment, Teamwork and Training
towards Organizational Commitment among Hotel Employees in Melaka’, Global
Business and Management Research, vol. 10, no. 3.
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