Human Resource Practices and Organizational Commitment - Assignment Example

Organizational behaviour Name Institution Date Organizational behaviour 1. Job satisfaction and organisational commitment- 300 words Job satisfaction is widely researched topic and has therefore, attracted several definitions (Lumley et al, 2011). It can be defined as the total feeling that an individual has about his/her job and includes the attitudes developed towards various aspects of their job as well as those attitudes and perceptions that will consequently affect the degree of fit between the individual and the organization (Ivancevich et al, 2002). According to Suma and Lesha (2013), job satisfaction is the positive orientation that an individual develops towards his/her present role or the degree to which one is happy and satisfied with the job. It could therefore refer to the pleasurable emotional state that results from perception that one has relating to whether the job fulfils or allows the fulfilment of important job values; providing these needs must address one’s psychological and physical needs. Organisational commitment on the other hand is considered to be a linkage of the individual to that organization where he/she works. It is the relative strength with which the individual identifies with the organization (Suma & Lesha, 2013). It may be viewed as a psychological connection an individual has with the organization and is characterised by strong identification with the organization. The individual with strong organizational commitment has the desire to contribute to the achievement of the organizational goals (Lumley et al, 2011). It is therefore characterised by the following factors: Belief in and acceptance of the goals and values of the organization, Willingness by the individual to use considerable effort for the organization’s good, and A strong desire to remain a member of the organization (Tella et al, 2007). Researchers have found a direct relationship between organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Wang and Feng (2003) claim that high job satisfaction makes workers more likely to hold positive attitude towards their job and in this way, more likely to be committed to the organization 2. Relationship between job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and job performance or the perceived relationship that exists between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and staff turnover and absenteeism A turnover intention is a deliberate and conscious willingness of an employee to leave the organization and this has been found to be a predicator of turnover (Adenguga et al, 2013). Organizational commitment and job satisfaction have been found to have a positive relationship to performance but negatively related to turnover and turnover intent (Suma & Lesha, 2013). Research work has shown that when employees are satisfied, they tend to more committed to an organization. Those employees who are satisfied and committed will more likely attend work, remain an employee of the organization for a long time, report to work on time, are more productive and effective and will engage in activities and behaviours that will help the organization (Lumley et al, 2011). Adenguga et al (2013) argue that if employees are committed to a given organization, then turnover rates will be lower, and same will be absenteeism rates, but job and extra-role involvement will increase. Further research on this subject has revealed that managers who wish to improve the efficiency as well as the effectiveness of the organization should ensure that commitment of his employees is optimal (Adenguga et al, 2013). Organizational commitment and job satisfaction form an essential component of employee turnover models. This is because their relationship with voluntary turnover was established and has been found to have a negative relationship with turnover intentions (Martin & Roodt, 2007). Employees with high job satisfaction are not likely to be absent from work. The higher the satisfaction, the less likely will the employee leave the organization. Research has also found that high commitment levels causes employees to have low predicted turnover intentions (Martin & Roodt, 2007). Commitments in the organization and job satisfaction have been proved to have a correlation with one another and yield a positive association. 3. Changing nature of work influence job satisfaction and organizational commitment In an organizational perspective, change describes movement away from the present state of doing things to a future state or it might mean a response to some threat or opportunity that arises from the outside of the organization (Rashid et al, 2004). Technological changes like e-commerce and computerization have facilitated great developments in work processes, data communication and the way business is done. A research survey in the United States about the perceptions of public relations professionals with regard to their organizations’ diversity initiatives indicated that perceptions of a climate for diversity relates to job satisfaction (McDonald, 2009). In the research findings, male and Caucasians rated employee positive diversity more favourably than minorities and females. The world has continued to globalise with advances in technology; the development of a global economy has brought people together so that organizations are investigating new ways to serve their constituents and attract and retain the most qualified workforce (Gupta, 2013). Organizations have now had to diversify. Researchers on workforce diversity and its relationship with performance have claimed that the diversity works positively on organizations (Gupta, 2013). 4. How specific factors influence job satisfaction and organisational commitment a. The employee’s personal characteristics; Personal characteristics include the demographic characteristics like age, gender, education and tenure (Lund & Barker, 2006). Research has shown that women tend to be more committed compared to their male counterparts. Age and tenure have also shown positive correlation with organizational commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1993). When employees get older, they get motivated to be more committed to the organizations since their employment opportunities generally decrease (Lund & Barker, 2012). Researchers conducted a study to determine factors contributing to employee commitment in organization and established the role of personal characteristics in influencing organizational commitment (Muthuveloo & Che Rose, 2005). The research which focused on personal characteristics and employee perception found that these characteristics are antecedents of organizational commitment. Characteristics such as race, country of graduation, religion and academic background were found to have a great influence organizational commitment. These elements of personal characteristics are referred to as attitudinal characteristics since they are related to the beliefs and values of respondents and were found to have greater influence of the nine personality characteristics. Employees with positive perception develop higher organizational commitment, since affective commitment towards the organization, basing on emotions or positive feelings, has been found to be influenced by the perceived job satisfaction as well as the perceived organizational characteristics of employee perception. Personal characteristics and organizational commitment have an influence on job satisfaction. Personal behavioural characteristics like age, job tenure, length of service and position have been proved to have a big influence on organizational outcomes. b. The employee’s job characteristics; According to Greenberger and Strasser (1986), job characteristics define the extent a job is structured so that it provides regular feedback and a sense of task completion so that the employees are able to monitor their own behaviour and so that they gain increased sense of personal control. In this sense, personal control describes an individual’s belief that he/she is able to cause a change towards the desired direction. Researchers have found that an increase in the perceived control will usually strengthen emotional bonds with the organization. This has a positive consequence since a heightened sense of personal control and autonomy positively influences the employees’ attitudes as well as their behaviour at the workplace (Obi-Nwosu et al, 2013). These characteristics are those job attributes that motivate employees. Other researches claim that these characteristics influence the commitment and motivation of the employees. The characteristics like autonomy as well as variety are well known determinants of organizational commitment (Mottaz, 1988). Researchers have also found that characteristic such as task identity, feedback, variety and autonomy will motivate employees in their work (Obi-Nwosu et al, 2013). While these characteristics improve job satisfaction, they have been found to consequently enhance organizational commitment. c. The employee’s supervisor; The behaviour of one’s supervisor will also determine their job satisfaction (Lumley et al, 2011). The employee becomes more satisfied when his/her immediate supervisor is understanding and friendly. When the supervisor offers praise for the employees good performance, offers a listening ear to the employees’ opinions and shows his employees interest and appreciation, then the employees becomes more confident in his/her job and gets satisfied. The supervisor may also influence he nature of work satisfaction. This is defined as the employee’s satisfaction with the type of work that they do (Spector, 1997). The supervisor will formulate the specific goals, provide feedback on the progress and reinforce the desired behaviour and in this way stimulate motivation and satisfaction (Lumley et al, 2011). Employee’s attitudes can be predicted to a significant degree by the perceptual, dimensional characterization of the tactics of influence used by the supervisors (Michela, 2007). Respectfulness will be directly associated with Supervisor commitment, emotional distress, and turnover intention while directness will be a consequence of organizational commitment (Michela, 2007). d. The employee’s work environment; The employees work environment may be defined by several elements like existence of motivation, working in groups or teams, compensation in the workplace etc. Research has found positive association between the four indices of subjective team experience and the measures for organizational commitment. The indices however showed negative relationships with turnover intent but only for two measures of perceptions of team effectiveness and team social relations (Greenberg et al, 2005). Generally though, the researchers concluded that those employees with positive team experiences will more likely feel satisfied with their job and will be less likely to separate from the organization. On the influence of rewards in the workplace, Sarwar & Abuge, (2013) argue that higher rewards and satisfied employees play a major role in increasing employee job satisfaction as well as higher productivity in the organizations. Reward in this sense is may be the form of money income, power and prestige. Compensation systems will also affect job satisfaction and therefore affect retention rates. Higher compensation plans causes higher satisfaction and retention rates (Nawab & Bhatti, 2011). e. The employing organisation’s human resource management practices These are practices incorporated by the business to ensure that the workforce is effective so as to meet the operational needs (Patrick & Sebastian, 2012). A study in the education sector revealed that human resources management practices have a positive relationship with organizational commitment (Patrick & Sebastian, 2012). The research proposed that effective recruitment methods for attracting some of the best talents should be employed. The teachers’ commitment would increase if all employees were treated equally in cases of internal promotions. More practices that would increase teachers’ commitment include equal opportunities with attractive pay packages, and opportunities for interaction with senior management. These human resource management practices could easily apply in other employments and professions and could be the reason for improved performance. Wright & Kehoe (2007) says that human resource practices serve mechanisms for communication to the employees and that the communications are interpreted through every individual’s personal lens. These practices therefore directly influence comfort ability and trust and by extension, satisfaction and commitment. 5. Conclusion The paper has discussed job satisfaction and organizational commitment in depth. The discussion has stretched from the definitions of these concepts to the factors within the organizations and those out of the organizations that influence job satisfaction and organization’s commitment. As has been discussed, these two concepts have become of great interest to modern organizations as they to understand the factors that contribute to them. This interest has been fuelled by the close relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment and the performance of the organization. Satisfied employees have been found to work wholeheartedly and are more likely to go the extra mile for the benefit of the organization. When these employees become satisfied, they tend to have more commitment to the organization and therefore cases of absenteeism and turnover greatly minimised. Also discussed has been the effect of changing nature of the working conditions on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Contributing factors to the change like globalization and diversity have brought in a new dimension in the subject. With the highly diversified employees, the organizations have been faced by the new challenge in management but have benefited from the flexibility they now enjoy in selection of competent employees. Organizations have the difficult task of achieving the satisfaction and commitment from their employees. An effective means would be through investigation of the contributing factors that the organization can influence. It would take the involvement of the whole organization to achieve this, from the supervisors who are in contact with the employees to the top management. Supervisors must understand that their behaviour and treatment of employees will influence satisfaction. The top management must also put in place policies that encourage fairness and motivation of employees to guide them towards attainment of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. They must understand that unfair treatment of employees, lack of motivation in form of rewards and compensation and a management that is out of reach are among the most decisive factors with regard to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. References Wright, P. M. & Kehoe, R. R. (2007). Human resource practices and organizational commitment: A deeper examination (CAHRS Working Paper 07-15). Ithaca, NY: Cornell Obi-Nwosu et al, (2013). Job characteristics as predictors of organizational commitment among private sector workers in Anambra state, Nigeria. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 3(2):482-491. Wang, H.M. & Feng, W.W. (2003). Review on employee job satisfaction. 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