Commitment is one of the desirable behaviors that management always seeks to establish among employees, along with other behaviors associated with it, such as the desire for continuity and the ability to develop and innovate.

What is the commitment?

Allen and Meyer in 1984 (they are among the most prominent writers in the management literature in the field of organizational commitment) defined it as “the relative strength of a worker’s association and involvement in work with a particular organization”.

Factors affecting organizational commitment:

Several factors affect the organizational commitment of an individual either positive or negative as follows:

• Economic conditions:

Which affects the business environment and so the labor market which is a crucial variable to decide between staying in the job or not.

• Social perspective:

In some societies, the job title is important regardless of satisfaction or salary, therefore some people would rather commit to an organization or a job than leave.

• The personal characteristics:

The charter of a person creates an inner motivation for actions like remaining with an organization or not in addition to the level of his/her commitment to it.

• Job description:

It is the set of tasks assigned to the employee in proportion to his experience, skills, and administrative level. The nature of these tasks affects the employee’s satisfaction with the job he performs as well as his desire to continue with the organization or not.

• Personal experience:

An individual’s experiences affect the extent of his/her desire to remain in the organization and his/her commitment to it. These experiences represent the organization’s reaction to successes and failures, as well as the organization’s flexibility in dealing with emergencies such as the Corona pandemic. In addition to the personal relationships between the individual and his/her colleagues, as well as his/her relationship with his managers and subordinates.

Are all individuals in the organization equal in their commitment?

The term (relative) mentioned by Allen and Meyer is the key to answering that question regarding whether people are committed to their organization or not. They emphasized that the concepts of organizational commitment include three dimensions:

• Affective commitment: which is the employee’s feeling of desire for the work he/she performs and his/her close connection with it. Because it fits his beliefs and inclinations.

• Continuous commitment: which is the employee’s remaining in the job, either because the cost of leaving is not bearable, or because he/she obtains privileges due his/her commitment to the organization.

• Normative commitment: which is the employee’s stay with the organization and his association with it, due to the cumulative experiences he has had and the relationships that developed during his/her years of work in the organization.

However, within each person, there is a mixture of the three types of organizational commitment, and this was shown by the results of research and analysis of many representative samples of many organizations around the world, including a study I conducted on a group of officers belonging to the United Nations police as a police component of a peacekeeping mission.

The above-mentioned factors affect the increase or decrease in the level of commitment to each of the three dimensions, and if measured periodically, the results may change according to the mentioned factors.

The importance of organizational commitment:

Commitment is a goal that the organizations seek to establish as a means of increasing efficiency and effectiveness and creating a work environment that encourages creativity and releases the energies of thinking and innovation. In addition to that, periodic measurement of the type and level of commitment helps organizations to predict the actions of employees along with setting plans to contain negative factors which drive the employees to lose passion and commitment.

How to maintain and support organizational commitment?

This can be done through the following:

• Applying research methodologies to determine and measure the extent to which employee belongs to each of the three dimensions. This can be done through a designed questionnaire by Allen and Myer to measure the organizational commitment of employees in an organization.
• Adopting a policy that ensure that employees obtain their human and social rights and needs.
• Establishing systems that ensure the proper selection of workers and the appointment of the right person in the right place.
• Avoiding the causes of work stress and job burnout, such as lack of vision and random decisions.
• Establishing available and open communication channels to all levels, which enhances the awareness of each employee of his/her role as part of a whole process.
• Empowerment which is transfer of power and authority is an effective tool to enhance employees’ commitment to the job they do.
• Enabling information and sharing them with employees and adopt an informative criticism based on data, rather than personal opinions.
• Engaging employees in decision making process and supporting everyone within the organization to take part in planning process along with solving problems.
• Working on creating and maintaining a healthy work atmosphere.

Conclusion:

Commitment is the desired behavior in organizations, however, it has three dimensions (affective, continuous, and normative) thus, each individual in an organization experiences the three of them which can be tested and measured through research using a designed questionnaire by (Allen and Myer). Therefore, affecting factors of organizational commitment must be taken into account while planning to create and maintain a healthy work environment through empowerment, engagement, communication, and adopting a policy that encourages and supports employees along with applying modern systems in management. That can be summarized in the 4Es model (Empower, Enhance, Enable and Engage).