Why should HR teams and business leaders care about organizational commitment? Committed employees are linked to lower turnover and better job performance. The happier your workforce is, the more productive and committed they will be. This can help meet organizational objectives and ultimately, strengthen the business unit and make it more profitable.
This article explores what organizational commitment is and why it matters, the different forms it takes, the factors that influence it, and the steps HR can take to increase organizational commitment among employees.
Contents
What is organizational commitment?
Types of organizational commitment
Why is organizational commitment important?
What influences organizational commitment?
13 ways HR can increase organizational commitment
What is organizational commitment?
Organizational commitment refers to the connection or bond employees have with their employer, based on industrial-organizational psychology (I/O psychology) and describes the individual’s psychological attachment to the organization. The level of organizational commitment can help predict employee engagement and satisfaction, performance, and distribution of leadership.
An employee who feels like they fit in and are well respected and compensated for their work is more likely to feel a strong sense of organizational commitment and less likely to resign. This makes employee wellbeing and satisfaction a key priority for companies that want to increase organizational commitment.
What is the difference between organizational commitment and employee engagement?
The term ‘employee engagement‘ might be confused with ‘organizational commitment’. But there is one crucial difference — an engaged employee is not necessarily a committed employee. Conversely, a committed employee may not be engaged. Engagement refers to how happy an employee is in their job, while commitment refers to how much effort they put into it.
Both are important for long-term workforce and organizational success, so the best thing any organization can do is strive for a balance between both engagement and commitment.
How organizational commitment affects organizational development
Organizational development is a science-based process centered on developing and improving various strategies, structures, and operations within an organization, which increases its effectiveness, capacity to change, and ability to compete in its industry. It aims to increase profits or profit margins, customer satisfaction, cultural values, adaptability or agility, and market share.
Organizational commitment is vital for organizational development because it aligns employees with the company’s vision, increases motivation and engagement, and provides stability during times of change. Committed employees support new initiatives, contribute ideas, and adapt more readily to transformation, which helps drive improvements effectively.
Types of organizational commitment
In 1991, John P. Meyer and Natalie J. Allen proposed the first model of commitment, consisting of three components. Called the Three-Component Model (TCM), each of its following components corresponds to a different psychological state:
- Affection for your organization (affective commitment)
- Fear of loss (continuance commitment)
- Sense of obligation to stay (normative commitment).
Affective commitment
Affective commitment is the ‘desire’ component of organizational commitment. In this state, an employee demonstrates a high level of active commitment to the organization. They’re happy, engaged, participate in meetings and discussions, and offer valuable input and suggestions, because they want to be an integral part of the organization. At this stage, they have a high chance of remaining at the company for a considerable period.
Continuance commitment
Continuance commitment is when an employee weighs up the pros of cons of staying versus leaving the organization, due to a fear of loss. They remain as they believe leaving would be costly, and they’ve already invested significant time and energy in the company. They may also weigh costs such as pension accruals against the benefits of leaving, consider the ease of securing a new job, and the disruption quitting might cause.
Normative commitment
At the normative commitment stage, the employee feels a sense of obligation to stay with the organization. Regardless of their personal feelingsx, they believe they have a duty to stay because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do. This could be because of the time and resources the organization has already invested in them, the regular rewards they receive for commitment, or a fear of insufficient career opportunities elsewhere.
Critique of the TCM
Some researchers pointed out that while the TCM can predict employee turnover rate, it mixes an attitude toward a target (the organization) with an attitude toward a behavior (leaving or staying). They believe the focus should be on the original understanding of organizational commitment, which is an attitude toward the organization.
Alice Eagly and Shelly Chaiken later put forward the Attitude-Behavior Model (1993), a much more general model. However, Meyer and Allen’s TCM is still regarded as the leading model for organizational commitment today.
A five-component commitment model
More recently, a five-component model of commitment was proposed. This model adds two stages to the TCM — habitual commitment and forced commitment.
Habitual commitment refers to the routines and processes employees become used to, which causes them to develop a latent commitment to the organization (i.e., “I’m here but I don’t have a meaningful reason to be here.”).
Forced commitment is where an employee believes they have no option but to remain in their organization, perhaps because they depend on the income or think they have no chance of finding an alternative or better opportunities elsewhere (i.e., “I don’t want to be here but I have to be here.”).
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Why is organizational commitment important?
Organizational commitment — especially affective commitment — has multiple benefits for both employees and their organizations.
Greater employee productivity
When an employee is committed to their organization, they believe in the company’s shared goals, vision, and mission. This leads to them being more motivated and therefore, more productive. They make a greater effort to be autonomous, set more ambitious goals, and get more done. Committed employees also have a knock-on effect on their colleagues’ and team’s productivity, inspiring them to give their all to achieve shared goals.
Improved organizational performance
When an employee is heavily invested in an organization, they are far more likely to be cooperative, and immerse themselves in collaboration and teamwork. This cohesion increases employee morale, engagement and productivity, as well as their quality of work, which positively impacts organizational effectiveness and performance.
Better employee advocacy
A committed employee is more likely to advocate for their organization because they believe in its larger vision. They’ve adopted the organization’s goals and values on both a professional and personal level, which means they actively support its products, services, and policies. This genuine endorsement of the company is likely to attract more talent to fill its open positions, and improve the employer brand experience.
Lower absenteeism rates
When an employee is committed, they are much less likely to call in sick despite being well, or take unplanned absences. A high level of organizational commitment makes them more likely to enjoy showing up for work, completing tasks, achieving goals, and being a valued team member, thereby reducing absenteeism rates.
Decreased employee turnover
A strong sense of organizational commitment makes an employee far less likely to consider leaving their job, even when they experience inevitable bouts of job dissatisfaction. If the company has shown it supports its staff and is committed to their growth even in difficult periods, employees feel more motivated to stay longer, thereby lowering employee turnover rates.
What influences organizational commitment?
Several factors can influence organizational commitment in an employee:
Job satisfaction
When employees like their job, they are more likely to develop a strong connection to their organization. There is a strong correlation between organizational commitment and job satisfaction, with the latter is a reliable indicator of the former. In fact, one of the top reasons employees quit is job dissatisfaction, which means organizations should prioritize employee happiness and job satisfaction.
Managerial support
A greater degree of leadership support and cohesion can lead to greater organizational commitment, as employees who receive sufficient support tend to be more motivated and productive at work. The study also showed that leaders distributing leadership responsibilities among other workers increases job satisfaction and commitment, instead of concentrating leadership under one person or department.
Role stress and role ambiguity
Role stress and ambiguity almost always have a negative impact on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. When managers give an employee conflicting requests (role conflict) or lacks the required information to complete a task (role ambiguity), this is likely to cause role stress. This can cause a decrease in performance, productivity and satisfaction, and an increase in the likelihood of the employee leaving the organization.
Employee empowerment
Employee empowerment refers to motivating and energizing employees towards achieving goals, giving them more autonomy, and increasing motivation and commitment. There are two main types of empowerment: structural empowerment (the ability to get things done and mobilize resources) and psychological empowerment (employees’ psychological perceptions/attitudes about their work and organizational roles).
Job insecurity and employability
Workers on fixed-term contracts (or anyone seen as a temporary employee) are more likely to experience job insecurity compared to permanent workers. Job insecurity negatively correlates with job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. When an employee believes their job is secure for the long term, they are more likely to become invested in their role and the organization.
13 ways HR can increase organizational commitment
If you’re keen on increasing organizational commitment at your company, take heed of the following 13 ways you can do so:
1. Foster transparency and clear communication
Employees commit more when they understand company goals, their specific roles, and how they can contribute. Be open about profits, losses, and strategies. This builds trust, makes employees feel valued, and improves performance.
Practical steps you can take include holding monthly profit meetings, sending newsletters with key updates, and aligning leadership to ensure consistent messaging across the company.
2. Employ job design strategies to improve job satisfaction
Well-designed jobs increase satisfaction, reduce turnover, and strengthen commitment. Job design strategies include:
- Job rotation: Create more variety and allow employees to experience other roles in the organization.
- Job simplification: Simplify complex tasks and streamline processes.
- Job enlargement: Widen employees’ scope of responsibilities and opportunities.
- Job enrichment: Invest in training and team bonding.
- Job crafting: Allow individuals to proactive making small changes to their jobs.
These strategies can make work feel more exciting and meaningful, thereby increasing employee engagement, motivation and commitment.
3. Promote an inclusive environment at work
Belonging drives engagement. In fact, 39% of candidates have reported declining jobs due to poor inclusivity. Existing employees who lack a sense of belonging are less likely to be engaged and therefore, less committed to the organization. Here are some ways to promote an inclusive environment at work:
- Conduct employee surveys and act on the findings
- Review recruiting and compensation practices
- Reassess employee policies
- Make inclusion part of the onboarding process
- Evaluate how daily practices affect everyone.
4. Demonstrate your commitment to employee wellbeing
Wellbeing goes beyond safe physical conditions in the workplace. Ask employees what kind of wellness incentives they prefer, and act on recurring themes. Some ideas include creating rest areas, subsidizing nutritious meals, partering with gyms for discounted memberships for staff, or assessing workloads when employees consistently work late. Showing employees you care is likely to raise organizational commitment.
5. Measure organizational commitment
Use organizational commitment questionnaires (OCQ). The most accepted tool is Allen and Meyer’s 24-item scale, which covers affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Below are some items you can include in your OCQ:
- “This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me.”
- “Staying here is a matter of necessity as much as desire.”
- “This organization deserves my loyalty.”
The results from your OCQ can highlight problem areas and guide improvement strategies.
6. Strive for pay equity and fairness
Pay inequity is a major driver of turnover. Staff who feel fairly compensated are more motivated and committed. To assess pay equity at your company, conduct a survey to gauge employee perceptions of pay fairness. Then, use the results to help adjust practices accordingly, and communicate the changes openly.
7. Focus on employee development
Offer promotions, training, ongoing skill-building, and constructive feedback to employees. At the same time, use career development tools like AIHR’s HR Career Map to help employees plan their career trajectory and growth. This creates a more skilled, motivated and committed workforce.
8. Strengthen purpose and values
Employees tend to draw purpose from work, but many often don’t feel it. If employees can’t see purpose, they’ll start looking elsewhere. Leaders must connect goals to a clear purpose and use it to guide decisions. To track alignment and accountability, you can use scorecards and performance metrics.
9. Build psychological safety
Toxic work culture can cause more resignations than pay issues. It’s crucial to foster psychological safety at work, so employees feel safe to speak up without fear. Here are some ways to do this:
- Avoid perfectionism — allow your team to make mistakes and learn from them
- Avoid blame culture
- Recognize and celebrate people for good work
- Advocate for DEIB
- Check your own biases and address them
- Communicate with care by being vulnerable, authentic and empathetic.
10. Recognize and celebrate progress
Recognition builds loyalty and engagement, so it’s vital to celebrate both small wins and big achievements. Impactful ideas include employee-of-the-month programs, public praise, performance bonuses, or peer recognition. Be specific, and tailor employee recognition to individual achievements and preferences.
11. Support internal mobility
Prioritizing internal mobility can lead to 53% longer employee tenures and 79% more leadership promotions. Make internal mobility part of your culture by prioritizing internal hires and offering upskilling, and provide employees with opportunities to try new roles, projects, and functions.
12. Foster distributed leadership
Shared leadership empowers employees at all levels to contribute and make decisions. Encourage open feedback, offer leadership development programs, and provide mentors and peer support. Leaders must let go of centralized control to build a culture of shared responsibility.
13. Ensure organizational justice in decision-making
Organizational justice starts with a culture of openness — be clear and transparent when communicating your policies, practices and objectives. Create fair decision-making in HR by reducing implicit bias, adopting systems that serve all employees’ needs, and make evidence-based, data-driven decisions.
To sum up
Organizational commitment grows when employees feel valued, treated fairly, and connected to a clear purpose. Transparency, fair pay, wellbeing support, and growth opportunities all build trust and loyalty.
Lasting commitment comes from consistent effort across culture, leadership, and inclusion. When these align, employees stay engaged, perform better, and drive long-term success.
