Perceived Organizational Support and Employee Satisfaction and Retention

Abstract

The ability of recreational sport departments to offer quality programming and services often depends on whether they are able to employ and retain quality student employees. These student employees are critical in the performance of tasks associated with the daily operations connected with recreation programs. This study examined the role of perceived organizational support (POS) on student employee attitudes. It is beneficial for university recreational sport departments, specifically directors, to be cognizant of the role POS can play in the work experience of student employees. The relationships between POS and commitment (affective, AC and normative, NC) and satisfaction were investigated for 152 student employees of a campus recreation center. No significant differences in students' perceptions of POS were found based on gender, tenure, or type of supervision (student staff member, professional staff member, or graduate administrative assistant). However, the regression equations with POS and AC, POS and NC, and POS and satisfaction were all significant, explaining 46.2%, 39%, and 53.3% of the variance, respectively. The results of this study of the relationship between POS and commitment mirror several others from the field of industrial and organizational psychology, and it can be demonstrated that student employees reciprocate favorable treatment when they trust that their department will reward them in return. Future studies should focus on some of the particular antecedents of POS (e.g., supervisory support, participation in decision making, organizational justice, trust, and careerist orientation), as well as other possible outcomes of POS, and might provide more depth in understanding exchange relationships for student employees of recreational sports departments.

The Impact of Organizational Support and Justice Perception on Commitment and Intention to Quit: An Empirical Study on Turkish State Universities

“…This result were supported by Allen et all (2003), Rhoades, Eisenberger, and Armeli (2001) and Pack et al (2007).…”

Developing a Student Employee Leadership Program: The Importance of Evaluating Effectiveness

“…They consider student employment an important facet of that charge. To that end, Rec Sports professionals espouse that on-campus student employment is among the most effective methods to provide extracurricular learning (Pack, Jordan, Turner, & Haines, 2007;Schuh, 1999).…”

Sources of Support for Employees in Sport Organizations

“…Eisenberger et al, 2001;Eisenberger et al, 1997;Settoon et al, 1996;Shore & Tetrick, 1991;Yoon & Lim, 1999). These shortened versions of the scale have been frequently used in the studies because the internal consistency of the shortened versions has been shown to be as high as the original 36-item version (e.g., Harris, 1995;Pack, Jordan, Turner, & Haines, 2007 ;Shore & Tetrick, 1991).…”

“…Organizational support has been investigated in conjunction with organizational commitment (e.g., Eisenberger, Armeli, Rexwinkel, Lynch, & Rohoades, 2001;Harris, 1995; Setton, Bennett, & Liden; Shore & Tetrick, 1991), job satisfaction (e.g., Pack et al, 2007;Shore & Tetrick, 1991), in-role behavior (e.g., Eisenberger et al, 2001;Setton et al, 1996), turnover intention (e.g., Eisenberger et al, 2001;Harris, Harris, & Harvey, 2007), extra role performance (e.g., Chen, Eisenberger, Johnson, Sucharski, & Aselage, 2009), organizational citizenship behavior (e.g., Masterson, Lewis, Goldman, & Taylor, 2000;Moorman, Niehoff, & Organ, 1993;Shore & Wayne, 1993), and performance (e.g., Tasi & Lau, 2004). The notion is that when employees perceive that the organization cares about their welfare and provides support, they are likely to return favors to the organization by exhibiting positive feelings, job attitudes, and behavioral intentions (Harris et al, 2007).…”

“…They also found that the quality of leader-member exchange predicted organizational commitment, but the researchers noticed that when they are examined at the same time, perceived organizational support dominates leadermember exchange in explaining variance in organizational commitment. In sport settings, Pack et al's (2007) examined the effects of perceived organizational support on affective commitment, normative commitment, and job satisfaction. The subjects of the study were student employees who worked at a large university recreation center.…”