The association between training and organizational commitment among white‐collar workers in Malaysia

Abstract

The exploration of the relationship between organizational commitment and training is still in its early stages. Although there have been several studies reported on training and organizational commitment in Western countries, very little has been done in respect of the local professionals in Malaysia. This research investigates the association between five training variables (availability of training, support for training, motivation to learn, training environment and perceived benefits of training), and various aspects of organizational commitment (affective commitment, normative commitment, continuance commitment and overall organizational commitment). The availability of training, support for training, motivation to learn, training environment, perceived benefits of training were all significantly correlated with affective commitment, normative commitment and overall organizational commitment. The training environment and perceived benefits were also significantly correlated with continuance commitment. However the availability of training, support for training and motivation to learn were not significantly correlated with continuance commitment. This suggests that despite other forms of commitment, Malaysian workers do not feel that they need to remain in an organization that has made available the training, given support for the training and were motivated to learn. Otherwise, results suggest that on the whole, training does seem to have an influence on organiza-Training and organizational commitment 167 tional commitment. The practical implication of this is that managers, who are so desirous of enhancing organizational commitment among their subordinates, should pay more attention to training.Annual income was found to correlate positively with affective commitment and overall commitment. Age and tenure were not significant predictors of overall organizational commitment contradicting studies in the West. This demonstrated that Malaysians might have different attitudes towards organizational commitment. The older they are and the longer they stay within an organization do not imply that they will be committed towards their organization. This phenomenon can be attributed to the uncertain business environment in Malaysia.

The impact of employee perceptions of training on organizational commitment and turnover intentions: a study of multinationals in the Chinese service sector

“…Prior research suggests employees with positive perceptions of this will be more committed to the organisation (Bartlett, 2001). As previously indicated by studies in the US and Malaysia the perceived availability of training has a strong relationship with affective but not continuance commitment (Bartlett, 2001;Ahmad and Bakar, 2003). These findings suggest that organisations may enhance affective commitment by promoting awareness of training opportunities.…”

“…A limited number of studies have been conducted in America (Bartlett, 2001), Malaysia (Ahmad and Bakar, 2003) and the Middle-East (Al- .…”

“…A number of studies demonstrate that training provision leads to improvements in organisational commitment (Bartlett, 2001;Ahmad and Bakar, 2003;. As part of their unwritten psychological contract with the organisation employees expect to be provided with training and development opportunities in exchange for displayed organisational commitment (Bartlett, 2001).…”

Impact of Training and Development of Employees on Employee Performance through Job Satisfaction: A Study of Telecom Sector of Pakistan

“…Training is organized attempt of an employee to acquire efficient performance in single or multiple activities (K. Z. Ahmad & Bakar, 2003). Employees should be fully involved in training programs and there must be a relation between employee and company (McConnell, 2004).…”

Employees Perception of Training and Its Relationship with Organizational Commitment among the Employees Working at Saudi Industrial Development Fund

“…It appears that individuals' motivation to learn and participate in training have no impact towards their assessment on the costs of leaving the organization. It can be assumed that although individuals believed that training is advantageous to them, it does not necessarily mean that it will affect their perception of the cost of leaving (Ahmad and Bakar, 2003). In addition, if the employees are not able to gain some benefits from training (e.g., participation in decision making, promotion, apply the skills in situations and contexts that are very similar to those in which the training occurred) will not be more inclined to stay with the organization that provided the training programme.…”