Validation of an Instrument and Measurement of Employee Work-Life Policies, Psychological Empowerment, and Job Commitment of Academic Staff in Universities

Abstract

This study used a structural equation modelling approach to assess the association between employee work-life policies, psychological empowerment, and academic staff job commitment in universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study following a descriptive survey research design. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted in the selection of 315 academic staff from two universities in the study area. “Work-Life Policies, Psychological Empowerment and Job Commitment Questionnaire (WPPEJCQ)” was used as the instrument for data collection. The construct validity of the instrument was ascertained through an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The Kaiser-Meyer-Ohlin of .894 and the Bartlett coefficient of 7795.820 were obtained. Several fit indices of Confirmatory Factor Analysis were used to accept the model such as RMSEA=.031, TLI=.969, CFI=.971 and many others. The null hypotheses were all tested using Path analysis. Findings revealed, among others, that there is a significant effect of work-life policies on the affective (β=.774,t=21.636,p<.05), continuance (β=.450,t=8.932,p<.05), and normative (β=490,t=9.967,p<.05) dimensions of academic staff commitment; furthermore, psychological empowerment has a significant effect on the affective (β=.795,t=23.199,p<.05), continuance (β=.501,t=10.261,p<.05) and normative (β = .520, t = 10.795, p< .05) dimensions of staff commitment; and there is a significant composite effect of work-life policies and psychological empowerment on the affective, continuance, and normative commitment levels of academic staff in universities. Based on these findings, conclusions and recommendations were made

Predictive Path Modelling of Indicators of Secondary School Instructors’ Affective, Continuance and Normative Job Commitment

“…Section A obtained respondents' demographic information while section B comprised 18 four points Likert scale items measuring staff placement (six items), staff retraining (six items) and staff motivation (six items). The latter (JCQ) was derived from an instrument titled "Job Commitment Questionnaire (JCQ)" which was designed by some scholars (Owan et al, 2020). There was no modification to the items in the original version of the JCQ, however, the researcher only adopted items measuring the three dimensions of employee job commitment (Owan et al, 2020).…”

“…The latter (JCQ) was derived from an instrument titled "Job Commitment Questionnaire (JCQ)" which was designed by some scholars (Owan et al, 2020). There was no modification to the items in the original version of the JCQ, however, the researcher only adopted items measuring the three dimensions of employee job commitment (Owan et al, 2020). The TCQ comprised a total of 24 four-points Likert scale items with three sub-scales (affective, continuance and normative commitment; each having eight items).…”

“…Affective, continuance and normative commitment were listed as the facets of employee job commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990). Affective commitment refers to staff inclination to an organisation due to the passion for their jobs and the sense of fulfilment derived from working with an organisation (Owan et al, 2020). This type of commitment is commanded by employees with emotional ties to an organisation.…”

“…Continuance commitment reflects staff persistence to work in an organisation just because of the perceived dangers or hardship they stand to face if they decide to leave the organisation (Owan et al, 2020). This type of commitment is tied to the gains or remuneration employees receive from organisations that create a feeling that getting something better elsewhere is impossible or difficult.…”

“…The normative commitment is the inclination of workers to an organisation based on prescribed rules binding the organisation and the employee (Biwott & Kemboi, 2017;Owan et al, 2020), which puts pressure on workers to stay in an organisation (Peretomode & Bello, 2018). Employees maintain a sense of obligation to organisations due to the contractual terms of the agreement (Owan et al, 2020). It follows that employees have no option other than to commit to the organisation while the contract lasts, their interest notwithstanding.…”