Who will be committed to an organization that provides support for employee development?

Abstract

PurposeA prevailing notion in the management development literature is that support for employee development by organizations is positively associated with organizational commitment by employees. This paper aims to examine whether learning and performance goal orientations of employees act as moderators of this effect. The authors hypothesized that support for development would have differential effects on commitment depending on the goal orientations of employees.Design/methodology/approachThe data were obtained in a sample of 651 employees from across the US workforce using a two‐wave internet survey sampling method.FindingsThe authors found that perceived support for development is positively related to commitment for some workers; however, individual learning and performance orientations act as moderators. For some individuals, support for development by an organization will not be associated with greater commitment and might even be negatively associated with commitment.Research limitations/implicationsThe data are self‐reported; however, methodological steps were taken to reduce risk of a negative impact on results.Practical implicationsThe notion that support for employee development enhances organizational commitment is widely accepted, and significant resources are sometimes devoted to leveraging development as a source of competitive advantage in recruiting and employee retention. The findings show the importance of understanding individual differences in this context because they may make a difference in how development affects commitment. Options are discussed for organizations in which learning and development are required and not all people are oriented toward learning.Originality/valueThis paper illustrates that it is important to understand psychological differences in employees to effectively understand and manage an employee development initiative to have optimal impact.

Price, rebate and order quantity decisions in a newsvendor framework with rebate-dependent recapture of lost sales

“…Whereas learning orientation is linked to positive individual and organizational outcomes (Martocchio and Hertensein, 2003;Gong, Huang, and Farh, 2009), performance orientation is negatively linked to performance (Bell and Kozlowski, 2002;Maurer and Lippstreu, 2008) and the ability to adapt (Levinthal and March, 1993). Although individuals may have a natural inclination toward one orientation, it is clear that situational factors have an impact on which orientation will be elicited (Marshall, 1987;Stern, Katz-Navon, and Naveh, 2008;Martocchio and Hertensein, 2003).…”

Staff Retention in an Information Management Environment

“…If employees are committed to an organisation, they are less likely to leave or be absent and may also display other behaviours which are valuable to the organisation (Maurer &Lippstreu, 2008). Kaye and Jordan-Evans (2005) indicate that managers should stop guessing what it is that keeps their 'stars' home and happythey should not assume that all employees desire the same thing, such as, for example pay or promotion.…”

Organizational Culture and the Organizational Commitment; Correlational Study in Hospital Staffs

“…Individual's commitment is concerned not only to their work but also their values and beliefs (Dwyer, Richard, & Chadwick, 2003). The more committed staffs, are more bounded to the organization values and goals, perform their role more actively and also less attempt to leave the organization and find new job opportunities (Maurer & Lippstreu, 2008). However there is a small number of empirical studies a relationship between organizational culture and commitment has often been theoretically proposed.…”