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AUTHORS NOTE: An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2004 meeting of the

AHRD Academy of Human Resource Development held in Austin, Texas.

Human Resource Development Review Vol. 7, No. 3 September 2008 339-357DOI: 10.1177/1534484308318760 2008 SAGE Publications

Workplace Commitment: AConceptual Model DevelopedFrom Integrative Review of theResearch

SANDRA L. FORNES

Hidden Angel Foundation, Inc.

TONETTE S. ROCCOFlorida International University

KAREN K. WOLLARDKelly, Wollard & Associates

This article investigates the previous research and theories of workplacecommitment using content analysis and concept mapping. It provides aconceptual model of workplace commitment, integrating the literature onorganizational commitment, occupational/career commitment, and individ-ual commitment. The significance of this article lies in the integration ofthe extant literature on commitment and the development of a conceptualmodel of workplace commitment and related propositions derived from theliterature. The article discusses interventions that can be used by humanresource development (HRD) researchers and practitioners to improveorganizational performance by developing workplace commitment in theorganization.

Keywords: workplace commitment; organizational commitment; performanceimprovement

Performance improvement in an organization goes beyond the commonly

accepted principles of good management and effective leadership by engaging

the emotional commitment of the employee (Katzenbach, 2000). Commitment

is the differentiating factor between top-performing companies and those of

average performance (Katzenbach, 2000). Emotionally engaged employees

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(Swanson & Arnold, 1996), organizational commitment has been overlooked

(Bartlett, 2001). Employee development, behavioral change, and organizational

performance are all issues that can be affected by organizational commitment

(Meyer & Allen, 1997). These are all in the domain of HRD using McLean andMcLeans (2001) definition, HRD is:

Any process or activity that, either initially or over the long term, has the potentialto develop adultswork-based knowledge, expertise, productivity, and satisfaction,whether for personal or group/team gain, or for the benefit of an organization,community, and nation, or ultimately, the whole of humanity. (p. 322)

However, only two articles on HRD and organizational commitment have

been found in the four (academy sponsored) HRD journals in the last 10 years,and these articles were focused specifically on training (Bartlett, 2001; Bartlett &

Kang, 2004). Little attention has been paid to the need for a focus on workplace

commitment by HRD professionals leaving a gap between the need to foster

organizational commitment approaches that improve performance and the knowl-

edge of HRD practitioners to effectively influence commitment. How can HRD

scholars help organizations find, consider, and incorporate workplace commit-

ment interventions to improve employee and organizational performance?

Purpose and Research Questions

The purpose of this article is to examine the practices surrounding commit-

ment in the workplace, and provide a conceptual model followed by proposi-

tions for HRD to improve workplace commitment and performance. The

research questions were (a) what are the organizational and individual out-

comes (consequences) of workplace commitment; (b) what are the antecedents

(or causes) to workplace commitment that creates positive outcomes for the

organization and the individual, and (c) what is the process through which

workplace commitment leads to positive outcomes? This article is organizedinto four sections (a) the method, (b) conceptual model of workplace commit-

ment, (c) propositions and interventions for HRD practitioners and profes-

sionals, and (d) conclusions and implications.

Method

A structured review of the literature on commitment was conducted. Selection

of articles, content analysis, and concept mapping are discussed in this section.

Selection of Articles

Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), PsycInfo, and ABI

Inform were selected with the assistance of a reference librarian as most

representative of education, psychology, and business fields. The databases

Fornes et al. / WORKPLACE COMMITMENT 341



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were queried using the keywords workplace commitment, organizational com-

mitment, affective commitment, employee emotional commitment, career,

profession, occupational commitment, job commitment, work group and team

commitment. The databases were searched for keywords alone and then pairedwith human resource development and organizational development. Early in

the 1970s organizational structure and performance improvement became

important issues to corporate executives (Senge, 1993). For this reason we

reviewed the literature from 1970 to present.

A total of 567 peer-reviewed articles from journals were examined for rel-

evance to the project. Articles found to be nonspecific to the workplace (234),

i.e., general societal trends such as societal commitment or familial commit-

ment, were eliminated. Additionally, duplicate articles (198) were also elimi-

nated. Articles specific to commitment in the workplace (125) were includedin the analysis. Of the 125 peer-reviewed articles only two were HRD related

(Bartlett, 2001; Bartlett & Kang, 2004).

Content Analysis

Content analysis was conducted to identify and organize variables and con-

cepts related to commitment in the workplace. Content analysis is a research

tool used to determine the presence of certain concepts within text, by quanti-

fying and analyzing the presence, meaning and relationships of concepts, then

making inferences about the messages within the text to draw out conclusions

(Palmquist, 2003; Palmquist, Carley, and Dale, 1997). To conduct the content

analysis the articles were searched for categories based on the research ques-

tions (Palmquist, 2003). These categories consisted of (a) organizational and

employee outcomes of workplace commitment or the consequences of com-

mitment, (b) antecedents that are related to workplace commitment, and (c)

processes to improve employees commitment.

Concept Mapping

The categories were then processed using concept mapping. Concept map-

ping is a structured process focused on a topic or construct of interest that pro-

duces an interpretable pictorial view or concept map of ideas and concepts and

how these are interrelated (Novak, 1990). The links between the concepts can

be one-way, two-way, or nondirectional (Novak, 1977). Concept mapping

lends itself to the comparison of semantic connections across texts and

attempts to represent the relationship(s) between ideas, beliefs, attitudes, and

information available to an author within a text. These relationships can be

represented as logical, inferential, causal, and/or sequential relationships

(Crooper, Eden, & Ackerman, 1990).

In concept mapping the information gathered from the content analysis was

sorted into three clusters consisting of the (a) antecedents, (b) consequences or

342 Human Resource Development Review / September 2008



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outcomes, and (c) processing of workplace commitment. For example, if a

statement in an article was specific to an outcome of workplace commitment,

it was added to the cluster referred to as consequences or outcome and viewed

as an outcome construct. A map was then developed from the clusters by usingrelational analysis to determine the relationships among concepts in the text

(Palmquist, 2003).

Concept mapping was used to create a conceptual model of the overall

meaning of the categories and create a map of the relationships, or links,

between concepts. The final step involved using the maps to help address the

original focus of the problem and purpose statement. Then the map can be

used as a visual framework or model for operationalizing interventions for

HRD professionals to improve workplace commitment and performance.

Conceptual Model of Workplace Commitment

A conceptual model of workplace commitment evolved as a result of the

concept mapping process and is discussed as follows. Workplace commitment

includes both organizational commitment and individual commitment.

Commitment is central to the understanding of both human motivation and

system maintenance (Kanter, 1968) and is one of the key requirements to

become a learning organization (Senge, 1993). Workplace commitment con-

sists of organizational commitment, individual commitment, and outcomes of

workplace commitment. This is followed by a summary of the antecedents to

workplace commitment leading to Figure 1: A Conceptual Model of Workplace

Commitment.

Organizational Commitment

Organizational commitment involves both organizational and supervisory

commitment and is directed by organization attributes such as values and orga-

nizational behaviors (Morrow, 1993). Supervisory commitment is defined as

the strength of identification with the supervisor and the internalization of the

supervisors values. Identification occurs when the subordinate admires cer-

tain attributes of the supervisor, such as attitudes, behaviors, and accomplish-

ments. Internalization occurs when the subordinate adopts the attitudes and

behaviors of the supervisor because the supervisors attitudes and behaviors

are congruent with the subordinates value systems (Becker, 1992; Gregersen

& Black, 1993).

Commitment to the organization is related positively to a variety of desir-

able work outcomes including employee job satisfaction, motivation, and per-

formance, and related negatively to absenteeism and turnover (Mathieu &

Zajac, 1990). Organizational commitment is defined as the psychological and

emotional attachment of employees to their organizations (Mathieu & Zajac,

1990; Meyer & Allen, 1991; Morrow, 1993). Organizational commitment is




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the measure of strength of the employees identification with the goals and val-

ues of the organization (Mowday et al., 1982). Individuals committed to the

organization exert extra effort, desire organizational membership (Morrow,

1993), protect company assets, and share company goals and values (Meyer &Allen, 1997).

Organizational commitment can be measured as either attitudinal or calcu-

lative. Attitudinal commitment is the employees emotional attachment and

identification with the organization (Cohen, 2003; Meyer & Allen, 1997;

Mowday et al., 1982; Porter, Steers, Mowday & Boulian, 1974). Attitudinal

commitment is referred to as affective commitment (Meyer, Allen, & Smith,

1993), or internalization and identification (OReilly & Chatman, 1986).

Employees continue with the organization because they want to do so (Meyer

& Allen, 1997; Mowday et al., 1982) and feel proud to be part of the organiza-tion, respecting its values and accomplishments (OReilly & Chatman, 1986).

The calculative or side-bet (Becker, 1960), also referred to as continu-

ance (Meyer & Allen, 1997) and compliance (OReilly & Chatman, 1986),

signifies the extent to which employees feel committed to their organization

by virtue of the cost that they feel is associated with leaving it and their need

to remain with the organization (Becker, 1992; Meyer & Allen, 1997).

Employees remain with the organization because of the perceived cost of leav-

ing (Meyer & Allen, 1997).

The correlation between antecedents and attitudinal measures is stronger

than those measures of the calculated approach (Hrebiniak & Alutto, 1972;

Meyer & Allen, 1997; OReilly & Chatman, 1986) therefore the attitudinal

commitment approach provides a clear and focused measurement of organiza-

tional commitment and performance outcomes (Cohen, 2003). Thus, in this

article organizational commitment is used simultaneously with attitudinal

measures of commitment.

Individual CommitmentIndividual employee commitment is guided by attributes that directly affect

the person and is defined as the psychological and emotional attachment of

individuals to their jobs, careers, work groups or teams, and peers (Cohen,

2003). Individual commitment is the strength of the employees identification

with the values of other individuals and peers within the organization (team

commitment), and his/her work (job commitment) and careers (career com-

mitment). Team commitment is an individuals identification and sense of

cohesiveness with other members of a group. Team commitment enhances

social involvement and reinforces the ties that the individual forms with the

organization (Randal & Cote, 1991). Job commitment is the degree to which

a person identifies psychologically with his/her work. The importance of work

is the degree to which work performance and internalization of organizational

values affects self-esteem and self-image (Lodhal & Kejner, 1965; Rabinowitz




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& Hall, 1977). Career commitment (professional and occupational commit-

ment) is the employees devotion to a craft or occupation (Blau, 1995;

Morrow, 1983). Career commitment is defined as the magnitude of an indi-

viduals motivation, attitude, affect, belief, and behavioral intentions toward anoccupation or vocation (Blau, 1995; Hall, 1971) or the degree of centrality of

ones career to ones identity (Gould, 1979).

Outcomes of Workplace Commitment

The outcomes of workplace commitment are the effects that result from

organizational and individual commitment and are also referred to as the con-

sequences. Outcomes include lower absenteeism, increased work effort

(Mathieu & Zajac, 1990), and improved production (Randal & Cote, 1994)

and overall performance on the job (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Managers with

strong organizational commitment report higher levels of compliance with

strategic decisions and better financial planning (DeCotiis & Summers, 1987;

Kim & Mauborgne, 1993). These managers are more willing to engage in

organizational citizenship and extra-role performance (Meyer et al., 1993).

Employees with strong organizational commitment are emotionally attached

to the organization and have a greater desire to contribute meaningfully to the

organization. The willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty (extra-

role performance) includes things such as providing extra help to coworkers,

volunteering for special work assignments, being considerate of coworkers

and customers, working additional hours, and making suggestions when prob-

lems arise (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Organizational commitment leads to

increased competitiveness, accountability, and the desire to improve overall

job performance (Konovsky & Cropanzano, 1991). Higher levels of organiza-

tional commitment are associated with lower turnover (Camp, 1993) and

improved organizational effectiveness. Furthermore, employees that have high

levels of organizational commitment experience lower stress levels even

though they work longer and harder than those not committed. Organizational

commitment encourages motivation (Meyer & Allen, 1997) and lower psy-

chological and physical work-related stress (Reilly & Orsak, 1991), less emo-

tional exhaustion and depersonalization (Jamal, 1990). Employees committed

to the organization, their jobs and careers appear happier, and are able to exert

more quality time with their families and hobbies (Reilly & Orsak, 1991).

Individual employees commitment and commitment to work groups

improves team performance, pro-social behavior and group cohesion, and

enhances individual job performance and satisfaction (Bishop & Scott, 1997).

Job characteristics or interesting work, such as task identity, skill variety, task

significance, and autonomy, increase motivation, job satisfaction, and perfor-

mance (Hackman & Oldham, 1976). Those committed to their jobs and/or

careers are absent less and have lower intentions to quit (Bishop & Scott, 1997),

increased job satisfaction, and increased intrinsic motivation (Hackman &




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Oldham, 1976). Career commitment and job involvement affect professionals

job satisfaction, turnover intention, role stress, productivity, and job migration

(Aranya & Ferris, 1984; Gunz & Gunz, 1994). Employees who receive formal

career management help form their employers reported higher levels of orga-nizational commitment (Sturges, Guest, Conway, & Mackenzie Davey, 2002).

Summary of Antecedents

In summary (see Figure 1), the antecedents to workplace commitment are pre-

sented in terms of organizational and individual commitment. Antecedents of

commitment are actions or elements that cause commitment to occur. These

antecedents produce employee perceptions that lead to positive consequences for

the organization and individual. Organizational commitment antecedents (clarity

of purpose, equity and fairness, empowerment, congruency, feedback and recog-

nition, autonomy, and interesting work) lead to an employees perception of

support received which creates an emotional attachment to the organization

(organizational commitment). The antecedents to individual commitment (con-

gruency, feedback and recognition, autonomy and interesting work) lead to

meaningfulness of work, career, peers, and self, creating an attachment to the job,

career, and work teams (individual commitment). Organizational and individual

commitment results in positive outcomes and implications for the organization

and the individual (both proximal and distal outcomes of commitment). Figure 1

illustrates the relationship among employeesperceptions and of workplace com-

mitment by illustrating the relationship between the antecedents and outcomes.

Antecedents precede the employee perception stimulating commitment and out-

comes which influence individual and organizational success. For example, clar-

ity of purpose leads to an emotional commitment to the organization.

The conceptual model suggests that antecedents promote organizational com-

mitment (including the organization and its supervisors) and individual commit-

ment (including ones job, career, and team) by fostering working conditions that

stimulate positive outcomes benefiting both the organization and individual.

Propositions and Interventions for HRD toEnable Workplace Commitment

Understanding the antecedents to commitment allows HRD practitioners to

build and maintain highly effective organizations. Swanson (1995) defines

HRD as a process of developing and unleashing human expertise through

organization development and personnel training and development for the pur-

pose of improving performance (p. 208). Swanson and Arnold (1996) state

that HRDs principle purpose is to improve organizational performance through

increased productivity, efficient work processes, and individual contributions.

Katzenbach (2000) describes an energized and committed workforce as high-

performing (those that perform better than industry norms) and whose work




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commitment enables them to make and deliver products or services that con-

stitute a sustainable competitive advantage. Workplace commitment is an

essential factor for organizational survival and effectiveness (Buchanan, 1974).

Commitment has been defined as the degree of pledging or binding of the

individual to a set of behaviors that motivates one to act (Kiesler, 1971). Once

identification with the organization begins, individuals are likely to become

concerned with the broader interests of the organization including its reputa-

tion, survival, and continued success. This broader interest will generate activ-

ity and resource exchanges between firm and employee (Rousseau, 1998).Organizational and individual commitments are means to optimize individual

and organizational efficiencies and productivity through interventions focused

on commitment antecedents. A framework for operationalizing interventions

for HRD professionals to improve workplace commitment and performance

emerged from the concept mapping process. The concept mapping process

produced the following seven propositions and interventions based on the

antecedents of workplace commitment: congruency, interesting work, clarity

of purpose, equity, feedback, empowerment, and autonomy.

Congruency

Congruency is the quality of agreement that exists between the employees

values and interests, and those of the organization. If congruency exists


FIGURE 1: A Conceptual Model of Workplace Commitment

Employee perceptions

Interesting work

Equity and fairness

Empowerment

Congruency

Individual

Employee Commitment

Perceived Meaningfulness of

Organizational

Commitment

Perceived Support of

Organizational and

Feedback & recognition

Clarity of purpose

Autonomy

Outcomes

Individual and organizational Success

Antecedents

Emotional Attachment

Willing to engage in organizational citizenship

Extra-role performance

Accountability

Increased job satisfaction and work motivation

Improved Performance

Improved Production

Lower Absenteeism

Lower Turnover

Reduced work-related stress

Improved Self-esteem/Self image

Congruency

Interesting work

Feedback & recognition

AutonomyIncreased employee Well-being

Self-Awareness



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between a persons interests, preferences, abilities (Holland, 1985), and values

(Katzenbach, 2000), and organizational factors in the work environment,

employees become more emotionally committed to the organization leading to

improved performance (Czander, 2001; Holland, 1985; Katzenbach, 2000).Congruency between the individual and his or her job/career increases com-

mitment to the career and/or job (OReilly, Chatman, & Cadwell, 1991).

Proposition 1: Aligning employees values, abilities, skills, and interests with orga-

nizational values and culture will have a positive impact on organizational and

individual commitment improving organizational and performance outcomes.

Interventions to achieve the proposition are to design selection processes

which prescreen potential employees based on congruency between individualand organizational values; to create work environments consistent with orga-

nizational values; and to provide orientation and initial training consistent with

organizational values and make the organizational values explicit.

Interesting Work

Interesting workholds the individuals attention, is challenging and reward-

ing, is significant to the organization, and allows utilization of a variety of

skills and knowledge. Job characteristics such as job challenge, skill variety(different activities and talents the job requires), task identity (doing a job from

beginning to end with visible results), task significance (the jobs impact on

the lives of workers and the organization), and degree of autonomy (freedom,

independence, and discretion in scheduling work and determining procedures)

all improve commitment to the organization (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Nelson,

1999), to the job (Hackman & Oldham, 1976; Varona, 2002), and to the career

(Person, 1997). The more important a task or job component (job significance)

is the greater the level of job commitment and job satisfaction, motivation, and

job performance (Hackman & Oldham, 1976). Job enrichment which involvesmodifying jobs so that employees can experience more of the motivator fac-

tors (Sachau, 2007) can be utilized to form more interesting work. Enriched

jobs offer frequent opportunities for opportunities to take responsibility and

opportunities to be autonomous (Sachau, 2007). When jobs are enriched,

employees are more interested in their work, exercise greater responsibility,

and produce higher quality output (Herzberg, 1982).

Proposition 2: Organizations that ensure interesting work and allow for job variety,

independence or discretion in sequence, methods, procedures, and quality con-trol will improve organizational, individual, and job commitment.

Interventions to achieve the proposition are to develop an organizational

culture which is horizontal and less hierarchical to create a work environment




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that provides job variety and job enrichment to provide cross-training in a vari-

ety of positions.

Clarity of Purpose

Clarity of purpose provides a clear identification of the intentions, ideas,

goals, and plans of the organization allowing employees to be informed, ask

questions, share information, and provide a clear sense of direction. Lack of

clarity about purpose lies at the core of organizational ineffectiveness and inef-

ficiency (Katzenbach, 2000; Kaufman, 2000).

Proposition 3: Organizations that develop systems that provide a clear sense of

direction and adequate explanation of new policies and procedures will havehigh levels of organizational commitment, team commitment, and individual

commitment.

Interventions to achieve the proposition are to supply employee manuals

that are written in clear, concise, and explicit language; to involve employees

in discussions of new policies and procedures; and to provide timely training

programs on new policies and procedures that provide a clear sense of direc-

tion consistent with organizational values.

Equity and Fairness

Equity and fairness maintain a balance between and within the organization

and its employees. Affective commitment and commitment between peers and

supervisors is strengthened when employees perceptions are of a fair, trusting,

and equitable environment (Kim & Mauborgne, 1993; Konovsky & Cropanzano,

1991; Rhodes & Steers, 1981).

Proposition 4: Organizations that build systems that provide for equal and fair treat-ment of all employees will improve organizational commitment.

Interventions to achieve the proposition are to create transparent policies for

discipline, meritorious service, time off, etc., which are known and understood by

all employees; to train supervisors in fair and consistent policies concerning dis-

cipline and rewards; and to provide training programs on the roles and responsi-

bilities of good cooperative citizens consistent with organizational values.

Feedback

Feedbackis the degree to which employees receive information that reveals

how well they are performing on the job. Feedback that promotes continuous

improvement and constant communication with employees leads to the




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development of organizational commitment (Luthans, 1998) and enhanced

performance (Katzenbach, 2000; Nelson, 1999; Varona, 2002).

Organizations that build systems that promote continuous feedback for improvedand constant communication will increase both organizational and individual

commitment leading to improved performance.

Interventions to achieve the proposition are to create transparent policies

for evaluation, promotion, merit pay, and communications that are known and

understood by all employees; to train supervisors in fair, consistent, and con-

tinuous evaluation and feedback processes (such as 360-degree performance

appraisals); and to provide training programs on the roles and responsibilities

of productive employees consistent with organizational values.

Empowerment

Empowerment gives authority to the employees to make decisions about

their work. Organizational commitment is stronger among employees who are

allowed to participate in decision-making and empowered to carry out their

work (DeCotiis & Summers, 1987; Meyers & Allen, 1997; Rhodes & Steers,

1981). Giving people latitude, flexibility, and power to make decisions

increases the chance that they will perform as desired bringing additional ini-tiative, ideas, and energy to their jobs (Nelson, 1999).

Proposition 6: Organizations that allow employees to participate in decision-

making and allow employees latitude and flexibility to make decisions will

increase organizational and individual commitment.

Interventions to achieve the proposition are to create an organizational

culture which is horizontal and less hierarchical to develop an organizational

culture where supervisors encourage employee latitude in decision making;and to provide training programs which develop employee decision making,

conflict resolution, and consensus-building skills.

Autonomy

Autonomy is the degree of freedom, independence, and discretion an

employee is allowed in scheduling work, determining procedures, and job

involvement. Job involvement allows employees to select jobs that are con-

gruent with their interest and talent (Carbery & Garavan, 2007). Job involve-ment is the degree to which an employee identifies with his job, actively

participates in it, and considers his job performance important to his self-worth

(Lance, 1991). Increased autonomy strengthens organizational commitment

(Mathew & Zajac, 1990), increases job satisfaction, and contributes to job

commitment (Hackman & Oldham, 1975; Person & Chong, 1997). Both




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empowerment and autonomy focuses employees on doing a job well and

encourages them to lend a hand to a coworker or department that needs help

(Katzenbach, 2000).

Proposition 7: Organizations that design work environments that allow for inde-

pendence and discretion in scheduling work and determining procedures

improves organizational and individual commitment.

Interventions to achieve the proposition are to create an organizational cul-

ture which allows for independence and discretion in scheduling work, work

procedures, and job involvement; and to develop a work environment that

allows employees to choose flextime, job sharing, and telecommuting options.

These propositions and HRD approaches will lead to positive outcomes forboth the organization and employee. HRD practitioners developing interventions

that focus on all antecedents of commitment at both the organizational and

individual level will assure an increase in positive organizational outcomes.

When undertaking such initiatives, HRD practitioners can partner with HRD

researchers to examine the impact of these initiatives focusing on future research

and theory-building which lead to providing greater expectation of meaningful

work and employee involvement (McLagan, 1989). Optimization of organiza-

tions produces outcomes of improved individual job performance, organiza-

tional performance, as well as increased job satisfaction and motivation.

HRD and Performance Implications

HRD Implications

Improved workplace commitment leads to various consequences that con-

tribute to overall improvement in employee and organizational performance.

The propositions provide HRD with approaches that can be implemented to

develop work and job environments that are conducive of individual and orga-nizational commitment. For example, career development (an HRD function)

can make a contribution to making sure the job and work environment is con-

gruent with an employees interest and abilities. This congruency leads to

improved commitment and improved performance.

Performance Implications

A conceptual model of workplace commitment including the antecedents,

processes, and outcomes of commitment, can guide HRD performanceimprovement (see Figure 2). If commitment behavior is not transferred from

individuals and subgroups to the total organization, dysfunctional behavior can

exist among individual employees whose goals are in conflict with the goals of

the organization (Cohen, 2003; Vandenberg & Scarpello, 1994). One example

of this is the possible inverse relationship between career commitment and




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organizational commitment. If the organization is not in line with the

employees career goals, the employee may be more committed to his or her

career rather than to the organization, which may have an inverse effect on

organizational performance (Cohen, 2003).

Consequences occur that maximize organizational and individual perfor-

mance such as increased productivity, reduced work-related stress, and lower

absenteeism and turnover. When the employee is committed at both levels, opti-mal organizational and individual performance occurs and individual employee

satisfaction increases. When employees are neither committed to the organiza-

tion nor to the job, career, or work group, distress within the organization leads

to organizational performance problems and low-performing workers.

When employees are committed to the organization, but not committed at

the individual level (i.e., to their jobs or careers) or committed at the individ-

ual level, but not committed at the organizational level, conflict between orga-

nizational and individual values and goals leads to stagnant or lower than

expected performance.

Conclusion

Potential spillover into other areas such as commitment to ones family and

nation may affect society at large (Cohen, 2003). If the quality of an


FIGURE 2: Performance Implications of Workplace Commitment

CONFLICT

Low individual job performance,

Low satisfaction and motivation.

High organizational performance

CONFLICT

High individual job

performance, satisfaction and

motivation,

Low or average organizational

performance

OPTIMIZATION

High individual job

performance, High

organizational performance,

High satisfaction and motivation

HIGH

Organizational

(Affective)

CommitmentDISTRESS

Low job performance,

Low satisfaction, motivation.

Low organizational performance

HIGHIndividual Employee Commitment

LOW



17/21

employees attachment to work organizations is low, this will carry certain

implications for the basic fabrication of society (Cohen, 2003). Without

employee commitment, individuals would lose one very basic source of iden-

tity and belonging. The identification of people with the organization can cre-ate a larger whole that is often a driving force behind a firms performance,

and its employees well being (Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001).

The objective of this review of the literature was to examine factors of

workplace commitment as a performance improvement model for HRD.

Further research is needed to examine these factors and their influence on

commitment. The Conceptual Model of Workplace Commitment presented

here demonstrates the inputs, processes, and outcomes currently described in

the workplace commitment literature. Further investigation of each of the find-

ings would be necessary to determine which inputs and processes are mostinfluential in improving outcomes. Scholars need to investigate successful and

unsuccessful organizations, looking for causes of the outcomes. As the model

is refined, revised, and expanded, it will need to also be tested in a range of

different settings. The importance of organizational commitment to the bottom

line of the organization needs to be considered one of the determining factors

in whether the organization will make the changes needed to increase it.

HRD practitioners need to take ownership of the approaches suggested

here, and to begin using, testing, and evaluating the inputs and processes

shown here to contribute to increased commitment. Furthermore, HRD practi-

tioners must help their organizational leaders understand the importance of the

outcomes of commitment: improved performance, improved production,

higher employee effort, and satisfaction. Once leaders understand that com-

mitment can and must be increased, it will be essential to make changes in the

organizations culture (Rashid, Sambasivan, & Johari, 2003). If HRD practi-

tioners fail to step up and command the approaches that build commitment,

they may be hijacked by business processes that quickly undermine the hard

work of building commitmentcreating equity, fairness, autonomy, giving

feedback and recognition, designing interesting work, and having clear con-

gruency between organizational mission and values and personal ones.

The concept map (model) is a work in process. As more research is done,

the implications of various types of leadership styles, work arrangements, and

cultural influences may be shown to affect organizational and individual com-

mitment. Organizational commitment may even be affected by market forces

and by the ways various industries structure their employee relationships, as is

being suggested in the nursing literature (Gould & Fontenla, 2006).

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Sandra L. Fornes, EdD, is the executive director of the Hidden Angel Foundation

as well as an HRD professional focused on organizational performance through

the development of improved selection and placement systems, team development,

and organizational climate. Her research interests include workplace develop-ment and improved quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

Tonette S. Rocco, PhD (Ohio State University), is associate professor in the Adult

Education and Human Resource Development Program. Research interests

include continuing professional education, equity and privilege (specifically in

terms of race, sexual minorities, age, and disability), teaching for social justice,

and employability/career development.

Karen K. Wollard, EdD, is a Human Resource Development Practitioner/ Scholar.

Her research interests include employee engagement, retention, and commitment;organizational strategies for performance improvement; and the relationship

between service quality and organizational culture.


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