Fostering Commitment in the Workplace

Think about your greatest professional achievement to date. Seriously. Take a moment and think back, not just on the achievement itself, but also the long hours, grit, and espresso required along your journey.  

Did you finally earn that long-sought-after promotion? 

Did you start your own business? 

Did you meet what felt like an impossible project deadline?

Did you identify a company-wide change that led to improved performances?

Now that you have your achievement in mind, I ask that you answer this honestly: did you work hard toward that goal because you were engaged? Or… was your hard work and engagement the product of your commitment? 

As it turns out, the behavioral driver of hard work is not employees’ engagement. It’s their commitment, more specifically, their “Organizational Commitment."

The Power of Organizational Commitment

Formally defined, Organizational Commitment is the “partisan, affective attachment to the goals and values of an organization, to one’s role in relation to goals and values, and to the organization for its own sake, apart from its purely instrumental worth.” (Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management)

Organizational Commitment is the primary factor of influence, and therefore the most reliable predictor for employee’ performance, retention, discretionary effort, and engagement.  

If you aren’t yet familiar with Organizational Commitment, it is likely because Employee Engagement has taken center stage for the past three decades. And to clarify, engagement is important; my objective is not to say otherwise. However, the research behind Employee Engagement is outdated. 

Don’t just take New Wave Solutions’ word for it. In recent years, elite universities and journals have been conducting new studies, which support the power of this modern alternative to Employee Engagement. For example, The Harvard Business Review recently shared the following insight:

    “Gaining employee commitment results in greater profits because enthusiastic    employees stay, contribute discretionary effort, and engage customers.”

An engaged workforce is no longer sufficient for your company to compete. To successfully foster a high-performing team, employees need to be motivated by something deeper than their own engagement. 

Consider the words of Josh Bersin, of Bersin by Deloitte: “The word ‘engagement’ often limits our thinking. It assumes that our job is to reach out and ‘engage’ people, rather than to build an organization that is exciting, fulfilling, meaningful, and fun. Plus we aren’t just looking to get people’ engaged’, we want them to be ‘married.’ That is, fully committed.”

Looking ahead

Typical employee surveys uncover problems but often leave HR on their own to diagnose and implement solutions. That’s not us.

Especially during Covid-19, free-response questions have been key in helping our clients understand employees’ sentiments, obstacles, and desired improvements. Through this approach, we’ve empowered leaders, particularly those in HR, to replace speculation with certainty regarding which interventions are most worth their time and effort. 

By strengthening Organizational Commitment within your workforce, I guarantee you will fuel the source of their engagement while aligning their goals and values with those of your organization.

Improving Employees’ Organizational Commitment will lead to:

? Lower Attrition: Employees who have high Organizational Commitment “do not actively search for alternative employment and are not responsive to offers.” Wharton, University of Pennsylvania

? Soaring Performance: Those high in Organizational Commitment “are likely to work harder and more consistently with organizational expectations than those who are not.” Academy of Management Journal

***To learn more about our ongoing efforts at New Wave Solutions, don’t hesitate to reach out to [email protected].

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RECOMMENDED READ: 3 Reasons to Measure Commitment NOT Engagement

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Written By Andrew Kitchner

CEO | New Wave Solutions

E: [email protected]

P: 714.496.2984 

New Wave Solutions’ Employee Surveys enable our clients to measure, track, and improve Organizational Commitment so they can better gain, train, and retain top-tier talent.