Employee Commitment And Organizational Performance: Options For Improvement

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Today it becomes necessary for every organization to have full level of its employee commitment in order to have outstanding performance on long term basis.

Organizations are also increasing realizing that it is only with and through the commitment of their workforce that they can fully achieve and sustain improvement in business performance and succeed in market place. This success however can only be achieved in a structure system where their commitments to the achievement of organization goals are enhanced.

This concept of commitment plays an important role in human resources philosophy because it is designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment, flexibility and quality of work.
This presents the need for employees to be committed to the attainment of the objective for which the organization was created and the reason for which they were employed. Many factors account for the lack of commitment in organizations and among such factors are poor incentive, poor coordination, of workers and inadequate assignment of workers to job.
Organizational performance is an analysis of a company performance as compared to goals and objective, organizational performance can be measured through three basic outcome which are financial performance (profit), product market performance (sales) and return to the share holder (Total Share Holders). In the light of the above analysis, the essence of employee commitment to the improvement of organizational performance should be explored in this work.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Conventionally one of the paramount responsibilities of an organization is to retain a highly motivated work force to enhance extent of employee commitment to all achievement of a preset goal of an organization. Several voices of dissent arise as to what an employee should really be committed to, and also the exact measurement of an employee level of commitment.

Coopey and Hartbey (1991) pointed out that organization that adopt a conformist approach to promote organizational commitment do not only fail to reflect organizational reality, but can be narrowing and limit the organization chance of survival.

Organizational performance is a global concept that represent the results of human activities, organizational performance is “the way in which an organizational performance tries to be effective” (Ricky W. Griffin) and organizational performance can be measured in many different ways the most common ways are in terms of efficiency or effectiveness.

Performance is the attainment of organizational goals by using resources in an efficient and effective manner ( Richard Daft).

According to Richard et al (2009), organizational performance encompasses three specific areas of firms outcome which are financial performance (Profit, Return on Asset, Return on investment) product market performance (Sale, Market Share ) and share holder return (Total Share Holder Return) total shareholder return on economic valued added.

In the light of this study, this project is poised to investigate how employee commitment enhances organizational performance in Nigeria.

1.3 Objective of the Study

The following are the main objectives of this research work:

To examine the effect of employee commitment on increased quantity produced.

To determined the effect of employee commitment on increased organization’s profitability.

To investigate the effect of employee commitment on increased sales volume of organization.

1.4 Research Questions

The following questions are formulated to guide this research work:

What is the effect of employee commitment on increased quantity produced?

What is the effect of employee commitment on increased organization’s profitability?

What is the effect of employee commitment on increased sales volume of organization?

1.5 Statement of the Hypothesis

As a guide and to achieve the purpose of this study, the following hypotheses were formulated.

H01: There is no significant positive relationship between employee commitment and increased quantity produced.

H02: There is no significant positive relationship between employee commitment and increased organization’s profitability.

H03: There is no significant positive relationship between employee commitment and increased sales volume of organization.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study has direct implication for today’s industrial world for the strategic role of the managers as agents to change the organizations with the increasing competitive nature of the business world, employers and managers are posed to strive to improve their performance. An important element in the organization that determines its performance is its labour force.

The extent to which committed employees affect organizational performance cannot be over emphasized. Labour turnover rate is skyrocketing and employees are moving from one organization to another in rapid succession taking with them the entire original learning. To curtail this huge loss of human capital, it is necessary for an organization to know which work increases employee’s attachment to the organization and the motivation to work for the organization. This study is of significance to management executives in their quest to enhance workers’ commitment in their organizations.

The study will also assist students and other researchers in the effort to investigate similar challenges in the future.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study covers the the impact of employees commitment on organizational performance. The study will be carried out at Asamma Foods & Beverages Limited, Onitsha, Anambra State.

1.8 Limitation of the Study

Like in every human endeavour, the researcher encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. Insufficient funds tend to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size. More so, the researcher simultaneously engaged in this study with other academic work. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.

1.9 Definition of Terms

The following are the definitions of key terms used in the study;

Commitment:

It refers to the individual’s psychological attachment to the organization.

Employee’s Commitment:

The degree to which employees are bound emotionally or intellectually to the organization.

Employee’s Turnover:

It is the rate at which an employer gains and loses employees.

Organizational Performance:

It comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended outputs (or goals and objectives)