Can employees socialised to give commitment to the organisation also give it to a competing source of loyalty- the union? Discuss.
In this contemporary world all organisations are aware of the importance of employee commitment and its role of motivation, hence productivity. It reflects the extent to which employees identify with and organisation and is committed to its goal. Meyer and Allen (1984, 1990, 1991) described three dimensional model of commitment; affective, continuance and normative. Affective Commitment is based on how much individual want to remain in the organisation. Continuance Commitment refers to an awareness of the costs associated with leaving the organisation. Finally Normative Commitment reflects a feeling of obligation to continue employment; employees feel that they ought to remain with the organisation.
O’Malley (2000) contends that a review of the commitment literature produces five general factors which relate to the development of employee commitment. These include affiliative commitment, associative commitment, moral commitment, affective commitment, and structural commitment. (Robinson)
Possessing a committed workforce would bring forth many opportunities for growth as an organisation. Since a committed work force leads to an increase in job satisfaction, increase in job performance, increase in sales, decrease in employee turnover and also a decrease in absentees.
Unions are usually independent, membership-based organisation of workers that represent and negotiate on behalf of working people. They help in improving working conditions, help improve wage and also ensure legal right are being enforced. Unions provide a mechanism for dialogue between workers and employers, which helps build trust and commitment among the workforce and ensure that problems can identify and resolved quickly and fairly. Union representatives also help to lower accident rates at work by ensuring safe working practices and reducing stress-related ill...