Do your Employees Care About your Organization? When?

Do your Employees Care About your Organization? When?

What do you think: If employees feel their organization cares about their well-being, will they return the favor?

In daily management practice you probably hear people talking a lot about organizational commitment. But what is it really? And how can we increase it? Let's learn a bit more about its theoretical background.

INTRODUCTION
First of all, you need to understand and distinguish 2 terms: 'Perceived Organizational Support' and 'Affective Organizational Commitment'. They are similar concepts in that both emphasize the relation between an employee and an organization. But even if they are similar and related, they are not the same; the terms are two distinct constructs. Marique et al. (2013) discuss the differences between the 2 concepts and how they are related.

DEFINITIONS / DIFFERENCES
- Perceived Organizational Support (POS) can be referred to as the degree to which employees think that the organization they work for appreciates employees' work and is caring about their well-being. It is a perception.
- Affective Organizational Commitment (AOC) refers to... "an emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization" (Meyer & Allen, 1991). It reflects a (favorable) attitude of employees towards the company.

POS LEADS TO AOC
In what way are the two terms related? Perceived organizational support is an antecedent, a predictor of affective organizational commitment. In short: POS leads to AOC.

SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY
This can be partially explained by social exchange theory (Rhoades et al., 2001). This theory proposes an individual that has done something in favor of another individual tends to expect the other person to do something in return. This is also referred to as the norm of reciprocity ("Quid Pro Quo"). In this way perceived organizational support generates feelings of obligation to care about the company's welfare and to support the company to achieve its objectives: organizational commitment. In other words, the norm of reciprocity stimulates employees to reciprocate the company's caring and valuing.

DISCUSSION
⇨ What do you think: does POS indeed lead to AOC? Always? In other words: If employees feel their organization cares about their well-being, will they then return the favor? When and when not?

Sources:
- Marique, G., Stinglhamber, Fl, Desmette, D., Caesens, G. and De Zanet, F. (2013) The Relationship Between Perceived Organizational Support and Affective Commitment: A Social Identity Perspective. Group and Organization Management Vol. 38 Iss.1 pp. 68-100
- Meyer, J.P., & Allen, N.J. (1991) A Three-Component Conceptualization of Organizational Commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1, 61-89
- Rhoades, L., Eisenberger, R., & Armeli, S. (2001). Affective Commitment to the Organization: The Contribution of Perceived Organizational Support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, pp. 825-836

		Comments Sort by date Sort by rating Rating
		2 Cesar Teacher, Mexico
	The Psychological View and the Organizational View You are maybe right, that's the psychology view. But at the organizational level (as we know from He... Sign up

		2 Leodegardo M. Pruna Coach, Philippines
	Does Perceived Organizational Support Lead to Organizational Commitment? There is indeed a relationship between POS and AOC in that the former leads to the latter. The perc... Sign up

		2 MNYIKAS, JOHN JOSEPH Tanzania
	Organizational Support and Organizational Commitment It is true that these 2 are twins need be nursed carefully and without bias. Otherwise organization ... Sign up

		3 Elfrink, Belgium
	Employees Will Return the Favor - But Depending on Factors Hi Anneke, nice subject. Your question is if people will return the favor if they feel they are tre... Sign up

		1 Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar India
	Do Nature's Law Effect Organizational Commitment of Employees Air tends to flow where there is low intensity of pressure. Similarly, water tends to take a path to... Sign up

		3 J.Baars Consultant, Netherlands
	Employees are Loyal if they Feel Treated Well by a Company GENERALLY, YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE. If employees get respect and feel they are needed they will be loy... Sign up

		-2 c r ghosh India
	Motivation to Work The principle is age old, time tested. You work for an organisation, contribute to its performance a... Sign up

		2 Umar Yakubu Student (MBA), Nigeria
	Percieved Organizational Support and Resulting Affective Organizational Commitment Is it just a FEELING whether the organizations cares or does the organization ACTUALLY has to do thi... Sign up

		1 ABDULRAHMAN Student (MBA), Saudi Arabia
	Employees Loyal if they Feel Treated Well by Employer Thanks for the excellent subject. An employee is unlikely to leave a company if it pays very good a... Sign up

		6 Emmanuel Douroudakis CEO, Greece
	Organizational Factors Influencing When POS Will Lead to AOS Dear Anneke, in my view the answer WHEN POS leads to AOS depends on several things: 1. Is it a PUBL... Sign up

		8 Clarke Business Consultant, Jamaica
	Individual Factors Why POS Will not Always Lead to AOC At first sight, these theories appear to make sense but in practice POS will not always yield the ex... Sign up

		2 D Gunasekaran India
	POS Leads to AOC Mostly Still it is true that POS leads to AOC in most situations, from my personal experience of managing p... Sign up

		5 Chris Bycroft Teacher
	POS by Immediate Supervisor versus Organizational Policy POS can lead to AOC, however Organizational support can be undermined by individual actions. Many em... Sign up

		2 Atif Mohamed Ahmed Professor, Sudan
	The Importance of Providing Education/Training I am sure that providing various forms of education could lead to higher levels of motivation and em... Sign up

		3 Charles Peter CEO, Kenya
	POS Does not Always Lead to AOC The perception that POC leads to AOC should be the case assuming all other things remain constant. M... Sign up

		2 Sonny Vicente Coach, Philippines
	Does POC Always Lead to AOC? I firmly believe it does. It just affirms the universal law that, "As you sow, so shall you reap." I... Sign up

		3 Michele D Urzo Management Consultant, Italy
	POS/AOC in a Dynamic Ecosystem I fully agree that POS leads to AOC. What seems a law of nature, however, must be considered in a dy... Sign up

		1 Leodegardo M. Pruna Coach, Philippines
	POS Does not Always Lead to AOC @Emmanuel Douroudakis and @Clarke: Indeed both Organizational and Individual factors matter. When th... Sign up

		2 A Y SIRDIC Manager, Ghana
	POS Forms do Lead to AOC at Organizational/Overall Level I believe when the employer motivates staff with money, caring for their welfare, showing concern fo... Sign up

		2 TARA TAN KITAOKA, Japan
	Excellent Employees Definitely Care The employers world maybe full of places for all kinds of employees. But PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES, who... Sign up

		2 jean Accountant, Kenya
	Does POS Always Lead to AOC? YES and NO! In my view the phenomenon of POS leading to AOC will be the case when all other factors are constant... Sign up

		1 Leodegardo M. Pruna Coach, Philippines
	Employees' Loyalty to the Organization @J.Baars: What you have opined is true. It doesn't have to be monetary but can be in many types of r... Sign up

		8 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Key Takeaways So Far I found this to be a good, in-depth discussion on the relation between Perceived Organizational Supp... Sign up

		1 Melchiorre Calabrese Business Consultant, Italy
	Does POS Always Lead to AOC? The perceived organizational support (POS) can certainly act as a powerful lever of commitment becau... Sign up

		1 Joseph Sghendo Director, Malta
	In General POS Leads to AOC There is no absolute in such term simply because it deals with human beings and their personality, e... Sign up

		1 Aguinaldo Salvador Mulha Teacher, Brazil
	Changing Relation Between Employees and Employer The relationship between collaborators (workers or employees in a brief past) and the employer is ev... Sign up

		2 Lincoln Nuens CxO / Board, Brazil
	Behavior Discussed Varies Between Types of Company I believe that the behavior discussed varies between types of company, that is, in a mixed economy c... Sign up

		2 Philippe Guenet Coach, United Kingdom
	People Value Contribution to Outcomes or Development of Craft In my experience, there are 2 levels of retention: - People meaningfully BELIEVE IN THE OUTCOME THA... Sign up