Organizational Commitment and Millennial Retention
Organizational commitment has been shown as a very important bond that links an employee to an organization, and indicates the extent of an individual involvement in the operations of the organization. Organizational commitment involves an emotional attachment by the employee and it has a significant relationship with the performance of a firm in terms of sales and turnover. The emotional attachment involves the employee’s consideration of the costs that a given employee associates with leaving the current employee and the perception of obligation not to leave. This especially true for the millennial generation whose demands and expectations at the workplace are quite unique. Any organization has to reevaluate the conventional workplace and embrace the right adjustment so to retain these people.
Organizational commitment can be employee involvement and satisfaction at the workplace, where the employee has to feel concerned about the welfare the firm including its success in terms of achieving the set goals. People who are highly involved are able to achieve top performance which also acts as booster to their self-esteem (Franco & Lyapina, 2016). The effectiveness in performing various responsibilities and being involved in decision making process enable the employee to achieve personal development in terms of career and professional. This increases the level of job satisfaction for employees and thus their desire to remain in the current workplace. The job satisfaction enhances the employees’ level of commitment and ensures that they remain in the organization. In for an organization to engage employees and retain the best talent, it has to understand the degree to which the workers are attached to their workplace (Lee & Jamil, 2016). As the environment becomes more competitive, there is an increased need for a workforce that is highly motivated, willing and ready to take up more responsibility and achieve better performance (Gupta, 2014).
Organizational commitment among the millennials can also be related to their expectations, and establishment of team relationship through effective communication. The preferences of this generation are significant for interaction at the workplace and constant feedback from the management. Close relationships and more feedback through open communication even for issues that are reserved for top management are expected at the organization level. Organizational commitment among the millennial can be best achieved through teamwork since this generation teamwork as fun and are careful to avoid any risks. Strong relationship can bring about job satisfaction and this finally leads to organizational commitment among the millennial employees. The organizational openness among the employees especially in work related issues can indicate their strong attachment to the workplace and this can lead to enhanced problems solving which has an overall impact on the performance of the firm (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). Millennial find great comfort and work satisfaction where there direction, decision making and insight are achieved through teamwork. Their perception is that team work members help in avoiding risks that are commonly associated with independent decisions and thinking. Therefore, organizational commitment among the millennial is not only derived from extrinsic rewards and appreciation but also on intrinsic rewards (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). Increased performance in the organization will be achieved when the millennial workforce is greatly satisfied due to improved relationships and open communication. Eventually, team work will be achieved which proves very important especially in risk avoidance. Uncertainty affects the employees’ satisfaction and commitment which can results to more turnovers, and this can greatly affect the performance of the organization.
The overall attitude of employees is determined by their level of job satisfaction and hence, organizational commitment which in affects the success of a firm in terms of revenue generation by the sales persons and profitability (Franco & Lyapina, 2016). Organizational commitment relates to various important outcomes like employees going past what is expected of them, reduction in turnover intent and even reduced degree of absenteeism. Organizational commitment among the employees means that they are fully motivated to carry out their tasks and their productivity is high. An organizational with highly committed employees who feel that they can achieve career development and achievement at their workplace is able to achieve its organizational goals and objectives (Franco & Lyapina, 2016). Lack of organizational commitment means that employees are disengaged from the organization and this can lead to poor performance in terms of revenues and profitability.
Recommendations
In order to enhance long-term commitment and retention, the organization has to have various strategies. Motivation will go a long way in encouraging millennial loyalty especially in relation to rewarding good work through the ability to try out higher positions. Such an opportunity will enable the employees to grow and establish conditions in which they can come up with new ideas using their past experience. The organization may also increase flexibility since millennials are keen on seeing new things and desire enough time to accomplish individual goals alongside the objectives of the organization (Ozcelik, 2015). Training is an important way in which the employees can be retained in the organization. Training offers opportunities for career development since it enhances skills development since employees want to control their professional development.
References
Lee, B. H., & Jamil, M. (2016). An empirical study of organizational commitment: A multi-level approach. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 4(3), 1074.
Gupta, A. S. B.(2014). Job involvement, organizational commitment, professional commitment, and team commitment: A study of generational diversity.
Ozcelik, G. (2015). Engagement and retention of the millennial generation in the workplace through internal branding. International Journal of Business and Management, 10(3), 99.
Franco, A., & Lyapina, L. (2016). Work-Related Factors that Affect Organizational Commitment: An Examination using Millennials in the Workforce of Thailand. International Journal, 33.
Myers, K. K., & Sadaghiani, K. (2010). Millennials in the workplace: A communication perspective on millennials’ organizational relationships and performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 225-238.
