Keeping the hearts and minds of your employees - Part two

Retaining talents   

I discussed the concept of commitment in my last post. I described what it means and the factors that contribute to commitment. I finished the post by recommending how to grow affective commitment. This week's post will look at the other two forms of commitment, continuance and normative commitment. As a reminder, continuance commitment employee stays because the cost associated with leaving the organisation is high, and employees with normative commitment are tied to the organisation by obligation.  

You may read the definition above and wonder how these two types of commitments support the organisation in retaining the hearts and minds of these employees. Perhaps they do, maybe they don't. Ultimately, we would like them to stay with the organisation, and if that is the case, any commitment that meets the needs of both the employees and the organisation will do.   

Continuance commitment develops when the employee is aware of the cost of leaving the organisation. This cost awareness can be based on the employee's perception of the external labour market, the perception of the marketability of their current skills, return on investment in the organisation that may be lost upon leaving, e.g., job security, retirement package, the status of the role, the age and tenure of the employee also impacts their continuance level. Did you ever wonder why some organisations are belt and braces with their reward package or why employee stock ownership plans became popular? This is because they are tapping into the continuance commitment of their employees. These organisations ensure the grass is greener on their lawn in the proverbial house called organisation or business. A practical idea to consider is to make the cost of leaving high so that the employees are reluctant to leave.   

Staff with normative commitment stay because they believe it is the right and moral thing to do. This is developed in the early socialisation process of the employees. It could be developed through an investment that seems difficult for the employee to reciprocate. This type of commitment forms when the organisation deeply invests in their employee. For example, paying an accreditation or training that is highly sought after can create an obligation to want to pay back the organisation. It can also be developed through the psychological contract; for many employees, the psychological contract is primarily the deal they have with their direct line manager. It is largely the employees' sense of fairness and trust and their belief that the employer is honouring the ''deal'' between them. This ''deal'' would usually involve the manager's support for the employee's motivations (see my previous post on motivation). Cultural norms also play a role in normative commitment, and there are some societies in which loyalty to one's employer is deemed important, for example, in collectivist cultures.  

As an employer, strengthening continuance commitment ensures your value proposition enables the perceived cost of loss and perceived need to reciprocate for normative commitment. The key to the first action lies with the organisation, whilst the second lies with the line manager. Not all employers can have a Google-like reward package, so how about assessing the value of all that you currently provide and offering an opportunity for staff to pick and mix what they would like? This gives your employees agency in deciding what would make a difference to them rather than box standard offerings that not all access or use.  

Line managers are the key to strengthening normative commitment. Do they understand the ''deal'' between their staff and them, and how are they building and maintaining the terms of that deal? How are the line managers socialising new employees, and what is their strategy to continue to socialise their employees? What does your onboarding process look like? Does it provide them with information to understand their role and be competent to do their job? Do staff who have been with the organisation understand those unspoken rules/information for progression?  

There is also a small case for diversity here. I briefly mentioned that cultural norms play a role in normative commitment. Research has shown that this is the case in collectivist societies. I am not advocating recruiting those from this background solely for their normative commitment. However, the more diverse your team is, the more you get different types of commitments, and your understanding of commitment could inform your retention strategy.   

I will stop here for now and pick up my final post on commitment next week with the changing face of commitment in a hybrid world.   
 

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