Employee Engagement and Commitment are the two of the necessary endeavors in which organization must invest its time and effort. Both are different, as engagement drives commitment, whereas the reverse is not possible, commitment cannot be achieved without employee engagement. The article discusses both the concepts in turns, first Employee Engagement is highlighted followed by the concept of Commitment to the Organization.
Employee Engagement and Commitment
Employee Engagement and Commitment are the two of the necessary endeavors in which organization must invest its time and effort. Both are different, as engagement drives commitment, whereas the reverse is not possible, commitment cannot be achieved without employee engagement. The article discusses both the concepts in turns, first Employee Engagement is highlighted followed by the concept of Commitment to the Organization.
Difference between Engagement and Commitment
Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement is about staff, takes place when employee show interest in their jobs, and are willing to exert an extra discretionary effort to get the required results. It is not for the Organization and comes from the internal motivation, however the benefits do reach the organization. An engaged employee as defined by Bevan et al (1997) is someone who is aware of business context, and works closely with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization’.
An Engaged employee is someone who shows affection and dedication to the job he/she performs with no particular interest in the organization except as the provider of the opportunity to carry out the job.
For instance a Lecturer working for a University, carrying out Research, Taking part in events, conducting seminars but all this is done because of his/her interest in the field of teaching, whereas they might not identify with the objectives of the organization, they might not value the beliefs of the business and may not like to remain in the organization and might like to leave the organization, but his/her engagement has significant positive affect on the University, as producing research, extra-curricular activities would bring good name to the University, with his/her personal growth.
Employee Commitment
Commitment on the other hand is about identification with the organization, feeling proud to go to work, and might not be prepared to go that extra mile for the job if the employee is high on commitment and low on engagement however a highly committed and high engaged employee would be excited about the job, put best effort into his/her duties and fully identifies wit the organization.
Commitment is the attachment and loyalty to the firm. It is about how strongly one associates its feelings with the organization. Porter et al (1974) found commitment as "relative strength of the individual’s identification with, and involvement in, a particular organization".
A few characteristics of a committed employees as identified by Mowday et al (1982) are:
- A potent desire to continue as a member of the business.
- A strong belief in, and acceptance of, the values and goals of the Business.
- A willingness to go that extra mile on behalf of the organization.
It is important to note that committed employee is driven through one who is engaged, otherwise employee may be high on commitment but low on engagement, and might not be that beneficial for the organization as the business desires him/her to be.
References
Bevan S, Barber, L and Robinson, D (1997) Keeping the Best: A practical guide to retaining key employees, Institute for Employment Studies, Brighton
Mowday, R, Porter, L and Steers, R (1982) Employee-organization Linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism and turnover, Academic Press, London
Porter, L W, Steers, R, Mowday, R and Boulian, P (1974) Organizational commitment: job satisfaction and turnover amongst psychiatric technicians, Journal of Applied Psychology, 59, pp 603-9
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