 Abstract | The behaviour of employees is increasingly being recognised as the critical
factor in achievement of organisational effectiveness. Therefore, the need to address
inefficiencies that are derived from the organisation-employee relationship is being
recognised as important to organisational success. For many years the concept of
organisational commitment provided the means to develop theory in relation to
organisation-employee relationships. More recently, however, other types of workrelated
commitments have been identified as having importance to the organisationemployee
relationship.
In the contemporary political-economic context, professionals are
increasingly becoming employees of organisations which operate according to
market or quasi-market principles. There are some fundamental differences between
professional occupations and non-professional occupations. These differences may
have consequences for the relationship between professional employees and their
employing organisation. The differences may also have consequences for other workrelated
outcomes for professional employees in ways that are different from the
work-related outcomes of non-professional employees. Importantly, for professional
employees commitment to the profession is developed during the pre-workplace
entry educational experiences and may have consequences for the retention of
professional employees within organisations, as well as retention within the
profession. Therefore, the commitment of professional employees to their occupation
may be both an antecedent to and a consequence of other work-related outcomes.
However, to date, professional commitment has not been studied from a
developmental perspective and the effect of workplace exposure on professional
commitment is not understood.
This thesis reports the findings of a study in which a theoretical model of the
relationship between professional commitment prior to workplace entry and
professional turnover intention was evaluated using path analysis. The relationships
included in the model were between commitment to the profession as both an
antecedent to, and a consequence of organisational-professional conflict, job
satisfaction and organisational commitment, as well as the relationship that each of
these variables may have to organisational turnover intention and professional
turnover intention. A repeated measures design was used with a sample of nursing
professionals. Professional commitment before entry to the workplace was measured,
and after a period of workplace exposure, professional commitment was again
measured, as well as the other work-related outcomes identified in the model. The
Blau (2003) occupational commitment measure was used to measure the pre-and-post
workplace entry levels of professional commitment. The thesis also examined the
factor structure of the Blau (2003) occupational commitment measure.
The results of the model evaluation indicated that it is a plausible model of
the identified relationships. Examination of the factor structure of the Blau (2003)
occupational commitment measure indicated that it is best represented by five rather
than four components. This research found that professional commitment was quite
stable in the initial period of workplace exposure. The research findings also
indicated that the relationship between professional commitment and organisational
commitment was mediated by job satisfaction and that organisational-professional
conflict and job satisfaction were directly related to organisational commitment. The
research found that job satisfaction and professional commitment after a period of
workplace exposure were related to organisational turnover intention, but that
organisational commitment was not. The final major research finding was that
organisational turnover intention was the only workplace variable in the model that
was directly related to professional turnover intention.
This research has contributed to the organisational behaviour literature
through the development and initial evaluation of a model of the relationship between
professional commitment prior to workplace entry and professional turnover
intention. The results of the model suggested that when organisations provide
professional employees with workplace experiences that are professionally, as well as
personally satisfying, they promote retention of professional employees with their
own organisation, as well as retention of professionals within the profession.
This research recommends that for organisations that employ professionals,
the model of the organisation-professional employee relationship that is likely to
promote the retention of professional employees both within the organisation and
within the profession, is a partnership model. Conflict resolution principles are
recommended to inform the partnership model of the organisation-professional
employee relationship. In addition, the empowering leadership style is recommended
for organisations that employ professionals, because it is better matched to the
employment mode and characteristics of professional employees. |
