In life and at work, commitment matters. And it should be an important part of your comprehensive performance management strategy.
Organizational commitment (or citizenship) is measured through turnover and absenteeism rates, but it’s far more valuable than just having a warm butt in a seat. Why does it matter? Organizations with high levels of commitment experience lower turnover, higher levels of engagement, and employees who are more likely to go above and beyond.
I should mention that not all companies want committed employees. It might not be part of their competitive strategy. In fact, Walmart actively tries to push employees out. As part of their cost-based competitive strategy, they try to keep operations costs low by shedding employees before they become benefits eligible and before their wages climb too high. Ever been into a Wal-Mart? It shows. Their motto should be “The unhappiest place on earth.”
An employee who sticks around because you pay him well isn’t necessarily committed, though. If he would leave you for a job that does nothing but pay more, he doesn’t really have strong commitment. A highly committed employee would actually stay with your organization when presented with a more attractive offer. Sound too good to be true? It’s not! Keep reading.
Building Commitment
Citizenship occurs when employees develop a strong relationship with their organization. Some common traits among committed employees include organizational trust, feelings of mutual respect, and a strong sense of social identity. Don’t want to be like Walmart? Here’s what you can do.
Status: Developing status means creating a company that people are proud to be members of. That doesn’t mean an organization needs to be prestigious or well known. Having a strong culture and a sense of community will develop a deep-rooted sense of pride in your company.
Competition: What’s so exciting about being a Red Sox fan? For many people, it’s that they finally won a god-damn pennant after 86 years of “The Curse.” But for the die-hards who stayed with them year after year, loss after loss, there’s one big reason that they probably will never admit: The Yankees. Having a rival to rally against creates an incredibly strong bond within people. Find yourself a rival – it will improve morale and fuel performance.
Validation: Everyone likes to be validated (that is, they want to “prove” that how they feel about themselves is right). You should develop a culture that publicly recognizes people for doing great work. You should also ensure that job structures and individual objectives realistically challenge people. Set the bar too low and they’ll feel bored and undervalued. Set the bar too high and they’ll be invalidated if they fail.
Hitting the Mark
Let’s revisit our Wal-Mart example. I think we can all agree that shopping at Wal-Mart is, by and large, a miserable experience. The prices are low, but so is everything else (quality, customer service and so on). Compare them to Target. Target’s prices usually fall within a dollar or two or Wal-Mart’s, but the shopping experience is far better. The stores are clean and the employees are incredibly helpful – I once had two employees race to help me after I pushed the red “Help Me” button in the electronics section. The two companies operate on a similar competitive strategy, so what’s the deal?
Target does a much better job of building commitment. If you followed the link back in the first section of this article and read the Wal-Mart memo-leak debacle, it should be pretty obvious. Wal-Mart blatantly tries to push their employees out the door the minute they become a burden. Target, on the other hand, devotes a lot of energy into training, recognizing and valuing their employees, even the ones working on the floor. Simply put, they do a better job of validating and instilling pride in their people.
Compare the average Wal-Mart employee to the average Target employee. If you owned a retail store, who would you rather have working for you?
What’s your company’s strategy to retain employees? Add your comments below!
