LA SOCIEDAD TITULAR DE CUENTA DE GARANTÍAS:

The above sections on employee commitment highlighted that employee commitment shapes employee behaviour. This section deals with employee commitment and its impact on organisational performance. Drenth (2009:12) claimed that there is a link between HRM strategies, such as company-specific education, and individual employee commitment. These strategies could be associated with higher levels of employee affective commitment, as well as higher levels of service behaviour, greater intention to stay with the organisation, and lower absenteeism. Organisations need highly committed employees who will increase organisational effectiveness through high levels of performance. Owoyemi, Oyelere, Elegbede and Gbajumo-Sheriff

(2011:281) posited that developing high organisational commitment among employees is an ideal approach to managing employees. This approach is based on the assumption that it will lead to positive outcomes, such as low labour turnover, low absenteeism, better motivation, and improved performance.

Organisational justice theories establish that justice and fairness in organisations are predictors of job satisfaction and positive employee attitudes and behaviour. This statement is evidenced by Williamson and Williams’ (2011:64) study, which showed that organisational justice had a direct effect on commitment and extra-role behaviour. These authors defined extra-role behaviour as behaviour “which benefits the organisation and/or is intended to benefit the organisation, which is discretionary and which goes beyond existing role expectations”. This implies that employees with positive attitudes and behaviour exert greater effort to achieve organisational goals. Positive attitudes and behaviour are characteristics that are likely to benefit and contribute to the success of the organisation. Bakhshi et al.’s (2009:146) research showed links between perceived organisational justice, motivation, commitment, individual work performance and organisational performance. Committed employees engage or perform to the best of their ability, they are self-directed, and engage and perform with little or no supervision (Bakhshi et al. 2009:146). Ugboro (2006:237) maintained that behaviours should not depend primarily on environmental controls such as reinforcements or punishment, but on self-driven forces as well. According to Owoyemi et al. (2011:281), several studies conducted on HRM practices suggest that HRM practices that are anchored in high commitment, increase organisational effectiveness by creating conditions for high motivation and involvement in the organisational activities aimed at achieving organisational goals. Grant, Dutton and Rosso (2008:899) asserted that commitment is associated with favourable outcomes for both employees and the organisation, such as high job performance, attendance, and employee citizenship behaviour, as well as low turnover, stress and work-family conflict.

Adhikari and Gautam (2011:3) postulated that in cases where organisations fail to implement HRM practices appropriately, negative consequences for commitment and compliance are likely to occur, which could lead to organisations facing performance-

related problems, such as poor customer service. Adhikari and Gautam (2011:3) further claimed that a lack of proper HRM practices in organisations leads to lower job involvement, lack of commitment, dissatisfaction in jobs, decreased effort, an increase in the number of accidents, and high labour turnover. These authors suggested that poor HR practices are associated with a number of negative work- and health-related consequences, which could harm both employees and the organisation. Dzansi and Dzansi (2010:999) contended that maintaining high levels of commitment in employees is critical for organisational success, since committed employees would act in the best interests of the organisation, thereby contributing to organisational success in the long term. They elaborated that employee commitment was found to have a profound effect on organisational outcomes in many ways. For example, employee commitment predict critical employee behaviour and employee citizenship behaviour (Chovwen & Ogunsakin 2013:162), both of which are antecedents for an effective organisational setting. Therefore, municipalities that need to increase employee performance, and ultimately their quality of service delivery, need to motivate employees through proper HR practices, to ensure increased commitment by employees to the organisation and to their jobs.

Shahnawaz and Jafri (2009:80) asserted that organisational commitment is a concept that seeks to capture the nature of the attachments formed by individuals to their employing organisations. Tatlah et al. (2011:15) explained that perceptions of fairness related to enhanced employee commitment, employee satisfaction with the organisation, their jobs and their leaders. Such perceptions also relate to employee citizenship behaviour and service behaviours in general, and the steps that employees take to support their employer’s interests. Chien and Hung (2008:513) stressed that service behaviour and service performance at organisational level corresponded to service behaviour at the individual level. Chien and Hung (reported data from 271 personal finance specialists and medical assistants to show that customer-oriented behaviour positively correlates with employee citizenship behaviour, and that both forms of behaviour, in turn, are positively correlated with service performance. It is therefore essential that managers in municipalities guard against unfair HRM practices, if they aim to create positive employee attitudes and employee commitment.

Orlowska (2011:12) drew the attention of managers to fair HRM practices and the consequences thereof, by pointing out that certain HR practices have been shown to have an impact on organisational justice perceptions. This author pointed out that, should employees perceive HR practices as unfair, they might display negative attitudes, which could have a negative impact on organisational performance and success.