Predictors of organizational commitment among staff in assisted living

This study examines the role of organizational culture, job satisfaction, and sociodemographic characteristics as predictors of organizational commitment among staff in assisted living. It is particularly important to examine organizational commitment, because of its close links to staff turnover.

Data were collected from 317 staff members in 61 facilities, using self-administered questionnaires. The facilities were selected from licensed assisted living programs and were stratified into small, traditional, and new-model homes. Staff questionnaires were distributed by a researcher during 1-day visits to each facility. Organizational commitment was measured by the extent of staff identification, involvement, and loyalty to the organization.

Organizational culture, job satisfaction, and education were strong predictors of commitment, together explaining 58% of the total variance in the dependent variable. Higher levels of organizational commitment were associated with more favorable staff perceptions of organizational culture and greater job satisfaction. In addition, more educated staff members tended to report higher levels of organizational commitment. Other than education, sociodemographic characteristics failed to account for a significant amount of variance in organizational commitment.

Because job satisfaction and organizational culture were strong predictors of commitment, interventions aimed at increasing job satisfaction and creating an organizational culture that values and respects staff members could be most effective in producing higher levels of organizational commitment.