Commitment profiles for employee voice: dual target and dominant commitment mindsets

Area of Science:

• Organizational Behavior
• Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Background:

• The study examines employee responses to workplace dissatisfaction using the EVLN (exit, voice, loyalty, neglect) model.
• It incorporates multi-target commitment, including affective, continuance, and team commitment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how different commitment components form distinct employee profiles.
• To investigate the implications of these commitment profiles on voice behaviors in response to workplace malpractice.
• To expand understanding of commitment profiles and EVLN responses within the Turkish organizational context.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 518 employees across various Turkish organizations.
• K-means cluster analysis was employed to identify distinct commitment profiles.
• Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to differentiate EVLN responses across identified profiles.

Main Results:

• Four commitment profiles were identified: low commitment, weakly-committed, affective-team dominant, and continuance dominant.
• The affective-team dominant profile was associated with constructive voice behaviors.
• Low commitment profiles exhibited negative outcomes (exit, neglect), while continuance dominant profiles showed passive behaviors (neglect, patience).
• Affective and team commitments were key drivers of voice behavior, particularly with low continuance commitment.

Conclusions:

• Affective and team commitment are crucial for fostering voice behavior, especially when contrasted with low continuance commitment.
• Continuance commitment's positive impact on voice diminishes as affective and team commitment levels rise.
• The findings offer insights into diverse employee responses to dissatisfaction based on commitment profiles in Turkey.