Theoretical Framework

The study utilized Attitudinal Commitment Theory Approach. This approach perceives commitment as an individual’s psychological attachment to the organization. Consistent with the philosophy of human resource management, attitudinal commitment posits that employees’ values and goals are congruent with those of the organization [1]. Currently, this approach is commonly referred to as affective commitment which has dominated most of organizational commitment research for more than three decades.

Meyer and Allen defined it as an employee’s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization. This definition views organizational commitment as involving some form of psychological bond between the employees and the organization. The resulting outcomes are increased work performance, reduced absenteeism and reduced turnover. According to the exchange perspective, employees exchange their identification, loyalty and attachment to the organization in return for incentives from the organization.

This implies that employees ‘decision to become and remain a member of an organization is determined by their perception of the fairness of the balance of organizational inducements and employee contribution. Moreover, Armstrong [1] notes that this approach therefore assumes that the employee develops attitudinal commitment when they perceive that their expectations are being met by the organization. Employees with strong normative commitment remain in the organization because they feel they ought to do so. According to this approach, an employee willingly maintains membership purely for the sake of the organization without asking for anything in return. Further, employees exhibit positive behavior because they believe it is the right and moral thing to do.

Chen and Francesco [2] note that the feelings of obligation to remain with an organization result primarily from the internalization of normative pressures exerted on an individual prior to entry into an organization or following entry into the organization and not through rewards or inducements. Feelings of indebtedness may also arise from organizations provision of certain benefits such as tuition reimbursement or training. This feeling of obligation may continue until the employee feels that he or she has paid back the debt. 

Commitment increases when the internalized beliefs of an employee are consistent with the organizations mission, vision, goals, policies and style of operation. The attitudinal commitment approach is relevant to this study as it underpins both affective which is also referred to as attitudinal commitment which relates to the emotional attachment of employees to their organizations hence employee stay as they feel part of the organization and normative commitment which arises from the reciprocity norm as applied in the conceptual framework.

Affective Commitment

As noted by Meyer et al. [2] affective commitment remains an important component of organizational commitment. Employees with strong affective commitment continue to work in the organization because they want to. Saygan [4] posits that when an organization is responsible towards its employees through offering higher salaries than the prevailing market rate, they reciprocate with positive attitudes toward the organization; including affective bonds and feeling loyal.

Further, Hartog and Belschak [5] opine that employees with high affective commitment levels demonstrate a sense of belonging to their organization, cooperate with their co-workers and show supportive behavior. Affective commitment reflects a desire to maintain membership in an organization that develops as a result of work experiences that create feelings of comfort and personal competence; it involves the internalization of strategic goals and values of an organization and is a prime motivator.

Suliman and Iles [6] note that affective commitment involves the recognition, participation and emotional attachment of an employee with the organization resulting to the desire to remain employed in the organization. Kim [7] postulates that affective commitment involves the degree of employees’ identification with and attachment to their organizations’ cultures and goals. 

Generally, affective commitment refers to employees’ emotional identification with, emotional participation in, and emotional attachment to their organizations. Lisa [8] describes affective commitment as the strength of people’s desire to continue working for an organization because they agree with its underlying goals and values. Naser [9] stated that affective commitment refers to employees’ identification with a particular organization and its goals in order to maintain membership. Morrow [10] regarded affective commitment as employees’ identification with the goals and values of their organizations, thereby motivating them to continue working in their organizations. 

Similarly, Lee and Chen [11] define affective commitment as the emotional attachment, identification, and involvement that exists between employees with their organization. Kehoe and Wright [12] refer to affective commitment as a positive affection towards the organization, as reflected in a desire to see the organization succeed in its goals and a feeling of pride in being part of the organization. Kurtulmus [13] describes affective commitment as identification with the organization and a sense of loyalty with it. Hafiz [14] considers affective commitment to be the emotional attachment of employees with their organization’s standards and principles.

According to Mazari [15] affective commitment refers to the heartfelt commitment and emotional bonding of employees with their organization which results in strengthening their linkage with organizational goals and values. Mathew and Shepherd [16] further characterized affective commitment by three factors which include: belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values, a willingness to focus efforts on helping the organization achieve its goals, and a desire to maintain organizational membership. Further, Meyer et al. [3] note that affective commitment has four major antecedents; personal characteristics, job characteristics, work experiences and structural characteristics.

Andrew [17] outlines factors that influence affective commitment as; job challenge, role clarity, goal clarity, goal difficulty, receptiveness by management, peer cohesion, equity, personal importance, feedback, participation, and dependability. Moreover, he states that development of affective commitment involves identification and internalization. Employees with high levels of affective commitment are more productive because they identify with and are emotionally attached to their organizations and share the same goals with their organizations, they are also more willing to remain in their organizations and make more efforts to help achieve organizational goals.

Further, as noted by Cao et al. [18] high levels of affective commitment also enhances employee’s passion and enthusiasm for their organizations, thereby improving organizational cohesion, and ultimately, promoting the achievement of organizational goals Moon et al. [19] opine that they also promote emotional, mental and physical investment in the organization, attachment to the goals of the organization and its vision. 

Newman and Sheikh [20] corroborate that as a consequence of positive feelings perceived by connection with the organization, employees possessing high degree of affective commitment wish to remain in their organization. Affective commitment has been linked to a wide range of positive outcomes in relation to absenteeism, turnover, organizational behavior and employee performance [21]. Positive results can be achieved through affective commitment which can be observed through reduced absenteeism, reduced turnover, better organizational behavior and organizational effectiveness.

Affective commitment therefore relates to the desire that employees have in staying with their organization,
employees who are affectively committed to their organizations, are willing to stay. They identify with organizational goals, feel that they fit into the organization and are satisfied with their work. Affectively committed employees feel valued, act as ambassadors for their organization and are generally great assets for organizations. In this study affective commitment is based on the understanding that employees who are affectively committed to an organization have the desire to stay and are willing to go the extra mile above and beyond the call of duty to achieve organizational goals.

Affective Commitment and Employee Performance

In the contemporary world, organizations have recognized that they can increase productivity through fostering affective commitment in employees, since most works have proved that affective commitment is an important predictor of employee performance. Studies on establishing the relationship between affective commitment and employee performance have been carried out by various scholars as outlined; Afandi [22] focused on the influence of affective commitment to employee performance; the researcher used a quantitative approach; questionnaires were administered for data collection and the findings revealed that affective commitment had a significant effect on employee performance.

Similarly, Gulzar [23] focused on the impact of affective commitment on employee job performance. The sample size comprised of 68 employees, data was collected through questionnaires and the results revealed that there is a significant relationship between affective commitment and employee performance.

Alternatively, Abasilim et al. [24] defined organizational commitment as an individual’s affection to an organization and the conviction in its goals and making the effort to achieve these goals by remaining part of that organization. Organizational Commitment as defined by Bano et al. [25] is the extent of involvement of an employee in the organization with the desire to work, an obligation of working and having no intent to leave. Further, they allude that a high level of organizational commitment can lead to improvement in the performance and efficiency of an employee in accomplishing the tasks and goals of the organization. 

The relationship between organizational commitment and employee performance has been studied by various scholars. Suliman and lles [6] explored the nature of organizational commitment in three industrial units in Jordan by applying employees' job performance and five demographic variables. Their findings revealed that organizational commitment is a three-dimensional concept, and the researchers also found a positive correlation between commitment and all the three dimensions of organizational commitment and job performance. 

Similarly, a study conducted by Chughtai and Zafar among university teachers of Pakistan concluded that organizational commitment dimensions; affective, normative and continuance have a positive and significant relationship with employees’ performance. Khan et al. [26] investigated the impact of organizational commitment; affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment on employee job performance from a sample of 153 public and private sector employees of oil and gas sector in Pakistan. The findings revealed a positive relationship between employee commitment and employees’ job performance. Hence Khan et al. [26] advised managers to pay special attention to antecedents of employee commitment and all the factors which foster employee commitment so as to increase employee performance and subsequently increase organizational productivity.

Qaisar et al. [27] also explored the effects of organizational commitment dimensions; affective, normative and continuance on employees’ performance among Pakistan Police officers. Results of the statistical analysis indicated that organizational commitment dimensions; affective, normative and continuance jointly and independently predict the officers’ performance. Likewise, Dixit and Bhati [28] found that the organizational commitment; affective, normative and continuous were significantly associated with sustained productivity in Auto component industry. They discovered that there existed positive relationships between the three dimensions of commitment: Affective, continuance and normative commitment and sustained organization productivity.

Negin et al. [29] examined the impact of organizational commitment on employees’ job performance among the Malik bank staff. The results revealed that organizational commitment dimensions; affective, normative and continuance have positive and significant relationship with employees’ job performance. 

Folorunso et al. [30] studied the effect of organizational commitment dimensions on employee performance of academic staff of Oyo State Owned Tertiary Institutions. They sampled 197 respondents from two tertiary institutions. The results revealed that organizational commitment dimensions both jointly and independently influence employees’ performance among academic staff of Oyo State Owned Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.

Anwar [31] investigated the relationship between employee commitment and sustained productivity in agricultural businesses. The independent variables were affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment and sustained productivity was the dependent variable. Questionnaires were developed and distributed to 12 feed plants in Erbil. The sample size for the study was 71 participants. The study discovered that dimensions of organizational commitment; affective continuance and normative commitment were positively related to sustained productivity. But the continuance commitment had the highest value, which indicated that many feed plants’ employees are committed to their job because of remuneration and lack of alternatives.

Similarly, Bandula and Lakmini [32] investigated the impact of employee commitment on job performance: based on leasing companies in Sri Lanka. A total of 115 employees were surveyed which represented employees of Licensed Finance Companies (LFCs) and specialized Leasing companies (SLCs). The findings revealed that employee commitment is significantly correlated with the job performance.

Creswell [33] contends that the correlational research design is used to study the relationship between two or more variables or to predict an outcome. It explains or clarifies the degree of association between two or more variables at one point in time. The present study adopted a correlational research design because it was concerned with establishing whether organizational commitment is associated with employee performance. Since the target population (N) is known, the study employed Nassiuma [34] formula to determine the sample size (n) from the target population. In this case, the target population was 3574 employees; the sample size was 97 respondents.

Affective Commitment

The following six statements were formulated to measure Affective Commitment and the respondents were asked to indicate the levels to which they agreed or disagreed with the statements in the questionnaire. The results were as presented in the Table 1.

Table 1: Affective Commitment

SD: Strongly Disagreed, D: Disagreed, N: Neutral, A: Agreed, SA: Strongly Agreed, Field data (2022)

A majority of the respondents were in agreement that they are ready and happy to spend the rest of their career in their universities as indicated by a mean of 3.4835. Concerning whether the respondents enjoy discussing their university with people outside, most of the respondents were in agreement with a mean of 3.6044. As to whether they feel part of a team in the university, still most of the respondents were in agreement with a mean of 3.8791. The respondents also agreed that they learn a lot from their co-workers as indicated by a mean of 4.2198. Likewise, a huge proportion of the respondents agreed that their manager values their opinion as shown by a mean of 3.6044. With 
regards to whether their manager demonstrates an interest in their well-being, respondents agreed with a mean of 3.5055.

Employee Performance

The following six statements were formulated to measure Employee Performance and the respondents were asked to indicate the levels to which they agreed or disagreed with the statements on the questionnaire. The results were presented in the Table 2.

Table 2: Employee Performance

SD: Strongly Disagreed, D: Disagreed, N: Neutral, A: Agreed, SA: Strongly Agreed, Field data (2022)

Majority of the respondents agreed that they carry out assigned duties effectively and efficiently as indicated by a mean of 4.6374. In regards to whether the respondents are always ready and available to carry out any other tasks that may be assigned to them from time to time, most of them were in agreement with a mean of 4.6374. As to whether they set attainable targets in their work at the university, a majority of the respondents agreed with a mean of 4.4835. 

The respondents also agreed that they work hard and smart in order to attain the set targets as indicated by a mean of 4.5604. A majority of the respondents were confident enough that they are committed to offering the best services to their customers as shown by a mean of 4.6923. As to whether the respondents were happy when the customers they serve appreciate their services, a majority of them were in agreement with a mean score of 4.6923.

Inferential Analysis

Simple regression analysis was used to test the percentage change in the dependent variable (Employee Performance) as attributed by the independent variable (Affective Commitment). This was significant in answering the first objective of the study which was to examine the relationship between affective commitment and employee performance of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya. The regression results are shown in the Table 3.

Table 3: Regression Results

^aPredictors: (Constant), Affective Commitment, ^bDependent Variable: Employee Performance

^aDependent Variable: Employee Performance, ^bPredictors: (Constant), Affective Commitment

^aDependent Variable: Employee Performance

The results indicate an R (Coefficient of correlation) of 0.296 and an R² (Coefficient of Determination) of 0.088. This implied that 8.8% of the changes in the dependent variable (Employee Performance) was explained by the independent variable (Affective Commitment). 

The F test gave a value of (1, 89) = 8.568, p<0.05 at 5% significance level which supports the goodness of fit of the model in explaining the changes in the dependent variable. It also signifies that affective commitment is a very important predictor of employee performance of non-academic staff in public Universities in Western Region, Kenya.

The regression equation to measure the changes in employee performance as attributed to affective commitment was stated as:

Where:

EP = Employee Performance

AC = Affective Commitment

When all the other external factors are held constant, there would be a 3.949 unit increase in employee performance. When there is a unit increase in affective commitment, there will be a corresponding increase in of 0.180 in employee performance. The first hypothesis of the study posted that there is no significant relationship between affective commitment and employee performance of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya. The findings of this objective indicated that affective commitment had p<0.05 and contributed to 8.8% of the influence on employee performance. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternate accepted as affective commitment has significant influence on employee performance.

These findings are in conformity with the study by Planer [35] which indicates that the affective dimension of organizational commitment was most positively correlated with organizational citizenship behaviors and the study by Clarke [36] which found out that affective commitment has statistically significant effect on employee performance. Hence, it can therefore be
concluded from the findings of both the study and the literature review that there is a significant relationship between affective commitment and employee performance.

Summary of the Findings

The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between affective commitment and employee performance of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya. 

The study found a coefficient of correlation (r) as 0.296**, with a p-value of 0.004 which is less than 0.05 at 95.0% confidence level. This indicated a positive and significant relationship between affective commitment and employee performance of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya. The results further indicated an R² value of 0.088 indicating that affective commitment could predict 8.8% changes in employee performance. It was therefore a significant predictor.

Based on the objective of the study, affective commitment has a significant relationship on employee performance of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya. The adoption of affective organizational commitment enhances emotional attachment of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya. Therefore, changes in affective commitment positively influence employee performance of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya. Hence, there is a significant relationship between affective commitment and employee performance of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya.

Recommendations

Concerning the findings and conclusion of the study, the study posts a positive contribution of affective commitment on employee performance of non-academic staff in public universities in Western Region, Kenya. Therefore, this study recommends the adoption of affective commitment as it has been confirmed to predict employee performance.

Suggestions for Further Research

This study suggests that further research should be conducted in Technical and Vocational Education Institutes (TVETs), on the relationship between organizational commitment and employee performance to determine if the same results are replicated among the staff in these institutions.

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