Organizational Commitment among Public Service Employees

Abstract

This present study examined the factors associated with organizational commitment among blue-collar workers. Previous work in this area suggests that, among blue-collar employees, commitment should be more closely related to extrinsic rewards (e.g., pay satisfaction) than to intrinsic factors. In order to test this hypothesis, sixty-four public service employees in a waste, water, and sanitation department completed a questionnaire designed to measure organizational commitment and perceptions of extrinsic and intrinsic factors related to their jobs. The results indicated that the following were positively and significantly related to commitment: promotion satisfaction, job characteristics, communication, leadership satisfaction, job satisfaction, extrinsic exchange, intrinsic exchange, extrinsic rewards, and intrinsic rewards. Contrary to expectations, pay satisfaction did not correlate significantly with commitment. Both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards were equally predictive of commitment; this contradicts the contention that extrinsic rewards are more important determinants of blue-collar commitment. These findings are noteworthy because they suggest that intrinsic rewards are important for public service employees, members of a relatively understudied population.