The role of self-efficacy in employee commitment

Abstract

Committed employees are increasingly becoming a valued asset in organisations. For the purpose of this study employee commitment is viewed as commitment to the organisation as well as employees' commitment to their occupations. The purpose of the research was to determine whether there is a correlation between perceived self-efficacy and employee commitment in a South African sugar manufacturing company. Self-efficacy, a social cognition construct, which refers to a person's self-beliefs in his/her ability to perform specific tasks, has been shown to be a reliable predictor of both motivation and task performance and to influence personal goal setting. Despite this, little attention has been given to its organisational implications. The General Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GSE), and an Employee Commitment (CM) questionnaire based on the Conversion Model were used as measuring tools.

The results of this study indicate that there is a positive correlation between self-efficacy and employee commitment (Ambassador, Career oriented, Company oriented). Uncommitted employees show a lower level of self-efficacy. The implications of these results are discussed. Further research from a predictive validity perspective is suggested in order to substantiate the findings and to improve the generalisability thereof.