Organisational commitment and its relation to career anchors

Abstract

The changing and unstable workplace and its profoundly negative impact on employee loyalty, morale, motivation and job security have led to a renewed interest in the motives and values that determine individuals' psychological attachment to their organisations and occupations. The objective of the present study was to determine the relationship between individuals' organisational commitment as measured by the three-dimensional Organisational Commitment Questionnaire, and their career anchors, as measured by the Career Orientations Inventory. A convenience sample of 157 part-time honours students from a higher education institution was used. Results of a canonical correlation analysis indicated that the career anchors explain only 0.03% of the commitment variance, while the commitment variables explain only 0.4% of the career anchors variance. A number of significant relationships between the two variables are reported. The results also showed significant differences between the career anchors of males and females. The implications of the findings are discussed.