Investigating the relationship between career adaptability, career anchors and organizational commitment

Abstract

The aim of this study was to (1) to investigate the relationship between career adaptability (measured by the Career Adaptability Scale), career anchors (measured by the Career Orientations Inventory) and organisational commitment (measured by the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire); and (2) determine whether employees from different groups, namely age, employment level, gender and race, differ significantly in their levels of career adaptability, career anchors and organisational commitment. A quantitative survey was conducted through simple random sampling on a sample (N = 158) of employees in the Provincial Treasury in KwaZulu-Natal (a public sector organisation). The research findings indicated that a partial relationship exists between career adaptability and career anchors with organisational commitment. However, career adaptability has a significant relationship. The study therefore concluded that career adaptability, career anchors and organisational commitment are partially related. A further finding was that the variables of age, employment level, gender and race partially differ for career adaptability, career anchors and organisational commitment. It is recommended that strategies/interventions for employee retention practices should be enhanced by taking cognisance of the research findings relating to the three variables of career adaptability, career anchors and organisational commitment. In conclusion, recommendations were formulated for the field of industrial and organisational psychology and possible further research on this topic.