Perceived Job Autonomy and Employee Engagement as Predictors of Organizational Commitment

Abstract

Employees usually leave due to unmet workplace needs and the lack of resources to perform their organizational roles. This has made it more difficult for organizations to enhance employees' commitment and retain talents in today’s workforce. Since employees’ perceptions of job autonomy and their engagement at work have been consistently linked to organizational commitment in past literatures, the present study aimed to examine the relationship between perceived job autonomy and organizational commitment, the relationship between employee engagement and commitment, and the interaction effect of autonomy and engagement upon commitment. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 83 corporate employees from a private higher education institution in Malaysia based on a purposive sampling. Three main scales were used to measure work autonomy, job engagement, and organizational commitment. Findings from the hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that autonomy and the interaction effect of autonomy and engagement did not significantly predict commitment. However, engagement was found to have significantly predicted commitment. Several organizational and individual factors that could have accounted for the study outcomes were discussed. The research limitations and implications were also pointed out to set the direction for future research.

Keywords: job autonomy, employee engagement, organizational commitment