Newcomers’ profiles of workplace affective commitment.

Abstract

This study studied profiles of workplace affective commitment (WAC) among organizational newcomers (N = 443). We estimated these profiles from newcomers' specific levels of WAC directed at eight targets (i.e., organization, supervisor, coworkers, career planning, career advancement, customers, profession, and tasks) and their global levels of commitment to their work life. This approach allowed us to detect whether these profiles would evidence congruence versus incompatibility among targets, and whether WAC to the organization would emerge as a primary versus one of many targets. This study also investigated whether employee socialization (i.e., organization, coworkers, and role) predicted membership into desirable profiles. Finally, to investigate the complementary, synergistic, and/or competing effects of WAC profiles, we tested their associations with job performance, turnover intentions, and life satisfaction. Latent profile analyses revealed five profiles displaying compatibility and conflict amongst targets and positioning the organization as one of many targets: (a) globally committed to the work life with a professional career orientation, (b) globally committed to the work life with a social orientation, (c) globally uncommitted to the work life with a professional orientation, (d) globally uncommitted to the work life with a career planning and customer orientation, and (e) globally committed to the work life with an upward drive. With exceptions involving role socialization, all forms of socialization predicted membership into more desirable WAC profiles. Profiles characterized by higher global levels of WAC were also associated with more desirable outcomes. We finally found evidence for complementarity, synergy, and competition among WAC targets in terms of outcomes. Public Significance StatementAffective commitment describes the various bonds that connect employees to their work life. In the present study, we investigate the emerging multicommitment systems present among newly hired employees, look at their implications for work performance and well-being, and at how organizations could help nurture more desirable profiles.