The influence of psychological contract on employee commitment at Migori county government, Kenya

Abstract

Employee commitment is an important aspect of an organization, and an organization must satisfy employees’ psychological contracts to have fully committed employees. Nevertheless, most employees have a predominantly transactional psychological contract yet most studies have focused more on employee turnover rather than their psychological commitment to work. Therefore, the study sought to examine the influence of PC on employees’ commitment at the Migori County Government. Specifically, focusing on the influence of content-oriented framework on employee commitment, feature-oriented framework on employee commitment, evaluation-oriented framework on employee commitment, and moderating influence of leadership styles on the relationship between psychological contract and employee commitment at the Migori County Government. The study applied Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory and Lawler Porter’s Expectancy Theory. The explanatory and descriptive study design was used based on a quantitative approach. Cluster and systematic sampling techniques were used to select 281 respondents from a target population of 945 staff in four sub-counties of Migori County. Quantitative data was collected using questionnaires; directly administered by the researcher to the target respondents. Frequency tables were used to present the findings. The data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods of correlation and regression analyses. Statistical assumptions tests were carried out before data analysis to avoid the invalidation of statistical analysis. Hypotheses were tested at a 5% level of significance. The results revealed that: there was a significant influence of content-oriented framework on employee commitment (p-value =0.00<0.05); there is a significant influence of feature-oriented framework on employee commitment (p-value =0.00<0.05); there was a significant influence of evaluation-oriented framework on employee commitment (p-value =0.00<0.05); and LS has a statistically significant moderating influence on the relationship between psychological contracts and employee commitment. The study concludes that: content-oriented and feature-oriented frameworks positively influenced employee commitment, evaluation-oriented negatively influenced employee commitment, and leadership styles moderated the influence of psychological contracts on employee commitment; therefore, concluding that there was a significant influence of psychological contracts on employee commitment at Migori County Government. The researcher recommends that Migori County Government should consider ensuring: content-oriented framework indicators are applied in the recruitment and orientation processes, employees are well informed and assured of employment stability, realistic job previews that contain a detailed description of relevant job aspects are done, and leadership styles would provide a conducive environment for employees’ growth and development. It should also conduct semi-annual surveys on employees’ psychological contract