Perceived external prestige as a mediator between quality of work life and organisational commitment of public sector employees in Ghana

Page 1 of 10 Original Research Perceived external prestige as a mediator between quality of work life and organisational commitment of public sector employees in Ghana Authors: Oluyinka Ojedokun1,2 Erhabor S. Idemudia1 Mercy Desouza3 Affiliations: 1 Department of Psychology, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, South Africa Department of Pure and Applied Psychology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria 2 Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Ghana 3 Correspondence to: Oluyinka Ojedokun Email: Postal address: Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa Dates: Received: 22 April 2014 Accepted: 27 Jan. 2015 Published: 07 Apr. 2015 How to cite this article: Ojedokun, O., Idemudia, E.S., & Desouza, M. (2015). Perceived external prestige as a mediator between quality of work life and organisational commitment of public sector employees in Ghana. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology/ SA Tydskrif vir Bedryfsielkunde, 41(1), Art. #1216, 10 pages. http:// dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajip. v41i1.1216 Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. Orientation: Research efforts have been directed at understanding the relationship between quality of work life and organisational commitment, but these studies have not elucidated the mediating role of perceived external prestige in this relationship. Research purpose: This research seeks to close a research gap by determining the role of perceived external prestige in the relationship between quality of work life and organisational commitment amongst public sector employees in Ghana. Research approach, design and method: Theoretically guided hypotheses and models were formulated and tested with hierarchical multiple regression statistics using data from a sample of 137 employees from two public sector organisations in Ghana. Main findings: The results support the hypothesis that quality of work life is positively related to both perceived external prestige and organisational commitment. Also, perceived external prestige was found to predict organisational commitment and partially mediate the relationship between quality of work life and organisational commitment. Practical/managerial implications: The findings imply that one sure way to enhance organisational commitment of employees is by improving their quality of work life and boosting their perceptions of external prestige of the organisation. These results will be of particular interest to policymakers, public organisations and stakeholders interested in increasing organisational commitment of their employees. Contribution/value-add: The findings extend previous research by establishing the mediating role of perceived external prestige in the relationship between quality of work life and organisational commitment. If managers of organisations wish to improve organisational commitment, it is wise to institutionalise an organisational culture that promotes good quality of work life and boost the external prestige of the organisation in the employees’ mind. Introduction Organisational commitment (OC) has generally been an area of interest to scholars and practitioners in public and private organisations because employees who display high levels of commitment primarily pursue organisational goals, whereas those with low commitment concentrate on achieving their personal goals (Bagtasos, 2011). In other words, harnessing commitment is central to enhancing performance of employees. It is not surprising that academics, practitioners and supervisors in organisations are not underestimating the commitment of employees. Indeed, researchers have established relationships between OC and both contextual factors and personal characteristics. Contextual factors examined include compensation, career opportunity, training and development, supervisor support, job autonomy, work life policies, skill varieties, trust, new public management belief and cultural positivity (Ahsan, Fie, Foong & Alam, 2013; Damayanty, 2009; Hausmann, Mueller, Hattrup & Spiess, 2013; Williamsa, Raynerb & Allinson, 2012). Researchers have also enumerated the personal characteristics affecting OC to include the five-factor model, positive affectivity-negative affectivity, selling skills and degree of job liking (Goldberg, 1990; Moss, McFarland, Ngu & Kijowska, 2007; Simintiras, Watkins, Ifie & Georgakas, 2012). Apart from the mentioned antecedents, workers have also identified challenging work environments, organisational support, work life balance and work experience as important Copyright: © 2015. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. http://www.sajip.co.za doi:10.4102/sajip.v41i1.1216 Page 2 of 10 to their OC (Efraty & Sirgy, 2004; Meyer & Allen, 1997). Consequently, organisations are focusing on employee work experience such as quality of work life (QWL) because of the assumption that happy employees tend to be more committed (May, Lau & Johnson, 1999). Although a great deal has been learned about the relationship between QWL and OC in Western nations, there is a dearth of studies regarding the QWL-OC link amongst public sector employees in Ghana. It is also worthy to note that most existing research on QWL-OC link from South Africa, Thailand and India (e.g. Geldenhuys, Łaba & Venter, 2014; Koonmee, Singhapakdi, Virakul & Lee, 2011; Ma, Ma, Yu & Hao, 2011; Raja & Kumar, 2013) used employees from corporate companies, hotel businesses, steel companies and human resources. These samples limit generalisation of the results to public sector employees. Nevertheless, research evidence suggests that QWL can influence behavioural responses such as job involvement and OC (Lee, Singhapakdi & Sirgy, 2007). The Ghana context In Ghana, managers in public organisations have identified low commitment as a problem amongst their employees (Antwi, 2009; Asiedu, 2010). In-depth opinion polls conducted amongst different stakeholders by researchers also revealed that lateness and leaving the workplace during official hours without permission in pursuance of private businesses are becoming acceptable traditions amongst public sector employees. In addition, many qualified public workers look for the slightest opportunity to migrate to the private sector or out of the country to seek better job prospects. The above-mentioned attitudes exemplify lack of commitment, which may impact negatively on performance of public organisations and can breed a culture of personalissimo, defined by Triandis (1984) as the social process of knowing somebody who knows somebody who knows someone from whom you need a service. Some public servants are also reluctant to render service promptly without bribery, or ‘palm rubbing’ as it is known in Ghana, or if the client is not personally known to them or related to someone who knows them (Tankebe, 2010). Therefore, knowledge of factors that can help in boosting OC is considered important (...truncated)