The Impact of Organizational Behavior, Trust, Commitment and Job Motivation on Academic Staff and Employees

Statement of the Research Problem

The problem of this study lies in identifying the process of development and factors behind that desired development.

The following questions should be considered concerning the statement of research’s problem:

• Was there any significant statistical difference on factors affecting organizational development?
• Was there any significant correlation among factors of organizational development?
• Was there any significant mutual effect of the following factors on organizational development: organizational behavior, commitment, trust, and work motivation?.

Objectives

This research aims at achieving the following objectives:

• To examine the scores obtained by academic staff and employees on factors of organizational development.
• To assess the effect of these factors on organizational development.

Importance

It should be noted that in any community there should be a sustainable development. Organizational development, on the other hand, can lead to community development, therefore, these two processes are interrelated and overlapping. Modern organizations today strive to face the challenges in human resources development through solid procedures such as recruiting capable staff to achieve organization’s aims. This trend, however, has several obstacles responsible for community development and prosperity.

This research is considered important because it is an attempt to investigate the factors and challenges affecting organizational development.

Hypotheses

There was significant statistical difference (0.05) on the scales measuring factors of development.

• There was significant correlation (0.05) among factors of organizational development.
• There was significant mutual effect (0.05) 0f these factors on organizational development.

The Effect of Organizational Behavior on Human Resources Development

Organizational behavior can be defined as a study of behaviors and altitudes of employees or a group of employees with the purpose of understanding different individuals and groups subject to different circumstances. It is a study of human behaviors in relation to the organization geared towards attaining organizational goals and objectives.

Wright [1] stated that Organizational behavior deals with the study of human behavior within groups or organizations and how this behavior can be modeled through analysis to impact the organizations in a positive way.

An organization in itself is composed of a group of people working individually or often within teams. The disposition of people towards each other in an organization remains the contributing factor towards shaping the organization. Organizational Behavior is an interdisciplinary field, in that it draws greatly from other subjects such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science and economics.

The success of an organization is largely dependent on effective management of its people. Behavior of people within an organization is governed by their ideas, feelings and activities. For effective management of people, it is crucial to perceive their requirements. However, since human behavior can differ with each individual, it becomes almost impossible to come with a unique solution to the organizational problems. For this reason, it is important to consider psychological and social aspects to design solutions focused on solving organizational issue [2].

The behavior of individuals within an organization can either defile the organization or aid in its overall improvement. For instance, certain employees may be compassionate and helpful towards their co-workers which helps to create a supportive work culture. This selfless attitude can be a result of the employee’s faith in the management and their satisfaction and commitment towards the organization [3].

However, an employee who no longer trusts the management or is left unsatisfied at the work front, may show antisocial behavior which can be harmful for the organization. Organizational culture is defined by the company parameters such as values, beliefs, norms and principles, visions, and behavioral expectations among many other things. Behavior of employees is highly impacted by work culture, as such it can affect them either positively or negatively.

A pro-social and supportive culture at work can be a major influence and also encourage and build an environment of selflessness. When people are encouraged, they feel more confident towards contributing ideas that might eventually benefit the organization. On the contrary, employees are more likely to hold up or not suggest any ideas at all if they feel they are going to face criticism or embarrassment. Generally, employees gain an understanding of the company’s culture through socializing with other people.

In order to solve the organizational problems, it is necessary to first understand the reason for its occurrence. If the problems faced are due to damaging organizational behavior, it becomes crucial to recognize the purpose behind such a behavior. Only then can measures be taken to counter it and guide the organization in a progressive direction. Incorporation of new and encouraging behaviors in the company culture might prove rewarding to the employees and as such profit the company as a whole [3].

There are many factors that promote constructive organizational behavior, such as accomplishments, self- actualization, encouragement, affiliation etc. Management should try to figure out the driving force that stimulates such a behavior and try to integrate more such factors in the work culture.

This can be in the form of promotions, new incentives, plans or rewards. It does not make sense to hire capable people and expect complete dedication in the absence of pro-social and rewarding company culture. In fact, people are more likely to lose interest in their work if they don’t feel recognized and rewarded.

Organizational Behavior is a social science as it is mostly concerned with people and behavior. It takes into account individual and group behavior and the factors that impact these behaviors. It is necessary to first understand the behavior of people constituting the organization. The first and foremost importance of organizational behavior lies in understanding human behavior [3].

If the management can interpret properly the human needs within an organization, it can work towards fulfilling those needs and also chalk out new plans and incentives to satisfy the employees and boost them. In addition, the management has to understand also the reason for problematic behavior within organizations and take measures to eliminate the causes.

Influencing human behavior is another important aspect of studying organizational behavior. It helps the management to assess the reaction of employees beforehand, prior to making any changes in policies or schemes [4].

This way the management can come up with ways to alleviate any conflicts that may arise as a result of the change [5]. Also, certain measures such as incentives, promotions etc., can help in creating a content workplace which directly impacts employee performance in a positive way. As a whole, the organization gains hugely through analyzing and understanding organization behavior [6].

The Effect of Trust as a Challenge to Human Resources Development

Trust has been viewed as both a psychological state and also as a choice behavior. In terms of a psychological state, Lewis, et al. defined trust as the “undertaking of a risky course of action on the confident expectation that all persons involved in the action will act competently and dutifully.

Research has shown convincingly and consistently that organizations with high levels of trust outperform those with low levels. Yet few companies possess high levels of organizational trust and even fewer leaders deliberately focus on building trust as a core characteristic of their businesses [7].

It’s true that we all have an intuitive sense of what trust is and when it’s not present. Yet, if we are to develop ways within organizations to develop real and sustainable levels of trust, it’s important that we have a clear and practical definition.

One very helpful way of thinking about trust is to distinguish between four types of trust: basic, simple, blind and authentic [8]. It is authentic trust that which is fully self- aware and based on conscious choice and responsibility that leads to high performance in organizations. A number of ways of defining this type of organizational trust has been offered over the years. Some researchers have defined trust as a function of two variables: benevolence, or the extent to which I believe you care about me and will continue to back me up, and aptitude, or the extent to which I believe you are competent and capable [9]. Another popular model of trust adds integrity to benevolence and aptitude [10]. This particular framework also cites the importance of two additional factors: the propensity of the trust or to be trusting and the perceived risk of giving trust. Amy Lyman has found that organizational trust occurs when employees see others as credible, when they are treated with respect, and when they are treated fairly regardless of their position [11].

The presence of trust in the workplace is essential to organizational performance and competitiveness in an increasingly global economy.

Research has demonstrated that an organization’s ability to develop trusting relationships is an increasingly important source of competitive advantage. Organizations that foster internal and external climates of trust reap advantages in the marketplace [12]. Trust has also been linked to organizational outcomes such as higher sales and profits, lower employee turnover and increased levels of cooperative behavior among employees. The presence of trust is crucial to all types of institutions, including colleges and universities.

The Effect of Commitment as a Challenge to Human Resources Development

The concept of organizational commitment (OC) and employees’ productivity in an organization has generated an exciting debate amongst scholars and practitioners alike. According to Mowday, et al., OC is the relative strength of an individual’s identification with and involvement in an organization. On his part, Zangaro sees OC as the act of pledging or promising to fulfill an obligation for the purpose of achieving the goals of the organization. He argues that “a person who is committed to an organization should then be dedicated and have a strong belief in the organization’s goals and values.” These various conceptualizations of OC reveal that a truly committed employee would support the organization to achieve its goals and aspirations without coercion from any quarter.

In emphasizing the importance of OC on employee productivity, Meyer, et al. [13], point out that individuals (employees) with higher level of OC have a sense of belonging and identification with that particular organization’s goals and activities, and their willingness to remain a part of the organization. In the same vein, Matthews, et al. in their work argue that “committed employees have a strong belief in and acceptance of organization’s goals and values, show a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization, and have a strong desire to maintain membership with the organization.” On their part, Golden, et al. argue that “organizationally committed individuals are far less likely to engage in absenteeism and turnover.” Scholars have put forward different forms of OC in literature to include identification or affective (emotional attachment to the organization), loyalty or continuance (perceived costs associated with leaving the organization), and involvement or normative (feelings of obligation towards the organization) Meyer, et al. [13].

Job Motivation as a Challenge to Human Resources Development

Motivation is one of the most important concepts in HRD. In most organizations, it is common to hear the refrain that a particular employee is not motivated and hence his or her performance has taken a backseat. This is the reason companies spend humungous amounts of money in arranging for training sessions and recreational events to motivate the employees. Motivation can be understood as the desire or drive that an individual has to get the work done. For instance, when faced with a task, it is the motivation to accomplish it that determines whether a particular individual would complete the task according to the requirements or not. Further, the absence of motivation leads to underperformance and loss of competitiveness resulting in loss of productive resources for the organization. It is for this reason that the HR managers stress on the employees having high levels of motivation to get the job done [14].

There are many theories of motivation and the ones being discussed here are the Herzberg’s hygiene theory, Maslow’s need hierarchy theory, and McGregor Theory X and Theory Y [15].

Herzberg’s Hygiene theory states that for employees to be motivated, certain conditions need to exist and the absence of these conditions or the hygiene factors that frustrate the employees. The point that is being made in this theory is that the presence of hygiene factors is a precondition for performance and is not a determinant of performance. On the other hand, the absence of these factors actually disappoints the employee. Hence, the bottom line is that companies should have the basic conditions under which employees’ work fulfilled so that there is no drag on the performance Lamp Li [16].

Maslow’s need hierarchy theory postulates that individuals are motivated according to a hierarchy of needs which start from satiation of basic needs and then go on to need for recognition and finally, the need to actualize one’s vision and reach the highest stage of personality. The point that is being made in the theory is that individuals progress from one stage to the other depending on how well the needs at each stage are met. So, organizations have to ensure that employees’ needs are taken care of at each level so that by the time the employee reaches the top of the ladder, he or she is in a position to actualize them. Finally, McGregor’s theory of motivation is regarded as a scientific approach that is favored by many managers. This theory states that employees can be motivated by a dual pronged strategy of rewarding them for good work and punishing them for bad work. The opposites of these reactions mean that employees have a strong incentive to do well as opposed to doing badly [17, 18, 19].

Research Design

This study has adopted a quantitative descriptive method.

Sample and Data Collection

The sample consisted of (70) respondents, chosen by using the stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected by four scales: organizational behavior, trust, commitment and job motivation, (43) items measured on a five (5) point Likert scale, and were administered to both academic staff and employees of Aljouf University. Both reliability and validity of the scales were obtained by using Alpha Cronobach formula as shown in the following Table [20, 21].