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International Journal of Training and Development 14:4 ISSN 1360-3736

The effects of organizational training on organizational commitment Cagri Bulut and Osman Culha This empirical study investigated the impact of organizational training on employee commitment focusing on employees’ emotional and affective responses towards their organization. Organizational training is conceptualized within a multidimensional framework consisting of motivation for training, access to training, benefits from training and support for training. The hypothesis of this study has been built on a resourcebased view, social exchange theory and psychological contract theory. Field research was conducted through surveys with 298 participants of four- and five-star hotels operating in Izmir, Turkey. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to analyse the quality of the training scales and multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses of the study. The results revealed that all dimensions of training positively affected employee commitment. Implications have been presented for both researchers and human resource practitioners as to how to utilize organizational training factors to increase employee commitment.

Introduction The hotel industry is a labour-intensive service industry dependent on the availability of high-quality employees to deliver, operate and manage tourism for its survival and competitive advantage (Amoah & Baum, 1997). Moreover, achieving service quality and excellence, and in doing so making customers satisfied and loyal, depends on the attitudes, performance and behaviour of employees (Kusluvan & Kusluvan, 2000; Saibang & Schwindt, 1998). Training is one of the most important investments because it enhances the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour of employees: the human resource (HR). A resource-based view of the firm suggests that investments in HR develop, maintain and update the appropriate skills of employees, and hence ❒ Osman Culha, Research Assistant, Tourism and Hotel Management Department, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Yasar University, Kazim Dirik Mah. 364 Sok. No. 5, 35100 Bornova, Izmir, Turkey. Email: [email protected]. The authors thank the two anonymous IJTD reviewers and Paul Lewis, IJTD editor in chief, for their insightful and constructive suggestions for the improvement of this paper. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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create an inimitable core competency vital for the organization’s competitive sustainability (Barney, 1991). Different from physical and financial investments, investment in training brings a distinct advantage to organizations because training enhances organizational performance. It does this through increasing the skills, motivation and knowledge of employees. Thus, the intellectual capital of organizations is increased. Moreover, it is argued that training within organizations creates a resource that is more valuable than any other, that is, committed employees (Jex & Britt, 2008). However, although the training literature suggests that organizational training and organizational commitment are significantly associated with each other (Ahmad & Bakar, 2003; Bartlett, 2001; Bartlett & Kang, 2004; Sabuncuoglu, 2007), such findings do not appear to persuade managers to invest sufficiently in training, particularly in the hotel industry where employee turnover rates are high (Kuruuzum et al., 2009; Pirnar & Miral, 2008; Walmsley, 2004). The reason for this problem can be discussed through social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and psychological contract theory (Rousseau, 1990), which posit that employees who have high financial expectancies are least likely to be willing to remain in their organization. The main obligations of an employee to his or her organization are to perform the given tasks and other workrelated duties and to protect proprietary resources and organizational knowledge. In turn, employers’ obligations to their employees are to provide fair salaries and other benefits and conditions that allow employees to develop and progress (CoyleShapiro, 2002). Reciprocal formal obligations of the employment relationship are moderated by the expectations of both parties: although loyalty and citizenship were the most expected overt behaviours for employers, self-development and vocational training are inevitable expectations and motivational factors for employees at every stage of their career. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of organizational training on employee commitment. To meet this purpose, we have decided to analyse the impacts of organizational training on employees’ affective attitudes towards their organizations by empirical evidence. In this study, certain attitudes towards the organization have been defined as employee commitment. This includes employees’ attachment to their organizations, the degree of their willingness to be a member of the organization and their acceptance of and commitment to organizational goals and their desire to attain them (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Mowday et al., 1979). Specifically, this study investigates the impact of organizational training on affective employee commitment. Organizational training has been discussed and assessed within a multidimensional structure comprising (1) support for training, (2) motivation to training, (3) access to training and (4) benefits from training. However, although this multidimensional structure has been put forward, the quality of its measurement and, in particular, the validity and reliability of its assessment instrument (scale), have not been precisely reported in previous studies. This paper tries to clarify this important issue for researchers by demonstrating the validity and reliability of the training measurement instrument through appropriate procedures. The next section presents a review of the literature concerning organizational commitment and organizational training. The four dimensions of organizational training are debated in the third section where the hypotheses of the study are developed. The methodology of the research is then set out. A further section shows the analyses undertaken and the resultant findings. The final section discusses the findings, draws conclusions and highlights the implications for both researchers and practitioners.

Literature review Organizational commitment The field of organizational commitment has been built on prominent research (e.g. Buchanan, 1974; Mowday et al., 1979; Porter et al., 1974, 1976), and recent studies try to develop the concept further (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Wasti, 2002; Wasti & Can, 2008). The concept refers to the relative emotional strength of employees’ identification with and 310 International Journal of Training and Development © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

involvement in a particular organization. In most of the recent studies, this view of organizational commitment is conceptualized as employee commitment, affective organizational commitment or affective commitment (Cohen, 2007; Foote et al., 2005; Karatepe & Uludag, 2007; Shaw et al., 2003). Such organizational commitment is determined by the degree of employees’ acceptance of the organization’s strategies and culture, willingness to work on behalf of the organization with strong motivation and to remain in the organization (Porter et al., 1974). According to Buchanan (1974), organizational commitment consists of three components. These are (1) identification, that is, adopting as one’s own the goals and values of the organization; (2) involvement, that is, psychological immersion or absorption in the activities of one’s work role; and (3) loyalty, that is, a feeling of affection for and attachment to the organization. In a study by Allen and Meyer (1990), a three-component organizational commitment model was developed; the affective component of organizational commitment refers to employees’ emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in the organization. The continuance component of organizational commitment is based on the costs and losses that employees associate with leaving the organization. Finally, the normative component refers to employees’ feelings of obligation to their superiors, peers, subordinates and other third parties to remain within the organization. Affective commitment is the most consistent predictor of organizational commitment, which is the sole predictor of turnover and of absenteeism (Somers, 1995). Emotionally strong commitment results in lower absenteeism and turnover rates (Jackson & Schuler, 2000; Somers, 1995). There is a significantly strong relationship between organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Yang, 2009; Yilmaz, 2002), and a negative effect of affective commitment on employees’ intention to leave their organization (Karatepe & Uludag, 2007; Paul & Anantharaman, 2003). Furthermore, affective commitment is also found as an antecedent of employee performance (Maxwell & Steele, 2003; Wasti, 2002; Wasti & Can, 2008). Organizational training Many theoretical and empirical studies have supported the view that human capital is the most critical organizational asset because it is likely to provide the core element of sustainable competitive advantage (Barney, 1991, 2001). Today’s competitive conditions force organizations to innovate to sustain their competitive position but the people who are instrumental in enabling their organizations to achieve their goals are still being neglected (Kanter, 2006). Employee training is at the heart of modern management practice in any organization (Purcell, 2000). Thus, organizational training is becoming the core element of HR management functions, along with the other HR activities, such as recruitment, selection and reward. Successful HR planning for the future is only possible through sustainable training, which means that organizational training is one of the most important aspects of organizational strategy (Tanova & Nadiri, 2005). Organizational training refers to systematic activities to develop and improve employees’ skills, knowledge and behaviours to enable them to perform job-related duties, accomplish specific tasks and meet the quality requirements of HR for the future. Perception of training by employees has been analysed (Ahmad & Bakar, 2003; Bartlett, 2001; Bartlett & Kang, 2004; Sabuncuoglu, 2007). Employees perceived training as operationalized with a multidimensional structure of motivation, access, benefits and support. Within the next section, we have debated training using these components, linked them to employees’ attitudes and behaviours towards their organizations, and developed our hypotheses concerning the effects of training on organizational commitment.

Hypothesis development Motivation for training and organizational commitment Motivation for training is the degree to which employees are willing to make efforts to improve themselves and their task and job performances by training (Robinson, 1985). Organizational training and organizational commitment 311 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Here the motivation is a force that influences enthusiasm towards a training programme (Noe & Wilk, 1993) and a stimulus that directs employees to learn and to attempt to master the content of the programme. It is also an individual motivation that influences the use and practice of newly acquired knowledge and skills even in the presence of criticism and lack of reinforcement (Noe & Schmitt, 1986). All these motivational aspects are put forward here as enhancing organizational commitment. In other words, contrary to Orpen (1999), we argue that those employees who are more motivated to undertake training at the outset would be predicted to be more committed to the organization. Hypothesis 1: Employees’ perception of motivation to training positively affects their organizational commitment. Access to training and organizational commitment Access to training refers to employees’ perceptions of the probability of their attendance at organizational training, whether or not participation is based on objective and fair selective criteria, whether or not the application procedure is explicitly formalized and whether or not applicants are supported by their managers. Annual organizational training plans of HR are often determined with a simple philosophy. Decision makers in the HR department determine the topics, the number of training events and places, and circulate this information to other department managers. Department managers then assign these training programmes to employees who are performing relatively well. This process of selection for training is attractive because it is less costly in money and time, but it does not serve the purposes of organizational training. Rather, it serves as a reward system for better performing employees. Increasing employees’ perceived access to training programmes would be a more productive approach than simply requiring participation in a predetermined number of training events each year (Bartlett & Kang, 2004). Probability of access to organizational training opportunities or activities is an important factor in strong corporate culture and was found to be positively related to organization commitment (Bartlett, 2001; Boon & Arumugam, 2006; Lam & Zhang, 2003). Firms with higher levels of perceived fair access to organizational training programmes will be more likely to increase the number of committed employees in their organization (Bartlett & Kang, 2004). Employees may view an effective training experience as an indication that the organization is willing to invest in them and cares about them; thus, training may enhance their commitment to the organization (Chiang & Jang, 2008; Tannenbaum et al., 1991). This hypothesis should be supported if access to organizational training meets the employee’s expectations and desires. So our second hypothesis is as follows. Hypothesis 2: Employees’ degree of access to training positively affects their organizational commitment. Benefits from organizational training and organizational commitment Benefits of any organizational training are reciprocal. However, if employees feel that their training would be beneficial for both themselves and the organization, and there would be chances to use and practice what was gained from the training, their degree of willingness to participate in future organizational training, and the outcomes from training, are likely to be greater (Facteau et al., 1995). From a management point of view, training programmes are expected to provide numerous benefits to the organization including employee development, increased productivity and improved employee performance (Elangovan & Karakowsky, 1999; Gultek et al., 2006; Watson, 2008). From the view of the employee, outcomes of training might be beneficial to their jobs, careers and personal development objectives. Employees’ expectations from organizational training can be job-related, career-related or personal. Job-related benefits reflect employees’ expectations that their efforts as regards training will allow promotions 312 International Journal of Training and Development © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

and improvements in their current positions. Career-related benefits will likely assist in the development of skills for a future job. Personal benefits reflect psychological, political and social outcomes that may or may not be directly related to the work setting but enhance their intrinsic motivation (Nordhaug, 1989; Washington et al., 2003). Therefore, employees’ positive feelings in relation to participation in training should be beneficial to their jobs, their careers, themselves or any combination of these. Hypothesis 3: Employees’ degree of perceived benefits from training positively affects their organizational commitment. Support for organizational training and organizational commitment Firms where employees perceive a high degree of support to develop their skills, practice new means of conducting their work and solve work-related problems through novel approaches encourage employees to undertake psychological obligations to develop themselves in performing their work (Butcher et al., 2009; Eisenberger et al., 1986). When employees perceive support from their organization, they feel obligated to their organization. When they feel like the support is absent, they feel betrayed and tend to decrease their commitment (Robinson & Morrison, 1995). The directions of support are either vertical or horizontal; vertical support is perceived support from superiors or tenured co-workers; horizontal support is the degree to which peers are willing to help their colleagues in good faith by, for example, solving problems or implementing an improved way of working. Employees’ perceived degree of either vertical or horizontal support for organizational training not only enhances the employees’ attitudes towards their colleagues but also increases their job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment (Bartlett, 2001). So, our final hypothesis is as follows. Hypothesis 4: Employees’ degree of perceived support for training positively affects their organizational commitment. Figure 1 shows in diagram form the effects of training on organizational commitment according to our four hypotheses.

Perceived training of employees Motivation for training Access to training

H1, H2, H3, H4

Organizational commitment

Benefits from training Support for training

Figure 1: The effects of training on organizational commitment Organizational training and organizational commitment 313 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Methodology Method A survey method was used for data collection, and the data in this study were collected from four- and five-star hotels located at Izmir, the largest city of the Aegean in Turkey. The number of four- and five-star hotels in Izmir is 43 (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2006). Thirty of those hotels were excluded from the study either because they are not operating throughout the whole year or because they refused to participate in the research. The remaining 13 hotels generated a total of 314 questionnaires. However, 16 questionnaires were excluded because they were not fully completed; finally, 298 questionnaires are considered for our analyses. The total number of employees within our sampling frame was 1526, the overall response rate therefore being 19 percent. Sample Male employees represented 64.4 percent. The largest group of respondents (45.3 percent) was aged between 25 and 31 years old, and a quarter were between 18 and 24 years old. More than one-half of respondents had high school education, of which 22.4 percent had university education and a master’s degree. More than half of respondents had received specialized education in tourism. Thirty percent of respondents were working in the food and beverage department, 19.1 percent were working in the front office, 18.1 percent were working in housekeeping and the remainder were working in the back-of-the house area. Respondents with less than a year’s employment made up 29.5 percent, up to 3 years were 38.6 percent, from 4 to 6 years were 16.8 percent and more than 7 years were 15.1 percent. Of the respondents, 83.6 percent were employed full-time. Thirteen percent of the employees were at mid-manager position, 49 percent were line managers and 37.9 percent were operational workers. Questionnaire design and measures All scales of the research have been adopted from the existing literature, and 5-point Likert-style grading was used where 1 was strongly disagree and 5 was strongly agree. The questionnaire was originally prepared in English and then translated into Turkish by English-language experts based on the translation and back-translation process. For organizational commitment, the 6-item affective commitment scale of Meyer et al. (1993) was adopted. The scale of training perception adopted comprised four components: training motivation, access to training, benefits from training and support for training. Ten items were employed for the training motivation scale from the study by Noe and Schmitt (1986); three items for access to training from Bartlett (2001); 14 items in a multidimensional scale of benefits from training was adopted from the study by Noe and Wilk (1993); and a support for training scale was adopted from the studies by Noe and Wilk (1993) and Bartlett (2001) which was also multidimensional in terms of peer and management support. After the translation and back-translation processes, the questionnaire was double-checked by faculty members. After their confirmation, the questionnaire was prepared for distribution to the sample.

Analysis and findings Measurement quality of the scales Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and principal component procedures were used for the assessment of the measurement quality of the scales (instruments) used in our research before testing the hypotheses of the study. Three distinct factor analyses were performed to analyse the quality of the measures. The purpose of the first of these was to purify and reduce the number of items in the perceived executive support scale to form a smaller index. The second factor analysis was conducted to test the overall 314 International Journal of Training and Development © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Table 1: Confirmatory factor analysis results for perceived executive support scale Indexes Chi-square (c2) Degrees of freedom (d.f.) c2/d.f. Normed fit index (NFI) Non-normed fit index (NNFI) Comparative fit index (CFI) Goodness-of-fit index (GFI) Adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)

16-itemed

6-itemed

Best fit

688.590 104 6.62 0.81 0.81 0.84 0.68 584 0.14

26.856 9 2.984 0.97 0.96 0.98 0.97 926 0.08

c2/d.f. < 3 0.90 < NFI < 1 0.90 < NNFI < 1 0.90 < CFI < 1 0.90 < GFI < 1 0.80 < GFI < 1 RMSEA < 0.08

quality of all the research variables and their respective associations. The third factor analysis was conducted as a second-order factor analysis to unify the three subdimensions of the benefits factor to produce one index. The following paragraphs elaborate these processes. Psychometric properties of the perceived executive support scale This scale was taken from Bartlett (2001) and Bartlett and Kang (2004). A 16-item scale was adopted from Noe and Wilk (1993) for perceived supervisory support. We have also used their scale for our research. After elaborating this large-itemed scale, we have understood that the scale contained more than training support items because it also covered other facets of executive support. Thus, we have implemented data reduction and measure purification for this scale when analysing the data set. This would also help the scale load of future researchers studying perceived training support of executives. Moreover, this process also reveals the measurement quality of the both the scale and our data. Before performing CFA to the executive support scale, content validity was tested. The findings of the analysis were less than moderate fit, so in regard to these findings, we decided to review our information about the previous results of the studies of Bartlett and Kang (2004), Bartlett (2001), and Noe and Wilk (1993), and surprisingly, found no empirical evidence on the validity of the scales or any factor analysis findings for this scale. Hence, we decided to perform content validity, convergent validity and unidimensionality to the scale of perceived supervisory support. First of all, for the content validity, we have read all items one by one and because there were 16 items, we decided to use software to not make an error in item selection. All items of supervisory support were written into to an MS Excel worksheet, and a Text Filter Tool was used. After the scale items containing the word training were searched by the text filter, six items remained. CFA procedure was run to this redacted scale, and a perfect fit to both data and null model is found. Consequently, two of the scales – the 16-item original and the selected 6-item scale – have been tested and evaluated through seven types of fit indices. The comparisons of these two CFA results are shown in Table 1. The results also supported the convergent validity because all observed variables were significantly associated with the latent one. The resulting 6-item scale was subjected to a principal component analysis, which generated a single factor, so supporting the view that the scale was unidimensional. Psychometric properties of all research scales All scales relating to the five factors – four training factors and one organizational commitment factor – were subjected to CFA. The CFA showed a good fit of both data and null model as can be seen in Table 2 [c2(483) = 889.853, p < 0.01; normed fit index Organizational training and organizational commitment 315 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

(NFI) = 0.88; non-normed fit index (NNFI) = 0.92; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.94, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.84; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.05]. Second-order factor analysis for the benefits of training scale After obtaining the good fit of the measurement model, the multidimensional benefits factor – personal benefits, career benefits and job benefits – was subjected to secondorder factor analysis to obtain a one-factor index of training benefits. The results of the second order factor analysis to unify the benefits factors has produced a satisfactory fit (c2(63) = 263.567, p < 0.01; NFI = 0.91; NNFI = 0.89; CFI = 0.93, IFI = 0.93; GFI = 0.89). The results of our measure purification processes can be summarized under three main findings. First, we have obtained a smaller scale for perceived executive support. Moreover, the fit of this scale has been found to be more reliable and valid compared with its larger version in previous studies. Second, overall fit indices of factor models for all the research variables have produced satisfactory ratios (see Table 2). These confirm the quality of the research scales and carry us to the hypothesis testing phase. Third, we have conducted a second-order factor analysis to unify the multidimensional structure of perceived benefits of training factor into a single index. Means and standard deviations of the all variables of the study were also calculated and both Cronbach’s alpha reliability and Pearson’s correlation analysis were performed. All these results are presented in Table 3. Results of hypothesis testing The primary purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not training is an important antecedent of organizational commitment. As the perceived training factor has a multidimensional nature, we have conducted a multiple regression model to test our hypotheses. By means of this analysis, we were able to demonstrate that all dimensions of the organizational training factor jointly affected the perceived organizational commitment. The result of the multiple regression analysis is presented in Table 4. The regression model to test our hypothesis was significant (F = 27.466; p < 0.001) and the R 2 obtained sufficient explained variance (R2 = 0.273), which gave evidence that organizational training explains sufficient variance of organizational commitment. Motivation for training had a positive effect on organizational commitment (b = 0.194; p < 0.05), which supports the first hypothesis. Results show access to training also positively affects organizational commitment (b = 0.159; p < 0.05), which supports Hypothesis 2. Benefits of training positively affects organizational commitment (b = 0.168; p < 0.05), which supports the third hypothesis. The finding of significant effect of support for training on organizational commitment (b = 0.176; p < 0.05) supports the last hypothesis. Overall, the findings demonstrated that four of our research hypotheses have been supported. Another important result of multiple regression analysis is all subdimensions of organizational training factor have positive, significant and joint effects on organizational commitment, which clearly supports the hypothesis that organizational training is an antecedent of organizational commitment.

Conclusions and implications Conclusions The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of organizational training dimensions on organizational commitment based on an empirical study. The following four conclusions bring another nomological network to organizational commitment studies. First, training motivation is a function of this network because motivation for training – i.e., willingness to participate in a training programme – is found in this study to have a positive effect on organizational commitment. People 316 International Journal of Training and Development © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Table 2: Measurement scales and results of confirmatory factor analysis Items

Factor loadings

1. Motivation for training 1. I try to learn as much as I can from training programmes. 2. I tend to learn more from training programmes than most people. 3. I am usually motivated to learn the skills emphasized in training programmes. 4. I am willing to exert considerable effort in training programmes in order to improve my skills. 5. I believe I can improve my skills by participating in training programmes. 6. I believe I can learn the material presented in most training programmes. 7. Participation in training programmes is of little use to me because I have all the knowledge and skills I need to successfully perform my job. 8. I am willing to invest effort to improve skills and competencies related to my current job. 9. I am willing to invest effort to improve skills and competencies in order to prepare myself for a promotion. 2. Access to training 1. My organization has stated policies on the amount and type of training the employees can expect to receive. 2. I am aware of the amount and type of training that my organization is planning for me in the coming year. 3. This organization provides access to training. 3. Benefits of training 3.1. Personal-related benefits of training 1. Participating in training programmes will help my personal development. 2. Participating in training programmes will help me perform my job better. 3. Participating in training programmes will lead to more respect from my peers. 4. Participating in training programmes will help me network with other employees. 5. Participating in training programmes will help me stay up to date on new processes and products or procedures related to my job. 3.2. Career-related benefits of training 1. Participating in training programmes will increase my chances of getting a promotion. 2. Participating in training programmes will help me obtain a salary increase. 3. Participating in training programmes will result in more opportunities to pursue different career paths. 4. Participating in training programmes will give me a better idea of the career path I want to pursue. 5. Participating in training programmes will help me reach my career objectives. 3.3. Job-related benefits of training 1. Participating in training programmes will help me get along better with my manager. 2. Participating in training programmes will help me get along better with my peers. 4. Support for training 1. My manager can be counted on to help me develop the skills emphasized in training programmes. 2. I can expect my manager to assign me to special projects requiring use of the skills and knowledge emphasized in training. 3. My manager enthusiastically supports my participation in training programmes. 4. My manager believes advising or training are one of his or her major job responsibilities. 5. I would not hesitate to tell my manager of a training need I have in a particular area. 6. My manager makes sure I get the training needed to remain effective in my job. 5. Organizational commitment 1. I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this organization. 2. I really feel as if this organization’s problems are my own. 3. I feel like ‘part of the family’ at my organization. 4. I feel ‘emotionally attached’ to this organization. 5. This organization has a great deal of meaning for me. 6. I feel a strong sense of belonging to my organization.

0.77* 0.65* 0.82* 0.87* 0.85* 0.79* 0.76* 0.80* 0.67* 0.90* 0.53* 0.82* 0.84* 0.89* 0.49* 0.69* 0.88* 0.68* 0.61* 0.83* 0.94* 0.93* 0.92* 0.87* 0.70* 0.64* 0.78* 0.83* 0.83* 0.81* 0.82* 0.84* 0.85* 0.81* 0.91* 0.84*

c2(483) = 889.853; GFI = 0.84; CFI = 0.94; NFI = 0.88; NNFI = 0.92; RMSEA = 0.05. * p < 0.01. GFI = goodness-of-fit index, CFI = comparative fit index, NFI, normed fit index, NNFI = non-normed fit index, RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation.

Organizational training and organizational commitment 317 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Table 3: Descriptive statistics and correlations Research variables 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Motivation for training Access to training Benefits of training Support for training Organizational commitment

M

S.D.

4.36 3.53 3.63 4.09 3.84

0.67 0.98 0.78 0.74 0.89

a

1

2

3

4

0.93 0.76 0.236** 0.90 0.364** 0.497** 0.88 0.470** 0.422** 0.510** 0.94 0.376** 0.363** 0.407** 0.420**

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level.

Table 4: The effects of training on organizational commitment Research variables Motivation for training Access to training Benefits of training Support for training

b

t

p

0.194 0.159 0.168 0.176

3.393 2.704 2.665 2.769

0.001 0.007 0.008 0.006

F = 27.466; p < 0.001 R2 = 0.273.

who are highly involved with their jobs are more likely to be motivated because participation in training increases skills, job performance and feelings of self-worth (Martineau, 1995; Mathieu et al., 1993). This suggests that the human resources management (HRM) function plays a role as catalyst of employee motivation by providing employees with the opportunity to participate in training, which in turn enhances their feelings of commitment to the organization. The employer can also take several steps to increase the trainee’s motivation to learn. Providing opportunities for active practice and letting employees try new activities, take plausible risks and explore alternative solutions affect organizational commitment by increasing employee motivation, employees’ sense of being supported, and employees’ degree of individual and organizational knowledge (Dessler, 2005; Gingerich, 2007). Second, perceived access to training as the means of providing opportunities to enhance employees’ skills, knowledge and abilities positively affects organizational commitment. Employees with higher perception of access to training will be more likely to observe higher levels of affective commitment (Aube et al., 2007; Bartlett, 2001; Bartlett & Kang, 2004; Boon & Arumugam, 2006; Lam & Zhang, 2003). It is also likely that employees with a strong affective attachment to their organization will recognize that ongoing participation in training activities is necessary to improve their skills, knowledge and abilities for the achievement of organizational goals (Bartlett & Kang, 2004). When employees perceive that there is access to training, they feel their organizations have been willing to invest in them and care about them. In turn, employees tend to work harder, attach themselves to their organizations and display organizational citizenship. In a broad sense, an equitable and open approach to the access to organizational training increases both the trainees’ and all other organization members’ commitment to their organizations (Podsakoff et al., 2000). Employers therefore should provide equal opportunities to their employees in terms of access to training programmes. Third, employees who expect benefits from their participation in training activities are more committed to their organizations. Facteau et al. (1995, p. 19) most notably stated that, ‘Individuals who are highly committed to the organization may be more likely to benefit from available training programs than less committed employees’. Some previous studies indicated that there were significantly positive relationships between benefits from training and organizational commitment (Ahmad & 318 International Journal of Training and Development © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Bakar, 2003; Al-Emadi & Marquardt, 2007; Bartlett, 2001; Bartlett & Kang, 2004; Birdi et al., 1997; Sabuncuoglu, 2007). For instance, Birdi et al. (1997) found a positive relationship between perceived job-related benefits and organizational commitment; moreover, Bartlett (2001) reported that both career-related and personal benefits increased affective commitment. The manager therefore must consider and satisfy trainees’ expectations about training through extrinsic and intrinsic rewards and ensure that trainees can transfer their new learning into the practice of their work (Orpen, 1999). Finally, the sense of being supported for training is also significantly related to organizational commitment, in other words, employees will feel more attached to the organization if they receive support for training from their supervisors or seniors. As a parallel to our findings, previous studies (Ahmad & Bakar, 2003; Bartlett, 2001; Bartlett & Kang, 2004; Birdi et al., 1997; Sabuncuoglu, 2007) have reported that supervisory support for training and organizational commitment are significantly related. Previous studies reported that support for training has various relations with some other organizational factors, such as it is positively related with organizational development activities (Kozlowski & Hults, 1987; Noe & Wilk, 1993), training effectiveness and application rate (Baldwin & Ford, 1988), on-the-job learning activities, and personal development and career planning (Birdi et al., 1997; Pizam, 2007). Superiors therefore should spend reasonable and intensive time with their employees through socialization and training activities (Karatepe & Uludag, 2007). Implications The findings of this study may also be of benefit to managers because training is a technique that is implemented in a planned manner in order to decrease mistakes and mishaps, and to increase productivity and quality by developing the knowledge, ability and skills of employees according to today’s competitive conditions (Baum, 2006; Lucas et al., 2009; Mayaka & Akama, 2007). Most of the managers of organizations consider organizational training as a long-term investment, or a wasted expenditure, so they do not allocate a sufficient training budget to HRM. Furthermore, it is common that training budgets in organizations are either cut down or completely cut during periods of economic crisis. The opposite should occur: organizations that invest more on human resources have a distinct competitive advantage over their competitors (Barney, 1991). As the hotel industry is labour intensive, hotel managers have an obligation to establish and maintain better training programmes than management in other sectors (Roehl & Swerdlow, 1999). To be able to enhance training motivation of hotel employees, hotel management should encourage their employees to participate in appropriate training programmes. When employees feel that they are supported for participating in training programmes, their sense of commitment tends to be higher. Employees’ motivation will be greater when there is more support for training and training occurs (Orpen, 1999). Consequently, organizational training should be considered as an antecedent to enhance employees’ commitment to their organization in order to use organizational training as a motivator of organizational commitment. Hotel managers should also consider the effectiveness of training programmes. In order to provide training effectiveness, we suggest that the five following factors should be considered: (1) availability, (2) access, (3) utilization, (4) performance and (5) sustainability. First, for the effectiveness of any organizational training, training programmes and annual training plans should be available to all employees. Details of the quantity, frequency and duration of all training activities should be provided with explanations of the subject matter and the benefits of each planned training activity. Second, after delivering the training plan to all organization members, the ways of access should be explicitly presented and an equal opportunity philosophy declared. Third, benefits to both parties should be considered and should be stated as explicitly as possible. Eventually, all the benefits of organizational training are brought back to the organization by the trainees. Consequently, effective training Organizational training and organizational commitment 319 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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