Post COVID, employee commitment matters more than ever

A new study published in the Global Journal of Entrepreneurship by Dr. Issam Ghazzawi and Dr. Fengmei Gong demonstrates the importance of employees’ organizational commitment, and provides insights on how to maximize this commitment.

Organizational commitment is defined as an employee’s “identification, involvement with, and loyalty to the organization.”  An employee with high organizational commitment is emotionally attached to the organization.

In this study, Ghazzawi and Gong collected responses from 105 working adults in Southern California, asking participants to compare their pre-COVID-19 level of organizational commitment to their current level. The researchers used sophisticated text analysis methods to interpret the responses.

Just over half of the study participants (54%) reported the same or higher commitment to their organizations than they had experienced before COVID-19. 46% of the sample evaluated their current organizational commitment as lower than pre-pandemic.

Why does this matter? When nearly half of employees report lowered organizational commitment, that is cause for concern. Lower organizational commitment is associated with higher absenteeism and turnover, decreased productivity, and lower satisfaction among the organization’s customers. In this study, 75% of those reporting low commitment indicated that they were planning to leave their positions.

What can employers do about this? Employees who reported stable or elevated levels of commitment attributed their commitment to:

• Flexible working arrangements / virtual work (mentioned by 46%)
• The organization itself (42%)
• The work itself (30%)
• Pay-benefits (21%)
• Trustworthy, empathetic leadership and management (19%)
• The organization’s culture and environment (12%)
• Opportunity for advancement (11%)

Those who reported lowered commitment gave the following reasons:

• Leadership and management (44%)
• Work overload (23%)
• Stress (23%)
• Organizational culture (17%)
• The state of the economy (17%)

The decisions made by managers and leaders have a powerful effect on employee commitment, which in turn affects not only organizational performance, but employee wellbeing. Those who reported high organizational commitment also reported higher levels of productivity, satisfaction, and engagement.

The authors recommend:

• Communicating meaningfully with employees. This includes listening to employee concerns, following up on agreements, and sharing information.
• Creating workplace flexibility where possible.
• Promoting from within to demonstrate the value of employees’ talents and skills.
• Building a culture of trust, which requires leading by example, being transparent and open with information, and promoting accountability.

Ghazzawi, I. & Gong, F. (2025). Workplace Commitment and Employee-Well-being in the Post-COVID-19 Era and its Impact on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The Global Journal of Entrepreneurship, 9(1), 24-56

This study was funded through a grant by the Randall Lewis Center for Well-Being & Research.

Featured image: Vecteezy