Unpredictable economic conditions have greatly affected the labor market. Managers face a challenge of creating organizational commitment among the employees, especially those who belong in generation X and Y. Managers wish to increase employee commitment because it encourages loyalty and maintenance of organization values and traditions which are inducted in new entrants.
Managers can put in place the following strategies to increase employee commitment:
Managers should implement incentives for employees to guarantee job satisfaction. By job satisfaction, the managers need to go beyond the traditional ways motivating employees like salary increment or other financial benefits, and create tasks which can be completed after a short period of time without compromising the long term objectives of the organization. Breaking up the task is not only a way of improving employee morale but also a way of self evaluation.
Managers should also create an environment where employees can develop a sense of self control and empowerment. An environment which makes employees feel insecure demoralizes and makes them feel vulnerable. This makes them hold back and fail to exercise their creativity. Research has shown that employees who feel more secure at the place of work are creative and can come up with cheaper and easier ways of completing tasks compared to those who experience job insecurity.
A part from job security, management needs to put in place a team of supportive supervisors, create possibilities of growth (e.g. promotion) and fair treatment for all employees. Research has demonstrated that even in times of hard economic conditions, employees keep searching for opportunities where their desire for growth and fair treatment can be met. Unlike in the past when people were satisfied by holding same position for their entire working years, the current labor force is not patient enough to hold same job for a longer period of time just because they get a salary at the end of the month. Traditionally, this would be called job security, but nowadays it would be referred to as stagnation.
The current labor force wants to know the future of their careers ten or more years to come. If there are no prospects for promotions, then they are more likely to begin exploring other opportunities. Fluctuating economic conditions have also shown that organizations will occasionally lay off some of their staff during hard economic times. Therefore, it is not easy to promise young employees that they will keep their jobs until when they attain retirement age, the way things used to be in the past.
Finally, the management needs to understand the various needs of their different work force. For instance, the needs and abilities of older generation are very different from those of generation X and Y. Generation X and Y are self centered and will always look at a job offer in terms of what they stand to gain and not what the task entail. They are also very impatient and materialistic. However, they are good at multi tasking and courageous.
This makes them able to take up tasks they totally have no idea about and get away with them. Baby boomers on the other hand are more confident, patient and loyal. This makes them fit for leadership roles of the organization. By understanding the abilities of the type of labor force organizations possess, management can create tasks which suits their respective employees.