The effect of career orientation on organizational commitment and performance: A case of North West Province

Abstract

Although career orientation is widely acknowledged as an important aspect in the workplace, very little research has been conducted on how this important aspect influences employee commitment and ultimately organisational performance especially in specific contexts such as the population area identified in this study (Coetzee, 2009). Given the fact that career orientation provides people with relevant information to assist them in making effective career choices, which in turn affect organisational performance and commitment (Liu and Yang, 2011; Kasemsap, 2016; Efeoğlu and Sanal, 2015), this study argues that it is important for organisational managers and those involved in Human Resources to have a nuanced understanding of how career orientation affects organisational commitment and performance. Without career orientation, most employees often struggle to decide which job is relevant for their skills and capabilities. If such employees, make wrong career choices, their performance and commitment to the organisation are likely to be negatively affected. Therefore, this article- based study examines the effects of career orientation on organisational commitment and performance. The study uses a stratified random sample (N=214). An Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) and Career Orientations Inventory (COI) first developed by Schein and DeLong (1982a; 1982b) will be used as a measure to determine the effects of career orientations on employees of Office of the Premier in the North West Province. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, 2011 version) software which is renowned for analysing complex data will be used to analyse and present the data collected. The findings of this study will contribute towards the generation of new knowledge to the research literature on the key areas of the study, namely career orientation, organisational commitment, and performance from the point of view of the empirical data that will be gleaned from the population area. It is envisaged that the knowledge generated will provide insights that can assist in capacitating career orientation programmes.