Employee commitment remains a critical driver of organizational success, shaping job satisfaction, retention, and long-term performance across industries. This accepted student research presentation examines how commitment is formed, sustained, and eroded in the modern workplace, with a particular focus on ethical leadership, organizational support, and the evolving employee–employer relationship.
Drawing on scholarly literature and original data collected by the Beck Research Institute, the research explores employee commitment through both affective and continuance dimensions. Affective commitment reflects emotional connection and engagement, while continuance commitment captures the rational considerations employees make when deciding whether to remain with an organization. Together, these dimensions offer a more complete understanding of why employees stay, disengage, or seek new opportunities.
The presentation situates these findings within the broader post-pandemic context, where expectations around autonomy, work life balance, fairness, and respect have reshaped the psychological contract between employees and employers. Survey data highlights perceived organizational support and ethical leadership as central predictors of commitment, with respondents frequently identifying leadership behavior as either a stabilizing force or a source of disengagement. The session challenges organizations to move beyond transactional models of loyalty and instead invest in leadership practices that build trust, psychological safety, and sustainable relationships.
Designed for academics, graduate students, and organizational researchers, this session integrates theory and applied data to reframe employee commitment as a dynamic, relational exchange. Attendees will leave with research-backed insights into how ethical leadership and supportive cultures can strengthen retention and organizational resilience.
Author and Affiliation
Eric Beck, Spring Hill College
Join us at the SAM International Business Conference to engage with this timely research. This presentation will be delivered virtually, allowing participants from anywhere in the world to attend, ask questions, and explore how commitment is evolving in today’s workplace.
Register to attend the conference at www.samnational.org/conference and take part in conversations shaping the future of management and organizational research.