Social Recognition and Employees' Organizational Support

Abstract

The focal point of this study is to explore the support service employees give to their organization. Its main objective is to define the concept of organizational support and to examine its causes, in particular to investigate the effects of social recognition on employees’ organizational support. Three separate questions are examined: the definition of employees’ organizational support; the effects of social recognition on employees’ organizational support; and whether the causes of organizational support are the same in different service settings. In defining organizational support from service employees, a four dimensional view is proposed, comprising organizational commitment, intent to stay, service effort, and service improvements. The choice of these four dimensions is motivated by the importance of employee commitment, retention, and service performances for the competitive edge of service organizations. In examining the origins of employees’ organizational support, main emphasis is placed on “social recognition.” Social recognition is argued to be of fundamental importance for employees, as it contributes to perceptions of self-worth and identity. Social recognition is proposed to comprise “influence,” “skill-utilization,” and “approval.” The process in which social recognition elicits employees’ support is explained through reciprocity mechanisms; that employees reciprocate social recognition with their supportive attitudes and behaviors. Diverse management strategies are applied within the service sector, affecting employees’ opportunities for receiving recognition at work and allegedly their organizational support. It is proposed that levels of social recognition and employees’ organizational support will vary according to the type of services provided. It is also proposed that social recognition is a general reward that elicits employees’ organizational support in similar ways in different service settings. Confirmatory factor analysis using data from two service organizations (N=929 and N=227) confirms a four-factor structure of employees’ organizational support and three-factor structure of social recognition, as proposed. Results from four structural equation models specifying the relations between demographic variables, social recognition, and employees’ organizational support using data from one service organization (N=929) indicate that social recognition is of importance in explaining levels of employees’ support. Skill-utilization and influence have positive effects on organizational commitment, and approval has an indirect positive effect on organizational commitment through skill-utilization and influence. Organizational commitment and skill-utilization have positive effects on intent to stay and service effort. Influence is found to have positive effects on service improvements. Examination of mean differences between three service divisions; a retail division (N=307), a support division (N=146) and a manual-maintenance division (N=383), indicate that retail employees have less influence and utilize their skills to a lesser degree than employees in the other divisions, as expected. Levels of employees’ organizational support are, however, not found to vary in similar ways between the three divisions, contrary to what was expected. Using structural equation models, the applicability of the four models across the three service divisions was supported, indicating the importance of social recognition for eliciting organizational support from employees in different service settings. The main contribution of this thesis is to show that social recognition elicits organizational support from service employees in different service settings.