Perceived Organisational Support: A Panacea for Work Commitment among Employees in Private Universities in South-East Nigeria

Abstract

Organisational support is one of the cardinal factors that influences employees’ work commitment within cooperate organisations. When employees perceive that their organisation cares and provides them all the support they require, they are more likely to commit to the achievement of their organisation’s goals, which would also translate to organisational efficiency and productivity. However, the relationship between perceived organisational support and work commitment has not been significantly investigated particularly within the context of employees in private Universities within the Southeast. This study therefore aimed at investigating the influence of perceived organisational support on employees work commitment in selected private Universities in the Southeast Nigeria. The study employed the descriptive cross-sectional survey research design. The sample size for the study was 250 employees who voluntarily participated in the study through the Google Form web-based questionnaire administration. Data collected from the survey were processed using the SPSS software package. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and the simple linear regression model in order to determine the influence of perceived organisational support on work commitment of employees. Findings of the study revealed that the respondents expressed negative perceptions regarding organisational support in the private Universities. It was equally found that majority of employees in the private Universities were not committed to their jobs and this was found to be statistically associated with their perception about organisational support. The study recommended the need for the management of private Universities in the Southeast Nigeria to incorporate democratic principles that could encourage employees’ engagement and openness in expressing their concerns and difficulties.