Raida Binti Abu Bakar

The association between training and organizational commitment among white-collar workers in Malaysia

The exploration of the relationship between organizational commitment and training is still in its early stages. Although there have been several studies reported on training and organizational commitment in Western countries, very little has been done in respect of the local professionals in Malaysia. This research investigates the association between five training variables (availability of training, support for training, motivation to learn, training environment and perceived benefits of training), and various aspects of organizational commitment (affective commitment, normative commitment, continuance commitment and overall organizational commitment). The availability of training, support for training, motivation to learn, training environment, perceived benefits of training were all significantly correlated with affective commitment, normative commitment and overall organizational commitment. The training environment and perceived benefits were also significantly correlated with continuance commitment. However the availability of training, support for training and motivation to learn were not significantly correlated with continuance commitment. This suggests that despite other forms of commitment, Malaysian workers do not feel that they need to remain in an organization that has made available the training, given support for the training and were motivated to learn. Otherwise, results suggest that on the whole, training does seem to have an influence on organizational commitment. The practical implication of this is that managers, who are so desirous of enhancing organizational commitment among their subordinates, should pay more attention to training. Annual income was found to correlate positively with affective commitment and overall commitment. Age and tenure were not significant predictors of overall organizational commitment contradicting studies in the West. This demonstrated that Malaysians might have different attitudes towards organizational commitment. The older they are and the longer they stay within an organization do not imply that they will be committed towards their organization. This phenomenon can be attributed to the uncertain business environment in Malaysia.

Religiosity as a source of influence on work engagement: a study of the Malaysian Finance industry

Abstract The majority of work engagement studies have been conducted using a quantitative approach with limited attention to the institutional and social contexts. Meanwhile, the role of religion in shaping people’s philosophy and behaviour in life and work has been gaining attention from management researchers. Studies have revealed the positive impact of religiosity on a number of human resources and organizational outcomes. However, few studies treat religious belief as a job or personal resource from a HRM perspective. This study fills part of this research gap by focusing on the relevant factors that may affect work engagement in the Malaysian Islamic context. Drawing on data from 41 semi-structured interviews with mid-ranking professionals from the finance sector, this study responds to calls for more focus on contexts and for deeper qualitative investigations into individual dynamics that concern religiosity and work engagement. It provides evidence that religiosity plays an important role in work engagement. Our findings have implications for people management in organizations that have a diverse workforce representing multiple religions.

Emotionally Intelligent Teams : Can Emotional Intelligence Enhance Performance

Over the period of time researchers and social scientists are studying why not only intellectual intelligence is sufficient and can only be the predictor of success amongst individuals? The scholars have realized the importance and need of social intelligence which is related to the non-cognitive abilities and is known as emotional intelligence. This paper develops conceptual understanding on two major perspectives that makes the sense of teams becoming emotionally intelligent. By focusing how individuals apprehend the emotions they possess and simultaneously emotions of their team members via strengthening their emotional capacity that ultimately leads them to the higher level of performance. It is evident across the globe that individuals’ embraced emotionally intelligence are working individuals who strive hard to develop and practice emotional intelligence skills to be an effective team members that leads to enhance performance. High Performance teams are well equipped with emotional intelligence for getting work done through team members. For that particular purpose it is pertinent to know what emotionally intelligent teams are comprised of. Therefore it is synthesized from the literature how emotional intelligence of individuals can be a critical component of as an effective team member and propensity to a productive team work.