The impact of human resource management practices on employees' commitment in the banking sector in Kingston, Jamaica

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on employee commitment in the banking sector in Kingston, Jamaica. In this context the three high involvement work practices being investigated are: (1) orientation of recruits (socialization); (2) career planning and development and (3) the use of formal operating guidelines. The three HRM practices are strong predictors of organizational commitment for the following groups of employees---line managers, core service personnel and specialist staff.; Organizational commitment is a three dimensional construct characterizing an employee's relationship with an organization. The three dimensions by Meyer and Allen (1991) are: affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment were used in the study. HRM practices and organizational commitment were measured with various scales developed and validated by Meyer and Allen (1991) Kramer (1994), Kouzes and Posner (1997) and Sturges, et al. (2002).; The respondents for this study were banking sector employees from the three major banks in Kingston, Jamaica: Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago and National Commercial Bank. Five hundred questionnaires were sent to these employees, with a response rate of 53%.; The significance of the study is to provide evidence to support the relationship (strategic fit) between HRM practices and employee commitment. The study also seeks to gain descriptive information on HRM policy and practices in the banking sector, together with an assessment of the organizational and environmental factors that drive HRM strategy and policy. The results will lend support for the design of high involvement work practices to foster organizational commitment and to improve long term organizational performance in developing economies. The findings will also contribute to an organization's ability to understand the different components of commitment in order to experience overall efficiency and effectiveness from employees. Ultimately, scientists and managers will foster long-term affective, continuance, and normative commitment in employees.; Finally the study will contribute to the growing body of literature on HRM practices and employee commitment. It will strengthen the existing knowledge that HRM practices are to be content specific, rather than universalistic, in order to better address the unique circumstances of the Jamaican banking sector.