Understanding Your Standing: Multiple Indicators of Status and Their Influence on Employee Attachment

Abstract

We investigate the joint effects of employees’ perceptions of their organization's reputation (or status) and their own status within the organization (ie, autonomy and impact) on their commitment to the organization and job search behavior. Results of a field study of managers show that for organizational commitment and job search behavior, autonomy has a stronger effect on the outcomes when individuals perceive that they work for a high-status organization. However, consistent with the idea of free-riding, results show that individuals experiencing low impact in a high-status organization have higher organizational commitment and are least likely to search for other jobs. Thus, managers concerned with increasing employee attachment should focus on increasing the organization's reputation as well as their employees’ perceptions of their standing in the organization.