CAREER PLATEAUING AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN CAMEROON: THE ROLE OF PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT

Abstract

Career plateauing and its consequences have become
a current management issue for both workers and their
employers. The aim of this paper is to analyse the
moderating role of perceived organizational support
on the relation between career plateauing and organizational commitment. In order to achieve this goal,
a field study was carried out and data collected from
615 workers in public administrations, state-owned
companies and parastatals in Cameroon. These data
were processed through a descriptive and econometric
analysis. The results show that content plateauing
acts negatively on organizational commitment, no
matter whether it’s affective or normative whereas
it acts positively on continuance commitment. On
the contrary, positive relationships appear between
objective plateauing and the different forms of
organizational commitment. Furthermore, perceived
organizational support moderates the effect of structural plateauing on the one side, and the relationship
between content plateauing and continuance
commitment on the other side. It therefore seems
appropriate to sensitize organizations managers on the
importance of developing a one-to-one relationship
with their employees. They should make sure that
they motivate their employees, that their difficulties
are taken into consideration and acknowledge their
commitment to organizational goals in order to reduce
or even eradicate cases of subjective plateauing.