The psychological antecedents of employee referrals

Abstract

This study investigates how different psychological antecedents lead to different components of organizational commitment and employee referrals or employment recommendations in a people-based financial services context. Specifically, we consider the impact of position involvement, volitional choice, and informational complexity on affective, calculative, and normative commitment, which ultimately influences employee referrals in the context of a Flemish bank. Our conceptual model is supported through SEM, and the empirical results show differential impacts of the three psychological antecedents on the various components of organizational commitment and employee referrals. Position involvement and affective commitment represent the key determinants of employee referrals. We also address the theoretical and managerial implications of our research.

Keywords:

• commitment
• employee referrals
• information complexity
• position involvement
• volitional choice