The psychological contract of volunteers

Reform of performance expectations has transformed the Australian not-for-profit (NFP) operational environment, with organisational volunteers increasingly regarded as part of the available service delivery workforce. This perspective creates a significant challenge for strategic human resource management (SHRM) principles and practice, particularly the development and consolidation of constructive attitudes on the part of volunteers. To date, research examining the specific relationships between HRM strategy and volunteer attitudinal outcomes has been deficient. It is also understood that while many HRM practices are applicable to both paid staff and volunteers, transfer capacity is not universal. It is therefore proposed that new mechanisms of engagement, based on social exchange, might be usefully applied to organisational volunteers. Organisational behavioural (OB) constructs of organisational commitment (OC) (Allen & Meyer, 1990) and psychological contract (PC) (Rousseau, 1989) show considerable promise in this emergent area of management practice. This study used self-reported data from 921 volunteers engaged with a large NFP organisation. The quantification of the volunteer-centric psychological contract and the nature of its interaction with commitment were key study objectives. Based on organisational commitment theory (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Meyer & Parfyonova, 2010) and the volunteer literature, this study examined the direct relationships between the antecedents of affective and normative commitment, using multiple regression analysis. A relational psychological contract was tested as a mediator of the direct commitment paths, and psychological contract fulfillment was tested as a conditional effect on the relational psychological contract – commitment paths. Findings supported the existence of direct, mediated, and moderated-mediation relationships. Of particular note was the comparative strength of personal importance in predicting affective commitment, and congruence of organisation mission and values with personal values in relation to normative commitment. The study found that the effects of personal importance, role scope, need satisfaction antecedents, on affective commitment were transmitted by a relational psychological contract. The relationships of socialisation, and congruence of organisational mission and values with personal values, with normative commitment were mediated by a relational psychological contract. Fulfillment moderated the contract-commitment path for affective commitment only. The findings of this study contribute to the limited empirical research regarding the relationships relevant to volunteer attitudes, and the role of the psychological contract. The study challenges assumptions in the literature that have led to the neglect of commitment antecedents such as personal importance, formalisation of procedures, need satisfaction, and value congruence. The study utilises the broadened application of the psychological contract beyond the traditional employee focus to a volunteer frame of analysis, and explicitly operationalises the theorised ‘nature’ of the association between dimensions of the psychological contract and organisational commitment. The study has implications for management theory and practice relevant to volunteers. By considering how OB constructs apply to volunteers, the study provides an opportunity to tap the underlying needs and organisational relationships essential to volunteer involvement. Through the establishment of a promissory and reciprocal exchange agreement, favourable workplace attitudes, such as organisational commitment, can be encouraged by NFP organisations throughout a critical element of the sector workforce.