An Albatross By Another Name

Guess what? I may not have needed to coin the Golden Albatross metaphor! It’s sad but true. I cried (on the inside) when I discovered that business management academics had an entire theory that captured employees’ stay-or-go psychological condition long before I arrived on the scene with the Golden Albatross. It’s called ‘continuance commitment.’

While neither as catchy as the Golden Albatross nor limited to just pensionable workers, continuance commitment fits the Golden Albatross metaphor perfectly. The only difference is that the Golden Albatross describes the situation for pensionable workers. On the other hand, continuance commitment captures the stay or go feeling that any worker might face while working any type of job.

Is this albatross masquerading as a management theory?

This post is all about continuance commitment and why I think it’s vital that pensionable workers know about it. The article starts small, with a definition of continuance commitment, and then moves on to the general theory. I then explain how continuance commitment fits into the study of voluntary employee turnover. I also link continuance commitment, voluntary turnover, and defined benefit pensions (DBPs) together. Afterward, I take a quick look at how continuance commitment ties into pension plan design, which I discussed in Pension Series Part 25. I do this to set up the discussion for Part 27 of the Pension Series. Finally, I end on a cautionary note about the types of employees continuance commitment produces. Continue reading →