COMPETENCY-BASED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN SHAPING AFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

Abstract

Existing literature suggests that human capital in public organizations is is partly unused and in some cases, even wasted [e.g. Goncharuk & Prufyus, 2018; Johnston, 2020; Mukhtar & Azman Ali, 2010; Szabo, 2016]. Therefore, the authors decided to explore the hidden relationships that that could enhance employee management.

The main aim of the article is to demonstrate the empirically validated relationship between professional competences and affective organizational commitment, with the significant mediating role of career development and promotion opportunities.

The empirical research included qualitative investigations of experts in the field of fire service and quantitative studies of firefighters employed in managerial and operational positions. The research procedure included Baron and Kenny’s mediation analysis which helped the authors to verify the scientific hypotheses and formulate practical conclusions. It was determined that the proposed mediator significantly elucidates the relationship between competencies and the affective organizational commitment of firefighters, irrespective of their rank within the organization. The insights garnered from this research may inspire further exploration into the nuanced mechanisms of dependency in organizational behavior, especially since this area remains relatively uncharted in existing studies.