The effects of employee commitment on successful strategy implementation : a survey of retail banks in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between employee commitment and successful strategy implementation in retail banking in South Africa. Successful implementation of strategy is key for organisations to remain competitive. Numerous organisations have perfected their strategy formulation process, but subsequently fail to move from formulation to implementation. Accordingly, this study explores the field of strategy implementation, and focuses on employee commitment as a factor for successful strategy implementation. Data was collected through a selfadministered questionnaire given to participants working in retail banking and involved in strategy implementation. A total of 104 responses were received. The findings revealed that employee commitment had a significant effect on successful strategy implementation. Furthermore, successful strategy implementation was affected by factors, such as employees not being involved in strategy planning and formulation, projects not completed within the allocated time and budget, employees not being rewarded for successfully implementing projects, lack of feedback on strategic initiatives, and leaders failing to clearly communicate the strategy. It is recommended that organisations use employee commitment as a lever for successful strategy implementation. This will increase employee commitment and address the factors identified to impact strategy implementation. The value of this study lies in its exploration of the relationship between employee commitment and successful implementation in the South Africa context.