Strategic Human Resource Management After Involuntary Turnover: Enhancing Organizational Commitment Among Remaining Employees
Keywords:
Involuntary Turnover, Psychological Contract Breach, Organizational Commitment, Survivor Syndrome, Strategic Human Resource ManagementAbstract
Economic and technological transformation has compelled organizations to restructure their operations through workforce reductions, making involuntary turnover an increasingly common organizational practice. Although such measures may improve organizational efficiency in the short term, they often generate survivor syndrome among remaining employees, thereby undermining their organizational commitment. This article aims to explain the relationships among involuntary turnover, psychological contract breach, and organizational commitment of surviving employees, while proposing strategic human resource management practices to restore organizational commitment. The study adopts a literature synthesis approach by integrating relevant concepts, theories, and empirical studies, using psychological contract theory as the primary theoretical framework to explain the underlying relationships. The findings indicate that involuntary turnover leads surviving employees to perceive that the organization has breached its psychological contract, resulting in diminished organizational commitment. Based on the literature synthesis, two propositions are proposed: (1) involuntary turnover has a positive influence on psychological contract breach among surviving employees, and (2) psychological contract breach has a negative influence on organizational commitment. Furthermore, the article proposes a three-stage strategic human resource management framework consisting of psychological contract breach prevention, employee psychological recovery, and psychological contract rebuilding. This framework provides practical guidance for organizations to preserve human capital, strengthen employees' organizational commitment, and promote long-term organizational sustainability following organizational restructuring.
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