Analyzing the Multiple Structural Relationships for the Role of Future Perspective in Shaping the Employees’ Psychological Contract

In today's complex and challenging world, organizations need a competitive advantage to succeed. If human capital is considered one of the most important organizational resources, it can help the organization to achieve a competitive advantage. The purpose of this study was to analyze the structural relationships of the role of future perspective in the psychological contract. Future Time perspective (FTP) refers to individual differences in the tendency to think about future conditions and, apart from ability, produces individual differences that have greatly increased over the past decades when employee judgments over the success of the employment contract are high. That is, they are likely to offset their sense of commitment, thereby enhancing their sense of commitment to the organization.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:

Nowadays, the most important issue for organizations is the failure to fulfill promises by employers and commitments by employees. Lack of understanding and attention to future prospects seems to result in this failure. On the other hand, human resources are the most valuable factor of production and the most important asset of any organization. This is why organizational behavior and human resources management scholars have focused on organizational commitment issues. Organizational commitment is an important factor in predicting the employees’ organizational behavior and their willingness to stay at the job. The psychological refers to employees’ beliefs about the nature of interactional relationships which determine the quality of legitimate obligations and expectations of both parties. These issues especially apply to organizations that utilize specialized and expert human capital. Understanding the content of psychological contracts in universities is necessary to completely utilize the capabilities of the country's higher education system. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to analyze the role of future time perspective in shaping the psychological contract for Shahroud University of Technology.

The statistical population of this study was comprised of 261 full-time employees in the Shahrood University of Technology. To collect data for measuring the research variables, the Coyle-Shapiro and Conway’s (2005) Employer Contract Succession Questionnaire, Duus et al.’s (2003) Employee Inventory Questionnaire, and Long and Christensen’s (2002) FTP questionnaire were adopted. The content validity of the questionnaire was assessed by the CVR index and its construct validity assessed by confirmatory factor analysis. The questionnaire’s reliability was also evaluated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Obtained data was analyzed by conducting structural equation modeling in LISREL software.

The results of study showed that economic, social-emotional, and developmental fulfillment of the employer had direct and significant effects on employees’ obligations. Future time perspective also had direct and significant impact on employer’s fulfillment. In addition, FTP moderated the relationship between employer’s economic fulfillment and employees’ obligations.

CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS:

Employees’ commitment encompasses different dimensions including in-role behaviors, citizenship behaviors, and high performance. The organization’s competitive advantage is significantly depended on employees’ engagement. The findings indicated that there is a direct and significant relationship between future time perspective and employees’ commitment. Future time perspective played a moderating role on the relationship between employer economic fulfilment and employees’ commitment. According to findings, it is suggested that the managers of universities and other educational organizations to enhance the economic quality level of employees by strengthening the performance-based pay system considering the types of jobs, responsibilities, and living standards. Special attention should be given to the flexibility of the organization in terms of staff work plan and work processes. It is also recommended that managers reinforce the employees’ future prospect to enhance their understanding of employer development. Finally, it is recommended that managers take steps to empower employees who are focused on opportunities and practices.