All aboard? How Line-of-Sight impacts the strategic commitment of nonprofit employees
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60733/PMGR.2024.02Keywords:
Line-of-Sight, Alignment, Strategic commitment, Nonprofit organizationAbstract
Line-of-Sight refers to an employee’s (a) awareness and perceived importance of the organization’s strategic priorities, (b) accurate understanding of how job tasks and roles contribute to the realization of these strategic priorities, and (c) perceived fit between these strategic priorities and his or her job. Line-of-Sight is assumed crucial for enhancing employee strategic commitment as a more accurate understanding of the strategic priorities can enhance employees’ satisfaction with the strategic priorities, leading them to rate the overall quality of these priorities highly and commit to ensuring proper implementation. However, empirical evidence is scarce, making it hard to provide evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, we explore primary survey data from 128 frontline employees and the general director of a human service nonprofit organization to arrive at a set of crucial recommendations for nonprofit managers. Moreover, by shedding light on the motivational mechanism, drivers, and benefits of Line-of-Sight we hope to have paved the way and call for more research on Line-of-Sight. Our findings suggest that (a) Line-of-Sight’s components matter for employees’ strategic commitment, (b) information, training, and team leaders’ visionary leadership are key to enhancing Line-of-Sight, but (c) not all employees may have similar levels of Line-of-Sight, necessitating targeted alignment efforts across the organization.
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