You may leave commitments, but they won't always leave you

We all form many different commitments in the workplace. But even after those commitments end, they can still influence the way we think, feel, and act.

Those lingering effects can be either positive or negative for both the individual and the organization. These prior or quondam commitments (quondam meaning "that which once was") were examined in a study of 420 employees representing a wide variety of occupations and work settings at three organizations.

Employees were asked to describe in a few words a specific thing that they were committed to at work, but were not anymore, as well as why they no longer had that commitment. The past commitments employees mentioned included those to organizations, supervisors, workplace teams, projects, goals and occupations, among others. Some of the explanations provided for these quondam commitments mirror factors we know lead to developing commitments, but a number of unique explanations were also identified.

Although the effects of quondam commitments can be positive or negative, our study revealed that many employees harbor negative feelings about those prior commitments. These feelings could make employees reluctant to fully commit to new projects, supervisors or goals — hindering their performance and holding back their careers.

These lingering effects of past commitments are increasingly important because of the frequency with which people now change jobs and the increased percentage of the workforce that are contract or temporary workers. Even for employees that stay with the same organization, companies increasingly need to pivot quickly, which can require employees to change commitments just as fast.  Given that workers need to more frequently form and forgo commitments in today’s workplace, organizations need to ensure people are committed to the right things for the right duration, and also effectively manage the cessation of commitments and the potential carryover effects of those quandom commitments.