Enhancing Organizational Commitment through Flexible Work Arrangements during the Public Sector

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic transformed traditional workplace norms, with flexible work arrangements (FWAs) becoming central to organizational continuity. In Sri Lanka's public sector, FWAs were rapidly adopted but remain under-evaluated. This study addresses the need to understand whether FWAs have a lasting impact, even after the epidemic, on organizational commitment of employees in public institutions. Objective: To assess the effect of flexible work arrangements on organizational commitment of public sector employees in Sri Lanka during the post-pandemic period of COVID-19. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was employed. The study was conducted across five government ministries in Colombo. A total of 220 administrative employees were selected using stratified random sampling. Data were collected through a standard questionnaire assessing the perception of FWAs and levels of affective, normative, and continuance commitment. SPSS v25 was used for descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis. Results: The analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between FWAs and overall organizational commitment (r = 0.469, p < 0.001). Regression analysis confirmed that FWAs significantly predict affective commitment (β = 0.383, R² = 0.217, p < 0.001), with remote work flexibility and schedule autonomy emerging as key predictors. Normative and continuance commitment showed weaker but statistically significant associations with flexible policies. Conclusion: Flexible work arrangements enhance organizational commitment in the public sector, particularly by strengthening emotional attachment to the organization. Institutionalizing FWAs may support long-term retention and motivation of employees. Managers and policymakers are encouraged to reframe traditional attendance norms and formalize hybrid work models as appropriate to meet evolving employee expectations even after the pandemic of COVID-19.