An Attachment and Multi‐Target Perspective on Organisational Commitment of Early Career Starters

ABSTRACT Establishing strong organisational commitment among early career starters such as apprentices, trainees, and dual‐study students is of central interest to companies' HR strategies for developing and retaining skilled workforces. To explain how commitment emerges, attachment theory offers a useful conceptual lens, as it provides an established framework for understanding human relationships. Contributing to a growing body of research on attachment at the workplace, this study examines how general attachment and relationship‐specific attachment of early career starters relate to affective, normative, and continuance commitment towards two salient targets in vocational settings: the company and the in‐company trainer. Using structural equation modelling with data from 405 dual‐study students as representatives of early career starters in Germany, the findings highlight the value of an attachment‐based, multi‐target perspective. In particular, relationship‐specific attachment was more strongly related to commitment to the company and the in‐company trainer than general attachment. Moreover, relationship‐specific attachment avoidance emerged as a key predictor of most commitment components across both targets. Overall, the findings suggest that companies and in‐company trainers can actively and differently shape attachment and commitment and thereby support retention during early career stages.