Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Employees are expected to behave in a certain way based on rules and regulations. Employees tend to behave in ways that go beyond their responsibility and out of desire. We call this Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. This behavior involves acts such as helping other people, adding responsibilities and taking extra hours. The individual is not punished if they do not exhibit this behavior (Organ Podsakoff & MacKenzie – 2005). Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) were first described by Bateman & Organ back in 1983. They are still a great source of research for many researchers, and since then more than 650 papers have been published (Dekas Bauer Welle Kurkoski & Sullivan (2013)). This is because OCB is associated with the outcomes of an individual or organization (Podsakoff Whiting Podsakoff & Blume (2009)). Denis w. Organ identified five dimensions of OCB in 1988.
Altruism can be defined as a selfless, selfless act performed by someone for others’ welfare even when it is to their disadvantage. It is important for employees to be courteous in order not to cause conflict with other co-workers. Employees who are engaged and embrace an organization’s policies will exhibit civic virtue.
The employee must also be conscientious of his or her own actions. Sportmanship describes the employee’s attitude of not complaining about work problems. According to a study done on 173 Kenyan Bank employees, employee’s performance progressively incorporates the concept OCB. Also, the results show that these five dimensions have a significant impact on individual performance within an organization. The study found that altruism enables workers to share knowledge and expertise, while employees who demonstrate courtesy are more likely to engage with citizenship behavior.
Also, a literature review examining OCB’s impact on the performance of an organisation has revealed that it can help improve a group. OCB also helps to improve employee performance by rewarding managers for their cooperation and helpfulness (Rose 2016, 2016). Babcock Roberson Strickland (2010), through the collection of different empirical data, conducted a study that linked charismatic leaders, work engagement, organizational citizenship behavior. The results show that charismatic leadership increases employee engagement in the workplace. Once employees become engaged, their behaviors, including OCB, are more likely to occur. 296 hotel workers were studied to collect empirical data that showed burnout and decreased emotional accomplishment are negatively correlated with organizational citizenship behaviour. Burnout is mediated by job involvement (Chiu & Tsai). OCB does not have a negative impact on an organization. Instead, it increases productivity and performance.
While employees engaging in OCB may not be expecting anything in return from managers, they should give them feedback or acknowledge their behavior. This will motivate the employee and improve his performance. Some employees should not rely on co-workers engaged in OCB because they may end up lax with their work. Since charismatic leader correlates with employee’s improved performance due to engagement in work (Bono & Judge (2003) as well as the fact that work engagement positively effects OCB. Managers and researchers should look for evidence that supports that leadership enhances employee’s productivity through organizational citizen behavior. The organization will gain a better understanding of how to improve employee performance.
