Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Understanding the Five Key Dimensions

In an organization, employees are expected to follow the rules and regulations set by the company. However, some employees go beyond their responsibilities and exhibit behaviors that are not part of their job description. This is what we call Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). OCB includes acts like helping others, taking on extra responsibilities, working extra hours, and tackling relevant issues that are not part of the employee’s job description. OCB is a personal choice, and employees who do not exhibit such behavior are not punished (Organ, Podsakoff, and MacKenzie, 2005).

OCB was first introduced in the work of Bateman and Organ in 1983 and has since been the subject of over 650 studies (Dekas, Bauer, Welle, Kurkoski, & Sullivan, 2013). OCB is of great interest to researchers because it is connected with significant outcomes for both the organization and the individual (Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff & Blume, 2009). There are five key dimensions of OCB as identified by Denis W. Organ in 1988.

The first dimension is altruism, which refers to selfless acts by an individual for the welfare of others, even if it results in a disadvantage for oneself. The second dimension is courtesy, wherein employees show politeness to avoid conflict with co-workers. The third dimension is civic virtue, which refers to voluntary behavior by employees who actively engage themselves and deeply embrace the policies of the organization.

The fourth dimension is conscientiousness, wherein an employee shows awareness and is conscious of the organization’s rules and regulations as well as their own actions. The fifth and final dimension is sportsmanship, which describes an employee’s behavior of not wanting to waste time complaining about difficulties at work that are unnecessary.

A study conducted on 173 bank employees in Kenya shows that employee performance progressively encompasses the concept of OCB, and the five dimensions mentioned have a significant and positive effect on the performance of an individual in an organization. The study suggests that altruism enables employees to share their expertise with others, and employees showing courtesy are likely to engage in citizenship behavior (Chelagat, Chepkwony & Kemboi, 2015).

An integrative literature review examines OCB in relation to an organization’s performance and has found that it aids in the improvement of a team. Moreover, it contributes to employee performance through recognition of the managers of the employee’s helpfulness and cooperation (Rose, 2016).

A research conducted by Babcock-Roberson and Strickland in 2010, through gathering different empirical data, links charismatic leadership, work engagement, and organizational citizenship behavior. Results indicate that charismatic leadership to employees increases work engagement, and once employees are engaged in their work, the incidence of their behavior, specifically OCB, occurs more often. In connection, using 296 hotel staff members, empirical data were gathered indicating that burnout and decrease emotional accomplishment is negatively related to organizational citizenship behavior. Job involvement by employees mediates burnout and OCB (Chiu & Tsai, 2006).

OCB has no known negative effect in an organization; rather, it helps increase an organization’s productivity and an individual’s performance. Although employees exhibiting OCB do not expect anything in return, managers should acknowledge or give feedback to those who are doing extra-role behavior, which will help motivate them and improve their performance. On the other hand, some employees must not depend much on their co-workers who are engaged in OCB since they might end up being lax in their work.

Furthermore, since charismatic leadership correlates with the improvement of employee’s performance through engagement of work (Bono & Judge, 2003) and that work engagement positively affects OCB, it would be beneficial for managers and researchers to look for more evidence that helps support that leadership improves employee’s performance through organizational citizenship behavior. This will give the organization more insight into the management of employee’s performance through improving leadership qualities.