Organizational Citizenship Behavior Essay

Human Resource counselling (HRM) is defined as the organizational function that focuses on recruiting, heed, and the directing of the employees that effect in the organization. It likewise deals with compensation, mathematical process management, organization development, safety, wellness, acquires, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. Even though the HR functions evolved, some things never change.Since most companies get out al doingss need the traditional HR functions such(prenominal) as hiring and firing employees, providing pay and benefits packages, training and development the mouldforce, and dealing with employer employee conflicts. Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a concept defined as the pitch of additional activities that argon beneficial to an organization and its employees. These activities are non required in a formal way that is, they are non stated in a contract nor required by the c on the wholeer. OCB is norm e achy a behavior of employees towards their party and vice versa.It is clear that the organizations HRM plays a live role in implementing OCB with creating a well-established kin between the organization and the employees. Rousseau and Geller argued that this kinds status is minute in the amount of OCB produced by employees where the guild essential deliver first a few requirements. (cited in Morrison, 1996). Schuller states that each comp anys HRM has a set of principles and values that are integrated in its over entirely doctrine, which ac fellowships a deferent treatment of its employees (cited in Morrison, 1996).According to Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, and Sowa, how effective is an organization in applying that philosophy is related towards how much the employees olfactory sensation appreciated in their work agency and therefore related to the amount of OCB displayed (cited in Morrison, 1996). OCB is present in all companies and can be considered a cycle. In f act, the HR department encourages OCB through several(prenominal) actions, which pave the way to creating a healthy organizational finishing where the ac fellowship protects its employees who are devoted to their follow.This enunciate allow discuss OCB in Middle East Airlines (MEA) by taking a closer imagine at the employee company relationship and the company employee relationship. Literature Review on Organization Citizenship Behavior How Companies Encourage OCB In order for employees to work on achieving OCB, the human resource management has to work on some issues to serve up encourage each individual to participate in developing the company.The management must ensure that several things should be well through kind Exchange, ldentification with Organizational Objectives, Empowerment, Selection and Socialization, Evaluation and Rewards, Rules and Job Descriptions. In an organization, Blau identified deuce types of relationships that tie the management and the employees together the sparing relationship and the social relationship (cited in Morrison, 1996). Konovsky and Pugh analysis states that it is more likely for employees to fare OCB under genuine social conditions than economic (cited in Morrison, 1996).Organ claims that this fact is due to several reasons First, social relationships allow employees to have tinctures of mutual trust with the organization and they ordain build long-term relationships with the management. This ordain encourage employees to help enhance the construe of their company by practicing OCB. Second, the social relationship is one that is ambiguously defined, that is it does not have clear boundaries therefore employees will more likely include certain citizenship acts in their job jobs (cited in Morrison, 1996).The identification of the employees with the organizational objectives is all important(p) for achieving OCB. That is because each individual will adopt and familiarize with the values and principles o f the company, and thusly become a part of its system, which will give a feeling of belonging and an encouragement for be part of the progress of the company. For employees to achieve OCB, conger and Kanungo believe that they must be first willing to do so, and that is by being encouraged and empowered (cited in Morrison, 1996).Bowen and Lawler claim that many benefits are generated as a result of sanction. First, it will shorten the time of reception of employees to serve their customers. Second, the relationship between the employees and the customers will be more fervent and kind. Third, it will allow the employees to be more innovative and generate ideas for the benefit of the company (cited in Morrison, 1996). Selection is the first phase of the entrance of an employee into a company.During this stage, Shore and Tetrick claim that each individual becomes assured of the job responsibilities in his field. Also, it is through this stage that the company indicates to the emplo yee the responsibilities that the company has towards him as well, such as security, progress and training hence it identifies a devil-way relationship. This will occur to a feeling of respect and interest from the other party, which will acquit to employees achieving OCB (cited in Morrison, 1996).Selection is also important in what is referred to by Chatman as person-organization fit by encyclopedism about the organizations objectives, the employee becomes aware that he or she will be chosen not sole(prenominal) when for their job qualification, but for their compatibility with the work environment as well (cited in Morrison, 1996). Socialization as defined by Van Maanen and Schein is when the company prepares the pertly employees with the set of knowledge, approaches, and behaviors that they should apply in order to fit into their roles (cited in Morrison, 1996). akin to selection, socialization is about showing the new employee that the relationship with the organization i s ground on social exchange. This can be clarified through such processes as orientation that holds within it more value than it shows. Chatman claims that socialization also familiarizes the employees with the companys objectives and values not to mention that it plays a vital part in the empowerment process. (cited in Morrison, 1996). There are two extremes stated by Jones in applying socialization.The first is a highly charge one where the new employees are separated and offered a common learning program. The second end is highly individualized, where employees are left on their own to engage in informal relationships with their fellow employees and to have self-learning experiences. There is heretofore one disadvantage to socialization when the objectives are clearly defined for employees, they course to perform solely what they were expected to (cited in Morrison, 1996). Therefore, a company that seeks employee OCB will tend to have a more individualized socialization.OCB b y commentary includes the set of actions performed by employees that are not asked by management, therefore it is not directly rewarded. Thus, to encourage employees into applying this behavior, OReilly and Chatman believe that the company should employ confirmative means that will encourage them to do so. That can be done by vainglorious a reward to the organizations performance as a whole. This will be helpful in two ways first, it will further familiarize the employees with the companys objectives and this way they will tend to act more upon achieving those goals through citizenship behavior.Second, by giving an award for the entire companys performance, the organization will indirectly inform the employees that their job goes beyond what is clearly specified and limited into a certain role or department (cited in Morrison, 1996). According to Bowen, Siehl, and Schneider, when the company imposes a high number of rules and regulation, it is limiting and discouraging the employ ees ability to perform tasks outside their field of work, therefore limiting the OCB that can be achieved in that organization.A high number of rules will clearly define the limits of the economic exchange relationship between the employees and their company which will diminish their will to achieve OCB by determining exactly what the employees are asked to do and not to do and preventing them from agreeable in any other action that is indirectly rewarded even if it benefits the company as a whole. Hence, in order for employees to demand to perform citizenship behavior, the company must reduce its rules and thus create a social exchange relationship (cited in Morrison, 1996).Like rules and regulations, if a company describes the employees job in a precise precise and narrow matter, it will reduce consort to Bowen and Lawler the citizenship behavior applied by its subordinates. Employees will then have extremely well defined tasks to perform with no weigh to any other company-w ide actions. That way the exchange relationship between employee and company will more likely to be economic, not to mention that it reduces empowerment by limiting the resources needed by employees such as knowledge and skills to taking action towards OCB (cited in Morrison, 1996). How Employees Exercise OCBTo achieve organizational citizenship behavior, employees must practice diametrical means. First, as Organ defines it, helping behavior is critical and plain in creating inter-employee relationships. Such behavior can be observe in the simplest acts such as when an employee assists his co-worker when the latter(prenominal) is overstrained with his paperwork or any other task being done. Second, according to Organ as well, sportsmanship, other dimension of OCB, is the ability to accept criticism and unfortunate events in the company without complaints, verbal or written.Consider a meeting for a selling idea where employees are brainstorming. When the group rejects someones i dea and the latter accepts that without being offended, he/she is considered to have a sense of sportsmanship. Third, organizational allegiance is a major concept when it comes to having a constructive organizational culture. This is evident whereby when employees are loyal to their company, they would feel safer and more content about the piece of work and the organizations culture. Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000) Individual initiative, a fourth aspect of OCB, is be in taking on additional responsibilities and engaging in task-improving actions without being asked to do so.This also includes encouraging others to do so, which helps the company as a whole improve. (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000) An example is when an employee suggests to adopt a new method of perform a task, which he/she knows will improve the way things s done. cerebrate to this is self-development, which is yet another dimension of OCB. According to George and Brief, self-developm ent pertains to voluntarily engaging in development courses that are not required from the company in the effort of improving ones skills and broadening ones knowledge. (Cited in Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000) For instance, an employee could learn about upcoming seminars and training sessions and inform his colleagues of their dates.A different aspect of OCB is civil virtue, which can be defined as a commitment to the organization as a whole. This takes place through engaging in governing the organization indirectly, looking out for its best interest, and defend it from threats. (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000) A simple example of this is turning off the lights after having apply the restroom. Similar to this is organizational compliance, the last dimension of OCB, which is when an employee complies with the company rules and regulations whether or not the latter is being monitored. Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000)Returning to work rig ht after having faultless the permitted lunch break is an example of organizational compliance. It is crucial to note that all these behavioral aspects of organizational citizenship behavior are not part of the work contract or job description. Factors that diminish OCB Several factors antecede and chance upon organizational citizenship behavior. Such factors can be set into four introductory categories employee characteristics, organizational characteristics, task characteristics, and leading behaviors.The influence of these categories on OCB can be either positive or negative. It is evident that OCB is present in all companies, whether on a noticeable scale or an imperceptible one. This report will be depicting the negative relations between OCB and its antecedents, whereby, according to studies done in a meta-analysis by Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, and Bachrach, it has been found that organizational and task characteristics have little impact on OCB relative to individual an d leadership behaviors which have greater impact on OCB.Employee or individual characteristics put on the front end of OCB and how much the latter contributes to building a constructive organizational culture. Taking two extremes, one can consider an employee who is indifferent of his/her companys interest. The latter would surely not engage in activities pertaining to civic virtue, thus not exercising good citizenship behavior. The other extreme is an employee who is very concerned about the companys interest and always seeks to strive goals that hold the companys benefit.Such employee is more likely to be engaged in the different dimensions of citizenship behavior. To go back to the bigger image, an employees characteristics help in determining how well OCB is exercised in an organization. Indeed, it is found that the conception of OCB increases with the increase of employee loyalty and concern to the organization, and decreases with indifference to the greater benefit of the company and the rewards granted for good citizenship behavior. Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000) Leadership behaviors are quite correlated to the presence of citizenship behavior in an organization. According to another meta-analysis reported by Podsakoff, MacKenzie, and Bommer in 1996, leadership behaviors are mostly positively related to OCB, whereby most leaders reward citizenship behavior within performance in general, which increases such behavior in the company as employees are aware of such rewards.The only negative leadership behaviors are contingent and non-contingent punishment behavior as well as leader specification of procedures. This is due to the fact that employees feel confused as to why leaders perform contingent punishment, thereby decreasing their citizenship behavior. Non-contingent punishment is a discouraging factor by itself, which makes it unadorned why it negatively affects OCB in an organization.