Organization Citizenship and Employee Withdrawal Behavior in the Workplace

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of organizational citizenship behaviors (altruism, courtesy, sportsmanship, generalized compliance and civic virtue) on employee withdrawal behaviors (turnover, absenteeism and tardiness).   Most research in the OCB literature focused on the impact of organizational citizenship behaviors on turnover, with minimal attention directed toward absenteeism and tardiness, as negative employee performance behaviors.  Data were obtained from employees (N = 334) at a municipal law enforcement agency with (N = 624) employees resulting in a 53.53% usable response rate.  Data analysis indicated that job satisfaction was directly related to organizational citizenship behavior; and organizational citizenship behavior was inversely related to overall employee withdrawal behavior.  Study findings did not lend support for organizational commitment being directly related to organizational citizenship behavior. The authors specified study limitations and future research opportunities.