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Does Your Firm Inspire EmpLoyees to be "Good Citizens"?
Pitching in to help a co-worker finish a job. Serving on safety and health committees. Sharing some safety and health tips with a new worker. Volunteering for the firm's emergency response teams.
Participating in problem-solving groups.
These are just some situations in which companies need employees who are willing to contribute beyond their job descriptions. Today's competitive business environment demands employees who are "good citizens"-individuals willing to extend themselves to help coworkers and their employers.
Some companies have established direct ways of finding and fostering good citizens within their ranks. Others struggle to create a positive safety climate, unsure how to engender the necessary energy and enthusiasm. Consequently, they either enlist the same few people repeatedly (and risk burnout) or twist arms in efforts to recruit reluctant participants (and risk resistance and rebellion).
Why do some companies have many good citizens while others must resort to coercion or bribery to induce participation? How can a company improve organizational citizenship? This article answers that question based on an emerging theory about organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). After providing an overview of OCB, this article presents an approach to improving the climate for OCB through management alignment. This approach is illustrated via three short case histories.
THEORY OF ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR
In the last 10 years, industrial and organizational psychologists have investigated volunteerism in organizations. Psychologists have labeled this area of organizational life "organizational citizenship behavior" (Organ; Smith, Organ and Near 653+); they base their studies on the common understanding of what it means to be a good citizen. A good citizen is someone who helps neighbors, votes, participates in community activities, etc. In other words, a person who takes actions that are not required but which contribute to the welfare of the community.
Similarly, good organizational citizens are employees whose actions contribute to the effective functioning of the organization and are not explicitly required (discretionary) nor formally rewarded (with incentives). In other words, OCB is altruistic; it is expressed in actions that show an unselfish concern for the welfare of others.
Such behaviors are entirely up to the individual (discretionary) in the sense that people are neither rewarded for doing them nor punished for not doing them....