Abstract
Employee commitment is an indispensible cog in an organization’s growth and motivation influences talent to drive this growth. Employees exhibit certain behaviors by going beyond the normal call of duty. These behaviors are called Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB) and they contribute significantly to an organization’s growth. Job characteristics like Skill Variety, Task Identity, Task Significance, Autonomy and Feedback drive motivation at work place. When employers design roles for employees within an organization, the latter are not only motivated, but they also show high preference to OCB. This research aims to empirically study the relationship between OCB and motivation, the basis of job characteristics, through a structured survey by administering statistically reliable questionnaire from a sample drawn from the Indian corporate sector. The aim is to offer a normative guideline for organizations in order to implement concepts of motivation based on job characteristics and OCB in an effective manner in the Indian industrial sector.
Introduction
The Indian economy had been growing at 8-9% successively over the past few years before the global economic meltdown in 2008. At the onset of the downturn, the government promptly initiated steps to curtail its impact on the Indian economy; ergo, the economy bounced back and grew at 6-8% between 2008 and 2012. However, the current European debt crisis has cast a shadow on the Indian economy’s growth, which is at 6-7%. Despite the dip, it has retained its status as the world’s second fastest growing economy, next to China. Service sectors like IT, Telecom and IT-enabled services have emerged as growth engines of the economy, and the manufacturing industry is the dark horse, which is set for the next big wave of economic expansion. GDP has more than doubled over the past decade, which has created unprecedented opportunities for professionals in the corporate sector. Attraction and retention of talent for a reasonable time in an organization is a major challenge facing Indian corporates today in all sectors. Mckinsey’s survey on motivation and talent management (2004) finds that 75% of surveyed corporates are facing talent paucity. Deloitte (2008) reports that 87% of HR directors believe employee motivation and retention are the biggest issues. Employee retention and motivation is the third biggest challenge after the state of global economy and competition for CEOs.
In today’s competitive world, it is imperative for organizations to build employee commitment to spur growth. Motivation influences talent to drive an organization’s growth (Rousseau, 1990). Employees also exhibit certain behavior by going beyond the normal requirements of the role / task. This behavior is termed Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB) and it has been found to meaningfully contribute to organizational growth (Organ, 1988). Is there any relationship between motivation on basis of job characteristics and OCB? Whether employee motivation in any way influences OCB within organizations? Researchers have proposed a model for exploring probable relationships between OCB and job characteristics, psychological contract and Porter Lawler’s PO & EP expectancies (Ajgaonkar, Baul, Phadke 2012). Accordingly, this study aims to seek answers to questions pertaining to the relationship between OCB and job characteristics.
The presentation of this empirical study is as per following sections:
Literature review: Provides an overview of the associated literature and the gaps observed.
Method: Covers dependent variable, independent variable, research methodology (preparation of questionnaire, sample details) and tool for statistical analysis.
Results: States the statistical analysis, conclusion for the relationship between factors of job characteristics (skill variety, feedback, task identity, task significance and autonomy) with OCB factors (altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, civic virtue).
Discussion: Provides discussion points regarding interpretations and implications of management practice for above relationships.
