Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Higher Education: Examining the Relationships Between Behaviors and Performance Outcomes for Individuals and Institutions

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) have been described as employee behaviors that are not required by job descriptions, are not formally rewarded, and contribute positively to the organization. Previous research has shown that OCBs are related to both individual and organizational performance. Given the importance of OCBs to individual and organizational effectiveness, the purpose for conducting the study was to describe OCBs in the higher education context, describe the relationships between OCBs and various aspects of faculty and staff performance, and explore the extent to which institutional leaders should be concerned with the OCBs of both faculty and professional staff. The study utilized a survey research design to gather information about OCBs in higher education. Both faculty and staff were selected from eight institutions according to the institution\u27s performance in research funding and graduation rates. The findings suggested that staff may exhibit higher levels of OCB than faculty, that faculty OCBs were correlated with the number of presentations given, student contact hours, and service on committees, and that staff OCBs were correlated with satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity. Further, differences in OCB levels existed between high-performing staff and low-performing faculty as well as staff in low-performing institutions when compared with staff in high-performing institutions and faculty in low-performing institutions. The results are important for institutional leaders for understanding the employment relationship for both faculty and staff as well as the relationship between OCBs and performance of both individuals and institutions