A major topic in this chapter is organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). OCB refers to going beyond job requirements and giving extra to the organization. The text mentions the five dimensions most often associated with OCB: altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, sportsmanship, and civic virtue. This exercise will help you distinguish among these dimensions as well as illustrating the breadth of OCB. On a blank sheet of paper:
PART 1: Write your current or most recent job title then list the top 5 task requirements of this job: (keep in mind, this refers to things you were required to do; they should be listed in the job description)
PART 2: OCB activities
Next, think of 5 behaviors that you do or did in this job that were not task requirements, but for the benefit of the organization (e.g., voluntarily joining committees). Then classify each behavior as either: altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, sportsmanship, or civic virtue.
PART 3: Negative job behaviors
The text discusses OCB actions that are positive influences on the organization. However, employees can also engage in other behaviors, not listed in their job description, which are detrimental to the organization (e.g., saying disparaging comments about others). From Chapter 3, these behaviors would be included within the criterion of Counterproductive Workplace Behaviors.. In this section, think of at least three examples of negative job behaviors that you have observed in your current or former job.
At this point it is pretty clear that employees can engage in numerous job behaviors, some of which have positive effects on the organization and some of which have damaging effects on the organization.
Questions:
1) When you think about how your job performance was evaluated, were these positive and negative job behaviors mentioned above included in your evaluation? If no, why do you think they were not?
2) How would you revise your performance evaluation to include these factors?
3) How much weight should be given to these factors in determining pay raises and promotions?
4) Can we really measure these positive and negative extra-role behaviors accurately? If no, are the above issues no longer valid?
Exercise 10-2: Power, Rage & Anger
The last section of the chapter discusses violence in the workplace. The text indicates that the frequency and severity of workplace violence is escalating across the nation. The importance of being prepared to handle workplace violence is critical. Please read the following scenario and then address the questions that follow. This scenario should help you grasp the complexities of this volatile issue.
“Frustrated, Fired Frank”
Frank Lee worked for Kirby Tires Inc. for the past 18 years. He started out on the assembly line making tires and was promoted to foreman around 6 years ago. Frank has a wife and three kids, two of whom are in college. Frank’s job performance was excellent up until last year. Last Christmas his problems began. His parents left his house after Christmas dinner. On their way home, their car was blindsided by a drunk driver. His mother died instantly, while his father hung on for several weeks in intensive care before passing away.
Frank hasn’t been the same since. The production rate of his line dropped off by 19%. He called in sick 13 times over the past 6 months. He was late at least 30 minutes every day for the past two weeks. Further, his attitude was very low; he never smiled, and seemed to be totally depressed. The company completely ignored the performance problems, because of his long productive history with the company. Nothing was even mentioned to him before last week. Late last week he received the following notice:
Dear Mr. F. Lee,
It has come to my attention that you have been repeatedly late in getting to work over the past few days. If this behavior continues, you will be immediately terminated.
Sincerely,
Kyle Rogers, HR Director
Frank came in late on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon he received the following:
Dear Mr. F. Lee,
It has come to my attention that you have been repeatedly late this week as well. Your employment at Kirby Tires is terminated, effective immediately. All benefits you receive will be stopped by week’s end.
Sincerely,
Kyle Rogers, HR Director
Frank was overwhelmingly outraged by his dismissal.. On Wednesday morning Frank showed up for work, on time, with a shotgun. He killed Kyle Rogers and then turned the gun on himself. The company is in shock.
Questions:
1) If you were the HR director, would you have handled the Frank Lee situation differently? If so, how?
2) What should the company do to reduce the likelihood of this ever happening again?
3) What steps would you take to help the company recover from such a tragic incident?
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