OCB: A FUNCTION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE HR PRACTICES, PSYCHOLOGICAL CLIMATE & WORK ENGAGEMEN

Abstract

With the advent of positive psychology movement in almost every sphere of human life including organizations advocating for the investment of employees’ focused efforts and positive energies towards organizational goals. There has been a tremendous encouragement to human creative capabilities and optimism. Keeping this in view, the present study reviews the organizational paradigms of high-performance HR practices, psychological climate, and work engagement and attempts to relate these factors with organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). The present study tests the relationship of key components of high-performance HR practices (internal career opportunities, extensive training, employment security, sensitive selection, incentive compensation, and participation and communication), psychological climate (supportive management, role-clarity, recognition, job-challenge, meaningfulness, and self-expression), and work engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption) with OCBs in an Indian sample of working population of IT industry. The study was designed to generate and test a hypothesized model colligating between high-performance HR practices, psychological climate, work engagement and the organizational citizenship behaviours.The model proposes psychological climate and work engagement as mediators in the relationship between high-performance HR practices and OCB.In this endeavor, the mediating effect of psychological climate on the equation of high-performance HR practices and work engagement was tested. And, the mediating effect of work engagement was tested on the equation of high-performance HR practices, psychological climate and OCBs.The study provides an insight into the underlying process through which high-performance HR practiceshave impact on OCBs. For the purpose of the study, primary responses were collected from 357 IT employees across the national capital region (NCR), India. Due to vast population size, convenience sampling was preferred for data collection. Data analysis was performed by using SPSS©17 and AMOS©21.Data was checked for missing values, normality, linearity, reliability, non-multicollinearity and homoscedasticity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were employed respectively to obtain the factor structure and fitness of the obtained factor pattern on the focused sample. Study hypotheses were testedusingmultiple hierarchical regressiontechnique andthe structural equation modeling approach (SEM) was used to examine the research model.Two iv alternative structural models were compared to the research model using Chi square difference test. Conclusively, research findings suggest that the different constituents of high-performance HR practices, psychological climate, and work engagement augment OCBs in IT organizations. Additionally, findings demonstrated the significance of employees’ perceptions of psychological climate through which high-performance HR practices can boost employees’ work engagement which in turn has come out to be the principal mechanism through which high-performance HR practices and psychological climate have impact on OCBs. High-performance HR practices have also been found to influence work engagement directly which furthers the employees’ tendency to display OCBs. The result of the study would help the IT organizations to understand the psychological aspects of the high-performance HR practices and positive work climate factors which help in building a high-quality employment relationship with employees. This would facilitate the organizations to align their HR strategy with business strategy and in eliciting employees’ positive perceptions of their working environments along with integrated HR practices. It would further help in creating conditions conducive for higher work engagement of employees and their increased tendency to exhibit OCBs. The results have established a platform where HR managers can be motivated to open up new avenues to employees to be psychologically involved in work roles and to feel highly motivated to bring their good spirits at the workplace in order to benefit the organization at large.