12/12/2014

Work/life benefits allow companies

meaningful ways for responding to
their employees' needs; therefore
they can be a powerful tool for
transforming a workforce and driving
a business' success.
Anne M. Mulcahy
1

Impact of Perceived Work-Life Benefit

Usefulness on Organizational Citizenship
Behavior (OCB):
The Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational
Support (POS)
By

Prabhashini Wijewantha
and

Y. M. S. W.Vindya Sangarandeniya
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Presentation Outline
Background, research problem and objectives
Theoretical development and hypotheses
Research design
Data collection and analyses
Findings and significance of the study
Limitations and directions for further research
Conclusion

Background of the Study

More work life benefits offered by organizations to be family supportive
+ develop an image as a preferred employer (Allen, 2001)
Employees are expected to go an extra mile and manifest non
traditional performance behaviors (OCBs)
Remove barriers (personal and family burdens) for the increased
number of female workers which prevent the extra contribution

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Research Problem
Preliminary interviews with officers in charge of international schools
problems with manifestation of OCBs among staff
Limited research looked at perceived usefulness of work-life benefits as
an antecedent/determinant of OCB
No such studies conducted in the Sri Lankan context

Problem Statement
Why international school teachers are not manifesting the
desired OCBs?

Research Questions
Does work-family supports, promote active participation and
initiative from employees, which lead to manifest organizational
citizenship behaviors?
Do employees believe offering useful work-life benefits as a support
given by organizations to their personal life?
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Research Objectives
To investigate the,
impact of perceived usefulness of work life benefits on organizational
citizenship behaviors of employees
Social Exchange Theory (SET)
impact of perceived work-life benefit usefulness on POS
Signaling Theory
the mediation effect of POS on the 1st relationship
SET
7

Hypotheses Development
H 01:The greater the perceived usefulness of work-life benefits provided
by the organization, the more the employees would manifest OCBs
H 02a:The greater the perceived usefulness of work-life benefits
provided by the organization, the greater the POS in the minds of
employees
H 02b: POS would mediate the impact of perceived usefulness of worklife benefits on OCB

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Conceptual Model

Perceived
work life
benefit
usefulness

H1
H2a
H2b

Perceived
Organizational
Support
(POS)

H2b

Organizational
Citizenship
Behavior (OCB)

Research Design (Source: Saunders et al., 2011)

Research philosophy

: Positivism

Methodological approach

: Quantitative

Research approach

: Deductive

Purpose of the study

: Explanatory

Research strategy

: Survey

Time horizon

: Cross- sectional

Unit of analysis

: Individuals

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Population and Sample

Population: Female teachers of international schools in the Western
province
No information on total size of the population
Sampling Technique: Non Probability Convenience Sampling (Gelo et
al., 2008; Polit & Beck, 2010; Shutt, 2006)

Sample Size: 212

Response rate

: 61% (212/346)
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Measures Self administered anonymous questionnaire

Question
-naire

Construct

OCB

A Part I

Perceived work life

benefits usefulness

A Part 2

POS

Measure Source

No of
Items

Podsakoff, MacKenzie,
24 items
Moorman, & Fetter (1990)
Lambert (2000) -adopted

04 items

Survey POS by Eisenberger,

Hungtington, Hutchison, & 08 items
Sowa (1986)
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Descriptive Statistics
Work-Life Benefits

POS

OCB

3.65

3.77

3.82

3.20

3.43

3.73

3.01

4.38

2.19

Std. Deviation

1.25

1.34

1.38

Variance

1.56

1.82

1.91

Skewness

0.36

0.34

0.24

Kurtosis

-1.16

-1.34

-1.31

Range

4.49

4.54

4.83

1.85

1.90

1.67

6.35

6.34

6.52

Mean
Median
Mode

Minimum
Maximum

Skew index
(absolute value) < 03

Kurtosis value
(absolute value) < 10

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Preliminary Data Analyses using SPSS 17.0

Missing data analysis
No missing data
Linearity
Lack of fit test

Significance level of F > .05

Reliability Inter-item consistency

Cronbachs alpha >.85
No items were deleted
Correlation
All constructs - positively related and multicollinearity is absent

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Preliminary Analysis

contd. (using AMOS 17.0)

Internal Validity
Type
Content and
Criterion
related validity
Construct
(convergent and
divergent)
(Hair et al., 2010)

Ensured by
Using standard measures

- 2nd order CFA for OCB -Others normal CFA

- Factor loadings are significant and is above .6 in path
diagrams drawn using AMOS 17.0
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Preliminary Analysis

contd. (using SPSS 17.0)

Common Method Variance (CMV) Podsakoff et al. (2003)

Procedural remedies:
- Avoided Single Source Bias (SSB) in data collection
- Other measures
In addition,
Harmons Single Factor Test - 07 factors emerged & largest factor accounts only for 37% of the
variance, which is below 50%
Thus, no statistical remedies required

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Hypotheses Testing (Simple Regression Analysis with SPSS 17.0)

Hypothesis 1 Testing the direct effect of Perceived work life benefit
usefulness and OCB
Model 1
Variables
B

t
Sig.
H1
Perceived work life
supported
.48
.51
8.41
.00
benefit usefulness-IV
R
.65
R2
.44
Adjusted R2
.44
2
R
.44
F
70.65**
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Hypothesis Testing contd.

Hypothesis 02 - Testing the mediation effect of POS
- Four steps three regressions

(Judd and Kenny , 1981, as cited in Baron & Kenny, 1986)

01 - The DV predicted by the IV (direct effect)

02 - The mediator predicted by the IV (direct effect)
03- The DV predicted by the mediator controlling for the IV (indirect
effect)
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Hypotheses Testing (Simple Regression Analysis with SPSS 17.0)

Hypothesis 2a Testing the direct effect of Perceived work life benefit
usefulness and POS
Model 1
Variables
B

t
Sig.
H2a
Perceived work life
supported
.27
.27
4.10
.00
benefit usefulness-IV
R
.62
R2
.39
Adjusted R2
.37
2
R
.39
F
16.83**
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Hypothesis Testing contd. (Multiple Regression Analysis with SPSS 17.0)

Hypothesis 2b - Testing the mediation effect of POS.
Model 1
B

Model 2
B

Reg. 3 Independent Variable .48 .51 8.40** .36 .39 6.94**

WLB
.42 .47 6.99**
Mediating Variable - POS
2
.45
.59
R
2
.44
.57
Adjusted R
H2
2
.45
.14
R
Supported
70.65**
48.91**
F
Partial mediation
supported

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Discussion of Results
Impact of 02 types of employee attitudes on nontraditional employee
performance OCB
Results consistent with,
SET and literature
Results inconsistent with Lambert (2000) in POS OCB relationship
Objectives met.

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Supported Model

Perceived
work life
benefit
usefulness

H1
H2a
H2b

Perceived
Organizational
Support
(POS)

H2b

Organizational
Citizenship
Behavior (OCB)

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Significance of the Study

Theoretical Implications
Promoting types of performance which was not tested much previously
(Lambert, 2000)

Contributes to the set of research in the area of social exchange

Very few studies have looked at work-life benefits as an antecedent of
POS and OCB
Contributes to the stock of knowledge of multiple domains (e.g.; work
life balance literature)
Rare research context

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Significance of the Study contd.

Managerial Implications
Helps not only in coming up with innovative HR policies, but also in
improving internal CSR activities (Lambert, 2000)
Way of attracting better talent to organizations from the job market
Management of non governmental schools should ensure high quality of
service to satisfy students and parents to face competition
Findings applicable to other private organizations also
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Directions for Further Research

DVs can include both traditional job performance and non-traditional
job performance
Then a comparison is possible on the impact of work-life benefits
Other possible mediators or dependent variables
e.g.; organizational commitment, employee engagement
Get a bigger sample from island wide schools
Survey type studies done on-demand from organizations
Usefulness of work life benefits to different employees

25

Directions for Further Research contd.

Use other contexts
e.g., MNCs, organizations in the software industry etc., case studies on
individual international schools

26

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Conclusion
Positive actions of an organization, would encourage workers to
reciprocate in beneficial ways to the organization

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Thank You

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Literature Review
Perceived Work-Life Benefit Usefulness
A response to increasing female participation in the workforce
A measure of support for women to break the glass ceiling
Perceived usefulness of work-life benefits differs from employee to employee,
though the work-life benefits offered by the organization is common to all
workers
Value or usefulness ascribed by the employees to the benefits offered
engenders reciprocation
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Literature Review contd.

Perceived Work-Life Benefit Usefulness contd.
Evolving from family-friendly initiatives, work-life benefits are designed to
help employees with the many facets -personal well-being, professional
development, and family responsibilities (Galinsky, Bond, & Friedman, 1996; McShane & Von
Glinow, 2000).

Work life-benefits
- typical work-life benefits (e.g., dependent care assistance -support for child and elder care)
- work schedule flexibility

- other benefits that support workers personal wellbeing and professional

development (e.g., fitness centers, counseling facilities, and educational fee reimbursement).
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Literature Review contd.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
OCB refers to additional things people do at work that are beneficial to the
organization, but the employees are not mandated to do (George & Brief, 1992 as in
Lambert, 2000).

A type of non-traditional performance, an excess role behavior, social

organization behaviors, organizational spontaneity, or civilian organizational
behaviors (Ince & Gul, 2011)
Introduced by Dennis Organ and others in 1983 (DiPaola & Hoy, 2005).

31

Literature Review contd.

Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
POS leads to employee loyalty towards the organization (Rhoades & Eisenberger,
2002)

Behavioral outcomes of POS

increases in in-role and extra-role performance
decreases in withdrawal behaviors (e.g.; absenteeism and turnover)
organizational commitment and job satisfaction
task performance
intention to stay with the organization
reduced tardiness, absenteeism, and turnover
low job stress
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Literature Review contd.

Perceived Organizational Support (POS) contd.
Antecedents of
POS
Fairness
Supervisor support
Rewards and job
conditions

Procedural justice in performance appraisal,

providing opportunity to voice concerns
Work family culture, PSS
Job stress, growth opportunities

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Theories - Social Exchange Theory

Work-life benefits may promote employee participation and initiative as
employees may feel obligated to exert extra effort in return for extra
benefits (Emerson, 1976).
Reciprocation - These obligations are not clearly defined anywhere and the
reciprocation may be not to exactly reconcile the benefits enjoyed by
exchange partners (Blau, 1964; Emerson, 1976).
Extra benefits not traditional benefits but work life benefits
Extra effort OCBs
Value of things for people will be relative and will not have an absolute value
(Emerson , 1976)

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Theories - Social Exchange Theory contd.

Even when all employees are covered by the same benefits plan, the employees
may value that plan differently and subsequently incur different obligations to
the organization.
Perceived value of benefits depends on the personal requirements, professional
needs, and family situations of employees.
Hence, the greater the perceived usefulness of work-life benefits provided by
the organization, the more the employees would give something such as an
extra role behavior.

35

Theories - Social Exchange Theory contd.

A set of variables as macro-motives provide the foundation for social
exchange by setting the tone for the relationship between exchange partners
(Konovsky & Pugh ,1994) .

One such macro motive is POS (Lambert, 2000).

Greater POS create obligations within individuals to repay the firm (Settoon,
Bennet, & Liden ,1996)

Work-life benefits can enhance workers perceptions of organizational support

(Grover & Crooker ,1995)

Offering a benefits package addressing employee needs not covered by

traditional benefit plans, manifests the genuine interest of the organization
towards employees and creates the perception that organization is supportive.
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Theories Signaling Theory

An organizations actions as providing workers with work-life benefits, will
enhance their level of POS, to the degree to which those benefits offered by
the organization pass the message to the employees that they are of particular
value to the organization (Lambert, 2000)

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Working Definitions
Perceived usefulness of work-life benefits
The degree to which the employees perceive the work life benefits provided
by the organization are useful to them.
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB)
The voluntary individual action which is not defined clearly in the formal
reward and punishment system of the organization, but supporting the
effectiveness and efficiency of the organization as a whole (Organ, 1988)
e.g., helping coworkers with their job responsibilities (altruism or individual
helping behavior), sharing insights on improvements with others, and doing
what is needed to help their organization perform smoothly and productively
(Lambert, 2000).

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Working Definitions

contd.

Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

Different dimensions of beneficial treatments which lead to employee loyalty
towards the organization (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002)
e.g.; Rewards, better working conditions, supervisor support, and fairness

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Operationalization
Construct
Organizational Citizenship
Behavior (OCB) (Organ, 1988)

Dimensions
Altruism
Conscientiousness
Courtesy
Sportsmanship
Civic virtue
Uni-dimensional

Perceived Organizational
Support (POS)
Perceived usefulness of work life Uni-dimensional
benefits

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Population and Sample

Population:
Permanent female teachers of international schools located in the Western
province
The main reason for the selection of female teachers excluding male
teachers is because most of the work-life benefits are directed towards
assisting womens responsibilities at home.

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Sample Description
Gender
Majority age
School
Majority current school
tenure
Highest level of education
Marital status

Female
20-35 yrs
Not inquired
1.5-3 yrs
G. C. E. A/L + other courses

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