Inclusive workplace and organizational citizenship behavior. Study of a higher education institution, India

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-03-2017-0054
• Date: 20 August 2018
• Published date: 20 August 2018
• Pages: 530-550
• Author: Aneesya Panicker,Rakesh Kumar Agrawal,Utkal Khandelwal
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity, equality, inclusion

Inclusive workplace

and organizational

citizenship behavior

Study of a higher education institution, India

Aneesya Panicker

Institute of Business Management, GLA University, Mathura, India

Rakesh Kumar Agrawal

Department of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management,

Indian Institute of Management Kashipur, Kashipur, India, and

Utkal Khandelwal

Institute of Business Management, GLA University, Mathura, India

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employees’perception of an

inclusive workplace, n amely, inclusive pract ices, inclusive climat e and inclusive leadersh ip and

organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). It also attempts to examine the difference in perception toward

the inclusive workplace along the three major dimensions of diversity, namely, gender, category they belong

to and their religious orientation.

Design/methodology/approach –Non-probability sampling technique is employed to collect primary data

through a self-administered questionnaire from 492 academicians of a higher education institution situated in

western Uttar Pradesh of India. The data set was analyzed using statistical tools like descriptive statistics

(z-test and ANOVA), and multiple regression analysis.

Findings –Results of the multiple regression analysis reflected direct and significant relationship between

inclusive workplace and OCB. It has been observed that organizations with a conducive climate of inclusion, a

well formulated inclusive practices and strong leaders’commitment will result into high level of OCB which is

apparent among employees working in a higher education institution western Uttar Pradesh. The results of

z-test reflected that male and female employees have similar perception toward inclusive climate. However,

there is a significant difference in perception toward inclusive practices and inclusive leadership on OCB.

On the other hand, results of ANOVA reflected that with respect to religious orientation there is no significant

difference among perceptions toward inclusive workplace. However in case of category employees have

similar perception toward inclusive climate in contrast with inclusive practices and inclusive leadership.

Research limitations/implications –The present study established the concept of inclusive workplace,

entirely on the basis of individual viewpoint. While to examine the cause and effect relationship of an

inclusive workplace on OCB, it is recommended to incorporate some moderating or intervening variables.

Practical implications –This study provides guidelines for academic institutions to understand and foster

an inclusive workplace that will encourage the academicians to exhibit OCB.

Originality/value –Very little research had examined the relationship between inclusive workplace and

OCB. This research will add value to the existing literature on inclusive workplace and its probable impact on

organizations and individuals by examining this relationship with respect to gender, category and religious

orientation of employees working in higher educational institution of India.

Keywords Organizational citizenship behaviour, Higher education institution, Workforce diversity,

Inclusive workplace

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

With the advent of globalization, there is a landscape change in emerging markets,

technological advancement, cultural-revolution and multi-generational composition of

workforce around the world. Amid of these revolutionary changes business leaders around

the world are striving hard for sustainable growth by means of developing a more

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 37 No. 6, 2018

pp. 530-550

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-03-2017-0054

Received 1 March 2017

Revised 30 July 2017

21 October 2017

Accepted 16 November 2017

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

530

EDI

37,6

collaborative, cohesive and creative place for work. Th e major challenge being faced by today’s

HR and talent leaders is formulating an inclusive recruitment, development and retention

strategiesfor diversified workforce (Cox andBlake, 1991; Millikenand Martins, 1996). But the

point which gets missed out from the conversation is the topic of workforce inclusion,

the doppelganger of diversity that eventually leads to org anizational success.

Workplace inclusion is a separate concept from diversity. Diversity in organizational

contexts refers to situations that germinate when employees differ in terms of age, gender,

ethnicity, education, etc. These dimensions of diversity provide a strong basis for social

categorization of Indian society (Shenoy, 2013), however we chose to focus majorly on

respondents’gender (male and female), category they belong to (general, SC/ST and OBC)

and religious orientation (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Punjabi/sikh and others) as these

dimension are identified as the strongest dimensions in previous literature in Indian context

(Kundu, 2003, 2004). On the other hand inclusion implies removal of obstacles and creating

an environment in which every individual is treated respectfully and fairly in terms of

equitable opportunities for participation and advancement leading to organizational

success. But the unfortunate part is many well-intentioned organizations often neglect the

inclusion part by mere giving importance to diversity of workforce which results into

disappointing organizational outcomes. Thus, it’s vital for the organization not to

underestimate the synergy of diversity and inclusion efforts.

Thus, studying the perceptions of employees’toward not only diversity but inclusion has

become apparent as it is strong predictor of organizational outcomes, such as organizational

commitment, job satisfaction (Hicks-Clarke and Iles, 2000) and organizational performance

(Allen et al., 2007; Ozgener, 2008; Wikina, 2011). However, most of the existing studies on

workplace diversity and inclusion have been conducted in the US context. Hence, these

results may not be generalized in Asian countries where cultural values differ significantly

(Magoshi and Chang, 2009). Moreover, the impact of inclusion on employee’s perception and

behavior has been widely ignored (Cooke and Saini, 2010). The purpose of the study is to

test the impact of workplace inclusiveness on employees’organizational citizenship

behavior (OCB), in the Indian context.

India can be a rich territory for examining issues of diversity and inclusion. With its

multiple traditions, cultures, customs and languages, its “unity in diversity”theme can find

an echo in organizational environments. We selected India as the setting for this study for a

variety of reasons. First, India has a markedly different societal context for diversity from

western countries (Sowell, 2002; Budhwar, 2009) and thus, offers a rich ground for studying

diversity. Second, rapid developments in the Indian economy after its liberalization in 1991

have prompted institutions such as the World Bank to forecast that India will become the

world’s fourth largest economy by 2020 and consequently, a large number of foreign

operators have now entered the Indian market (Budhwar and Varma, 2010) and they call for

the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of the Indian workforce and business exigencies,

including diversity issues (Woodard and Saini, 2006). Third, India’s economy has been

classified as emergent or developing, thus, placing it in a category of countries that are in

contrast with contexts such as the USA where most of the prior research on diversity has

been focused, which may not represent the situations of Asian countries, in which the

cultural values significantly differ (Magoshi and Chang, 2009).

The research was carried out in three phases. The first phase started with exploratory

research in the form of analyzing the available literature in the field of workplace inclusion

to identify a schedule for a semi-structured interview. The second phase of research was

qualitative in nature, comprising of semi-structured interview of experts (academic and

industry) from the field of human resource management and diversity management to

define the concept of workplace inclusion in Indian context as well as to gather their views

on current workplace diversity and inclusion practices. In qualitative research, determinant

531

Inclusive

workplace

and OCB