Toxic Workplace Environment Effect on Citizenship Behaviour and Engagement

Abstract

Purpose: The study's primary objective was to investigate how toxic workplace environments affect employee engagement and citizen behaviour. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study adopted a descriptive correlational research design. The targeted population was six hundred forty-three employees of selected multinational corporations in Ghana. Systematic sampling was a technique employed to select the respondents. A survey was conducted using a structured, validated questionnaire to solicit quantitative data. Data was analysed using SPSS (v. 26) and the PLS-SEM software (3.0). Findings: The main findings demonstrated a statistically significant negative correlation between employee engagement, toxic work environment, and citizenship behaviour. However, a statistically significant relationship was found between servant leadership and good citizenship. A positive association was observed between servant leadership and employee engagement. Research Limitation: The study adopted a cross-sectional data collection approach, which limited the opportunity for a longitudinal survey. Data collection was also limited to selected multinational companies in Ghana. Practical Implication: A toxic workplace is characterised by negative interpersonal dynamics, which increase turnover, undermine employee engagement, exacerbate job burnout and demotivation, decrease total productivity, raise absenteeism and turnover Social Implication: The toxic workplace environment may cause negative interpersonal dynamics such as stress and demotivation, lower their levels of organisational citizenship behaviour Originality/Value: The study on toxicity is novel in Ghana since relatively few studies seek to establish the relationship between a toxic workplace environment, employee engagement, citizenship behaviour, and the role of servant leadership.