Diversity-oriented human resource management practices and organisational citizenship behaviour of staff of tertiary institutions in Ghana: a justice and happiness perspective

Abstract

Though organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and diversity-oriented human resource management practices (DOHRMP) have received some scholarly attention, there is still a consensus that the outcomes of the studies on diversity management are inconclusive. This is due to mixed research results and an unsettled empirical link between diversity, diversity management and employee and other organisational outcomes. Therefore, the objective of this research is to empirically examine how DOHRMP affect employee attitudes such as OCB, organisational justice perception (OJP) and employee happiness within the tertiary educational sector in Ghana. Based on the social exchange and organisational justice perception theories, a model was developed linking these variables. The study made use of a data set of three hundred and ninety-four (394) respondents from twenty-seven (27) Universities. The data were entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 23 (IBM-SPSS) and later exported into Amos Version 21 of Structural Equation Modelling software. Using the Andrews-Hayes Process model for mediation and moderation analysis, the hypothesised relationships were tested for confirmation or otherwise using estimates from the analyses. The first objective revealed that DOHRMP significantly influenced OCB. The second and third objectives showed that DOHRMP significantly influenced OJP and that DOHRMP significantly positively affects employee happiness at work respectively. While the fourth objective revealed that OJP significantly influenced OCB, the fifth and sixth objectives indicated that OJP significantly influenced employee happiness at work and employee happiness significantly influeneced OCB respectively. The study further examined the mediating role of employee happiness at work and found that happiness at work partially mediates the relationship between DOHRMP and OCB on the one hand and the relationship between DOHRMP and OJP on the other hand. It was however found that happiness at work fully mediates the relationship between OJP and OCB. This study contributes to enriching the literature by enhancing understanding of the essential mechanisms through which DOHRMP, OJP and employee happiness influence OCB of employees in tertiary educational institutions in Ghana.