A research on the reflections of illegitimate tasks on employee behaviors

In today's rapidly developing business world, employees are faced with many tasks that are outside of their job descriptions and that they do not have to fulfill. These tasks, which are described as "illegitimate tasks" by the relevant literature, are often categorized as unnecessary or unreasonable tasks and can have negative consequences for both individuals and organizations. Studies have evaluated illegitimate tasks as a stressor that negatively affects the behavior, professional identity and work processes of employees. Considering the performance targets of the organizations, one of the most critical results expected to affect the illegitimate tasks is counterproductive work behaviors. Supportive behaviors in the work environment are important to mitigate the negative effects of illegitimate tasks and counterproductive work behaviors. At this point, the adoption of supportive leadership style by organizations will make employees feel valued and buffer unproductive work behaviors. The aim of this study is, "is there a significant relationship between the levels of experiencing illegitimate tasks and the levels of exhibiting counterproductive work behaviors of academics who perform many different tasks due to the nature of their profession and job descriptions?" and "is the level of academics' perception of supportive leadership behaviors a moderator in the relationship between illegitimate tasks and counterproductive work behaviors?" to find scientific answers to the questions. The universe of this study consists of academicians working at Elazig Fırat University. In this context, a questionnaire was applied to 220 academicians. SPSS 22 package program was used in the analysis of the data obtained, and descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, arithmetic mean, standard deviation) and reliability (Cronbach Alpha), regression and correlation analyzes were used. According to the results obtained; A positive and statistically significant relationship was found between illegitimate tasks and counterproductive work behaviors. However, there was no statistically significant finding that supportive leadership style plays a moderator role in the relationship between illegitimate tasks and counterproductive work behaviors.