An examination of the impact of workplace incivility on employee performance

Incivility at the workplace has become a universal organizational phenomenon that deserves thorough investigation to understand it from various contextual lenses. It is a form of rude behavior that negatively impacts employees at the workplace hence the need to find solutions to solve it for better employee and institutional performance. In the spirit of investigating the universal phenomenon, this research aims to investigate the impact of workplace incivility (WPI) on employee performance (counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior) through the mediating roles of psychological ownership (PO) and turnover intention (TI). Data for this research, with a sample of 504 respondents, was collected from public and private institutions in The Gambia and Ghana through a survey questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the reliability and validity of our research model and hypotheses. The independent t-test results comparing The Gambia and Ghana have indicated a higher level of negative behavior among employees in Ghana compared to The Gambia as well as a higher level of positive behavior among employees from The Gambia compared to their Ghanaian counterparts. The study results indicate an indirect relationship between WPI to counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and WPI to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through PO. TI also plays a mediating role between PO to CWB and PO to OCB. The findings of this research will help public and private institutions in both The Gambia and Ghana assess the depth of incivility in their organizations as well as the negative impacts it may have on the performance of their organizations. This research is the first of its kind to make both a country and sector-level comparison of WPI and its impact on employee performance hence its significance.