Wage Disparity, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Employee Turnover: The Linkage: Evidence from Tertiary Health Institutions in South-East Nigeria

Abstract

This work, an empirical investigation into the relationship between wage disparity, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and employee turnover as evidenced from tertiary health institution in South-East Nigeria was designed to be both a descriptive and cross-sectional one. The questionnaire served as the chief instrument for collection of data, which was supplemented by comments and insights from “Key informants”. The sample size was determined using Taro Yameni’s statistical formular, while Bowley’s proportionate allocation formular was used to ascertain the sample size for each establishment/hospital. The Duncan-Scheffe statistical package for social sciences was employed in the analysis of data and tests of the formulated hypothesis. The findings indicate a negative relationship between disparity in wages and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, and that discriminatory wage structure is not only detrimental to the actualization of the health goals of the states but has resulted in the emigration of workers from state owned to federal institutions, with implications that performance and productivity in service delivery are negatively affected. On the strength of these findings, this study recommends amongst others that the interests of all major stakeholders be factored into the wage determination process and that we attempt to develop a dynamic, fair, rational and equitable wages and salaries structure, with the hope of increasing employee commitment and reducing the associated costs of employee turnover.

Keywords: Wage disparity, organizational citizenship behaviour, employee turnover, Health institutions.