Workplace Incivility and Employee Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effect of workplace incivility on employee performance in deposit money banks in Anambra State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of workplace ostracism on employee contextual performance and the effect of workplace gossiping on employee innovative performance. The study was anchored on the Social Exchange Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory. A correlational research design was adopted. The population comprised 3,122 employees of the seventeen deposit money banks operating in Awka, Onitsha, and Nnewi, Anambra State. A sample size of 355 respondents was determined using Taro Yamane's formula, while Bowley's proportionate allocation technique was employed in distributing the questionnaire. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire whose reliability coefficient, determined using Cronbach's Alpha, was 0.712. Of the 355 questionnaires administered, 332 were correctly completed and used for the analysis. Data were analysed using simple linear regression at the 5% level of significance. The findings revealed that workplace ostracism has a negative and statistically significant effect on employee contextual performance (β = -0.638, t = 14.876, p < 0.05), while workplace gossiping has a positive and statistically significant effect on employee innovative performance (β = 0.687, t = 18.816, p < 0.05). The study concluded that workplace incivility exerts varying effects on employee performance depending on its form and organizational context. It therefore recommended that management of deposit money banks should institutionalize comprehensive workplace civility policies to discourage ostracism and other uncivil behaviours while promoting transparent communication systems that channel informal interactions toward constructive knowledge sharing capable of enhancing employee innovation.