The world is becoming increasingly competitive which has made it extremely important for employees to go the extra mile and overexert themselves to meet the client’s epectations. Managers and employers ask their employees to take on some extra responsibility and time, and out of the sheer desire to not let their boss down, employees begin to push themselves over the edge and actually show improved productivity and results.

For a short time period however.

Human resource professionals refer to this phenomenon as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Going above and beyond than what is typically required of the employee for short bursts can spell wonder for the bottom line of a business but research has shown that the long term effects aren’t as colorful as what is shown on paper.

Employees begin displaying symptoms of a burnout, physical exhaustion and even emotional conflicts when attempting to juggle their work and family life. This is truer for individuals who are given higher levels of responsibilities. You could argue that overexerting oneself is like a double edged sword, it goes both ways – positively improving productivity but negatively influencing employee composure while compromising motivational and engagement levels.

Managers should make a habit of doing the math before encouraging employees to put in their extra effort. Do the short term gains outweigh the longer term burnout? If they feel their employees can cope with the extra work without experiencing dangerous levels of stress, then it makes sense to give the go ahead.

OCB has positive benefits

It has been demonstrated by research that OCB improves performance of a business and also plays a key role in influencing the manager’s decision towards an individual’s performance, promotion and pay bumps.

It also has negative benefits

The most negative of these effects are perhaps best felt personally by employees who engage in OCB behavior. They tend to become more emotionally exhausted and experience more family related conflicts because they’re unable to resolve their increased commitments between work and family.  This is more pronounced when employees are held increasingly accountable for their results, an idea which serves as the extra nudge needed to push them beyond the call of duty.

Why do employees go beyond what is required?

The psychological reasoning behind why employees engage in such behavior despite not being required to by their manager lies in the general sense of not letting other people down. Altruism, the desire to appear selfless towards the convenience of fellow coworkers can eventually spill over into a disastrous outcome at the office.

Because sooner than later, this employee will ‘run out of juice’ but because they already put on a spectacular display of sportsmanship, coworkers and managers alike expect them to continue this behavior for the long haul. This can never be good no matter how excellent the paycheck, or how comprehensive the benefits package. One can argue that stress and work related conflicts can easily undo all the sincere efforts of an employer to improve the life of their employees.