scholarly journals When Heroes and Villains Are Victims: How Different Withdrawal Strategies Moderate the Depleting Effects of Customer Incivility on Frontline Employees

2020 ◽  
pp. 109467052096799
Author(s):  
Yumeng Yue ◽  
Helena Nguyen ◽  
Markus Groth ◽  
Anya Johnson ◽  
Stephen Frenkel
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Large Hospital ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Withdrawal Behaviors ◽  
Frontline Service Employees ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Frontline Service

Withdrawal from work by frontline employees (FLEs) is generally perceived by managers as counterproductive or anti-service behavior. However, there may be detrimental effects of continuing to provide a service, particularly after an FLE has experienced incivility. The possible beneficial effects of withdrawal on frontline service employees’ well-being have rarely been investigated. In this article, we conducted two studies to examine the moderating role of on- and off-task withdrawal behaviors on the relationship between customer incivility and employees’ emotional exhaustion. In Study 1, we examined parking officers’ reactions to customer incivility. We found support for the role of off-task withdrawal as a resource-replenishing strategy, which mitigated the relationship between customer incivility and emotional exhaustion. In Study 2, we examined a sample of nurses in a large hospital to compare the replenishing potential of both on-task and off-task withdrawal strategies. We found that off-task withdrawal served a replenishing function, while on-task withdrawal aggravated nurses’ feeling of emotional exhaustion as a result of customer incivility. These results highlight different resource implications, including recovery benefits of short-term withdrawal behaviors at work, and provide important theoretical and practical implications for the management of customer incivility and frontline service employees’ well-being and performance.

Does transformational leadership always matter in frontline service roles?

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 733-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keo Mony Sok ◽  
Phyra Sok ◽  
Lan Snell ◽  
Pingping Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
High Level ◽  
Frontline Service Employees ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Frontline Service

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of frontline service employees (FSEs) motivation (enjoyment of work and driven to work) and ability (customer service ability) in the relationship between TFL and employee service performance. Design/methodology/approach This is a survey-based study which involves 534 FSEs and 135 supervisors in a hair salon setting. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Results show that TFL is significantly related to employee service performance; this relationship is enhanced with the presence of driven to work; yet, it is neutralized with the presence of enjoyment of work. Further, the three-way interaction of TFL, enjoyment of work and customer service ability as well as TFL driven to work, and customer service ability are negatively associated with employee service performance. Practical implications The results advance service managers’ understanding of the importance of FSEs motivation and ability if they are to fully reap the benefits from their FSEs. The role of leader is not always effective in all situations. FSEs with high level of enjoyment of work and customer service ability would least rely on the guidance and support from the supervisors. Originality/value This research is one of the first to examine the role of subordinate’s characteristics (motivation – enjoyment of work and driven to work and ability – customer service ability) as the key moderators in the relationship between TFL and employee service performance.

Does one bad apple ruin a firm’s green brand image? Examining frontline service employees’ environmentally irresponsible behaviors

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 2501-2521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Zhang ◽  
Jintao Wu ◽  
Honghui Chen ◽  
Bang Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Brand Image ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Brand Evaluations ◽  
Brand Perception ◽  
Frontline Service Employees ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Frontline Service

Purpose Drawing on the branded service encounters perspective, the purpose of this study is to investigate how frontline service employees’ environmentally irresponsible behaviors affect customers’ brand evaluations. Design/methodology/approach The research conducted two experiments. The first experiment explored the effect of frontline service employees’ environmentally irresponsible behaviors on customers’ brand evaluations via corporate hypocrisy. The second experiment explored the moderation effect of employees’ prototypicality and the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) among customers. Findings Experiment 1 indicates that for firms with a green brand image, frontline employees’ environmentally irresponsible behaviors result in customers’ perception that the firm is hypocritical, thus reducing their brand evaluations. Experiment 2 shows that employee prototypicality and CSR importance to the customer enhance the negative impact of frontline employees’ environmentally irresponsible behaviors on customers’ brand evaluations through customers’ perception of corporate hypocrisy. Research limitations/implications This study is one of the first efforts to explore how frontline service employees’ environmentally irresponsible behaviors affect customers’ responses. It helps understand the impact of frontline employees’ counter-productive sustainable behaviors on customers’ brand perception, as well as the relationship between CSR and employees. Practical implications This study suggests that firms’ green brand image does not always lead to positive customer response. When frontline employees’ behaviors are inconsistent with firms’ green brand image, it can trigger customers’ perceptions of corporate hypocrisy and thus influence their brand evaluations. Therefore, firms should train frontline service employees to make their behaviors align with the firms’ green brand image. Originality/value This study is one of the first efforts to explore how frontline service employees’ environmentally irresponsible behaviors affect customers’ responses. It helps understand the impact of frontline employees’ counter-productive sustainable behaviors on customers’ brand perception, as well as the relationship between CSR and employee.

Work-family enrichment and well-being: the role of occupational future time perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 542-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Henry ◽  
Donatienne Desmette
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Family ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose In the context of workforce aging, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of occupational future time perspective (OFTP) in the relationship between work–family enrichment (WF-E) and two well-being outcomes (i.e. work engagement and emotional exhaustion). In addition, the moderating role of age on the relationship between WF-E and OFTP, and consequently, on the indirect effects of WF-E on work engagement and emotional exhaustion through OFTP, will be examined. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional survey research (n=263) was conducted in a public sector company in Belgium. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analyses were performed to investigate the hypothesized relationships. Findings The dimension “remaining opportunities” of OFTP mediated the positive relationship between WFE and work engagement, and the negative relationship between WFE and emotional exhaustion. Chronological age moderated the positive relationship between WFE and the dimension “remaining time” of OFTP, with stronger effects among older workers. Research limitations/implications This research has confirmed that OFTP is influenced by WFE and that WFE matters, especially for older workers. Future research should continue to study the effects of the work–family interface on older workers. Practical implications Age management practices should take WFE into consideration when managing an aging workforce. In particular, older workers may benefit from WFE to increase their perception of remaining opportunities at work, which, in turn, increase well-being. Originality/value This study contributes evidence for the role of personal resources (i.e. remaining opportunities) in the relationship between WF-E and well-being at work.

Transforming the role of frontline service employees for cross-selling

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
HsiuJu Rebecca Yen ◽  
Paul Jen-Hwa Hu ◽  
Yi-Chun Liao
Keyword(s):  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Learning Goal Orientation ◽  
Positive Meaning ◽  
High Quality Information ◽  
Frontline Service Employees ◽  
Frontline Service

Purpose This study aims to examine how a manager’s learning goal orientation (LGO) influences frontline service employees’ (FSEs’) engagement in cross-selling activities. Such engagements must exist before they can achieve service–sales ambidexterity. Drawing on achievement goal theory and the meaning-making perspective, this study predicts that learning-oriented managers encourage and foster FSEs’ cross-selling behaviors by facilitating their ability to derive positive meaning from the cross-selling initiative. They do so by conveying high-quality information about the initiative and related changes to individual employees, as well as by encouraging the formation of a collective perception of open communications within the work unit. Design/methodology/approach Hierarchical (nested) data from 39 managers and 357 FSEs of a major logistic service company are used to test the hypotheses. Findings As predicted, a manager’s LGO relates positively to FSEs’ cross-selling activities, through sequential mediations of the hypothesized communication mechanisms and employees’ benefits-finding. Originality/value A manager’s LGO is an important antecedent of FSEs’ cross-selling behaviors. This study establishes this influence and clarifies the processes by which it occurs. This study also extends previous research by specifying the important role of employees’ meaning-making, which prompts them to adopt cross-selling, as a mediator of the multilevel communication influences that result from their managers’ LGO.

The role of initiative climate as a resource caravan passageway in developing proactive service performance

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zia Aslam ◽  
Adnan Fateh ◽  
Safiah Omar ◽  
Mohammad Nazri
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Frontline Service Employees ◽  
Frontline Service

PurposeThe study aims to examine the role of initiative climate as a resource caravan passageway in engaging employees and developing a proactive frontline service workforce to identify the mechanisms whereby scarce resources efficiently yielding the desired outcomes can help organizations improve productivity and gain competitive advantage, thereby helping clarify the leadership–performance relationship in service organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a quantitative research design with a cross-sectional survey conducted among frontline hospitality employees in Malaysia. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe initiative climate is significant as a resource caravan passageway to transmit the positive impact of interpersonal leadership onto the engagement and proactive performance of frontline hospitality employees in whom initiative climate and employee engagement sequentially mediated the relationship between interpersonal leadership and proactive service performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe online data collection procedure conducted through LinkedIn and Facebook and cross-sectional, self-reported survey method are significant limitations of the current study.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study will aid in developing organizational interventions for an engaged and proactive frontline service workforce, as interpersonal leadership can positively impact the engagement and proactive behavior of frontline service employees via initiative climate. Therefore, hospitality managers should value interpersonal leadership and initiative climate as coexisting organizational resources.Originality/valueThe study shows the significance of initiative climate in the relationships between interpersonal leadership, employee engagement and the proactive performance of frontline service employees.

scholarly journals Sometimes It Drains, Sometimes It Sustains: The Dual Role of the Relationship with Students for University Professors

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Martini ◽  
Gloria Guidetti ◽  
Sara Viotti ◽  
Barbara Loera ◽  
Daniela Converso
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Job Demands ◽  
Well Being ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Work Meaning ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Job Demands And Resources

University organizational contexts have been changing significantly in recent years, and academic staff are expected to manage larger workloads at an increased pace. This can threaten their well-being and exacerbate work-related stress—possibly creating negative impacts on their mental and physical states. Surprisingly, academic occupational psychological health is still rarely studied. By referring to the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) conceptual model, this study aimed to analyze the relationship between university teachers’ well-being and job demands and resources, with a particular focus on the role of the relationship with students. Specifically, 550 associate and full professors were studied to determine the impact of job characteristics, quality of relationships in the work environment, and negative and positive relations with students regarding emotional exhaustion and work engagement. Hierarchical multiple regression models allowed us to highlight the fact that emotional exhaustion was positively and significantly associated with workload, conflicts with colleagues, and requests from students, and it was negatively associated with work meaning. Work engagement was positively and significantly associated with work meaning and social support from students. Our study points out that the flexible and renowned JD-R model can successfully be used to analyze the occupational psychological health of academics. Further, our study underscores the fact that, among job demands and resources, the often-neglected relations with external users (the students) can play an important role in university teachers’ perceptions of exhaustion and engagement.

Effect of psychological capital on customer value cocreation behavior: the mediating role of employees' innovative behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Farrukh ◽  
Nabeel Younus Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Customer Value ◽  
Psychological Capital ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Innovative Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Value Cocreation ◽  
Frontline Service Employees ◽  
Frontline Service

PurposeCustomer value cocreation (VCC) behavior is gaining increased scholarly attention in the services marketing discipline and has become a top research priority in recent times. Despite the growing interest in studying VCC, less scholarly attention has been paid to study the crucial role of frontline service employees in activating customer participation in the VCC process. Hence, to bridge this research gap, the present research expanded VCC research streams by investigating the mediating effect of frontline service employees' innovative behavior in psychological capital and customer VCC behavior relationship.Design/methodology/approachData collected from 255 hotel employee–customer dyads were analyzed through Smart PLS to measure the proposed relationships.FindingsThe results suggest the mediating effect of frontline service employees' innovative behavior in psychological capital and customer VCC behavior relationship.Originality/valueThe current research made a significant contribution to the VCC field by identifying driving forces that encourage customers to exhibit VCC behaviors.

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