Frontline Service Employees in a Changing World: Interdisciplinary Perspective & Research Directions

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.

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Don’t just fix it, make it better! Using frontline service employees to improve recovery performance

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science ◽

10.1007/s11747-012-0324-3 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 41 (5) ◽

pp. 515-530 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Gielis A. H. van der Heijden ◽

Jeroen J. L. Schepers ◽

Edwin J. Nijssen ◽

Andrea Ordanini

Keyword(s):

Service Employees ◽

Recovery Performance ◽

Frontline Service Employees ◽

Frontline Service

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Frontline backlash: service employees’ deviance from digital processes

Journal of Services Marketing ◽

10.1108/jsm-03-2019-0125 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (7) ◽

pp. 936-945 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sonja Christ-Brendemühl ◽

Mario Schaarschmidt

Keyword(s):

Role Ambiguity ◽

Online Survey ◽

New Technologies ◽

Resistance To Change ◽

Content Type ◽

Service Employees ◽

Destructive Process ◽

Online Reservation ◽

Frontline Service Employees ◽

Frontline Service

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how the implementation of digital interfaces into service encounters is transforming demands toward frontline service employees. In addition to having the potential to enhance employee–customer interactions, changes related to new technologies can be perceived as stressful by employees and might foster deviation from prescribed processes. Design/methodology/approach Using the transactional theory of stress and coping as a theoretical framework, this paper aims to develop and test a research model to investigate the influence of technology-induced role ambiguity on constructive and destructive process deviance. Data were collected via an online survey of 123 frontline service employees in restaurants that have online reservation systems in use. Findings The results confirm that employee resistance to change fosters role ambiguity, while self-efficacy reduces the latter. Technology-induced role ambiguity leads to both constructive and destructive process deviance. Originality/value By revealing the above relationships, this study contributes to research in services marketing by examining two types of employees’ deviance from customer-facing processes.

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

Journal of Service Research ◽

10.1177/1094670520967994 ◽

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.

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Transforming the role of frontline service employees for cross-selling

Journal of Services Marketing ◽

10.1108/jsm-02-2020-0071 ◽

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.

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Understanding the Drivers of Job Satisfaction of Frontline Service Employees

Journal of Service Research ◽

10.1177/1094670514540981 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 367-380 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Piyush Kumar ◽

Mayukh Dass ◽

Omer Topaloglu

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Service Employees ◽

Frontline Service Employees ◽

Frontline Service

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

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration ◽

10.1108/apjba-09-2021-0454 ◽

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.

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