Determinants of frontline employee service innovative behavior

Purpose– Frontline employees (FLEs) represent a major source of value creation for the modern firm. As such, firms are constantly evaluating different attributes of potential and current employees in the hopes of attracting, retaining, and rewarding key employees. Recently, the construct of work engagement has garnered interest as an important indicator of employee performance. However, much is unknown about this construct with regards to antecedents, outcomes and measurement. Thus, the purpose of the current research is to contribute to the developing literature on work engagement.Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected from FLEs across high and low customer contact service contexts. The hypothesized relationships in the model were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).Findings– This research provides empirical evidence that service climate, job satisfaction and affective commitment influence work engagement. Employee's work engagement subsequently impacts constructs such as career commitment and adaptability. Furthermore, the authors conceptualize work engagement as a multidimensional higher order construct that exhibits a superior fit compared to a simple first order conceptualization.Research limitations/implications– This research provides guidance on how to measure work engagement as well as identifying both antecedent and outcomes variables associated with the construct.Practical implications– Results suggest that the service firm has some impact on the level of work engagement FLEs exhibit. Furthermore, this research highlights the importance of the link between positive emotions and FLE performance.Originality/value– By utilizing the contemporary broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, this research makes contributions in the developing understanding of the impact of positive emotions on FLEs.

Purpose This study aims to provide a holistic model for high performance work practices (HPWPs), work engagement (WE), job autonomy (JA) and service innovative behavior (SIB) of employees in hotel industry, taking social exchange theory as the base of the study. The present study examined the effect of HPWPs on hotel employees’ SIB, mediated by WE. This study further examined the moderating role of JA on the relationship between WE and SIB. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted in both the Garhwal and Kumaon Himalayan regions, Uttarakhand state, India. Using convenience sampling method and standardized questionnaire, data were collected from 384 employees working in 32 hotels and relationships were tested using Hayes’ method of regression analysis. Findings The findings of the study revealed that WE mediated the relationship between HPWPs and SIB. Furthermore, it was observed that JA acted as a moderator between WE and SIB. Research limitations/implications The responses were collected from the hotels of Uttarakhand region only, so the future studies may be carried out in other industries such as banking, automobile, IT, call centers, etc., as well as in some other region also. Originality/value The present study has made some crucial contributions to the existing literature and knowledge base. The study of different variables has been tested in western countries, but this integrated model is the first of its kind, which was tested in Indian context, i.e. Indian hotel employees, especially in Uttarakhand, India, that has completely different work settings/environment as compared to the western countries.

Purpose– The purpose of the current research is to evaluate how customer contact level and customer service-based role conflict influence the relationship between customer emotions and work engagement, while simultaneously evaluating psychological capital as an outcome of work engagement. Customer service research highlights the impact of employee attitudes and behaviors on customer satisfaction. More recently, this relationship has been examined in reverse, evaluating how customer emotions influence the employee. Unfortunately, previous research has not evaluated variables that inhibit the impact of customer emotions on the employee.Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected from frontline employees across high and low customer contact service contexts. The hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling.Findings– This research provides empirical evidence that employee-perceived customer delight impacts employee work engagement. However, through a process of feedback, customer service-based role conflict impacts the relationship between customer emotions and employee emotions. Finally, the conceptual model illustrates how engaged employees can create their own personal resourcesvis-à-visthe broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions.Research limitations/implications– This research identifies both antecedent and outcomes variables associated with work engagement, as well as identified mediating factors.Practical implications– Results suggest that the quality and level of contact that frontline employees have with customers impact their work engagement. Furthermore, engaged frontline employees have the ability to create their own personal resources.Originality/value– This research makes contributions to the understanding of the impact of positive customer emotions on frontline employees.

This study examined the relationships between frontline employees’ (FLEs’) shared perceptions of service-oriented high-performance work systems (SO-HPWSs), work engagement, and service climate. It also investigated how these shared perceptions related to store managers’ assessments of FLEs’ collective in-role and extra-role service performance, customer satisfaction, and store loyalty in the same retail chain. Data were collected from 781 FLEs, 70 store managers, and 803 customers from 70 stores in the same retail chain. Findings showed that SO-HPWSs predict work engagement and service climate; work engagement predicts service climate; and service climate predicts in-role and extra-role service performance and customer satisfaction.

The purpose of this study is to understand the process through which internal market orientation leads to service innovative behavior via a serial multiple mediator model, with perceived social capital on customers and work engagement. It set and verified perceived social capital on customers and work engagement as serial multiple mediation factors between internal market orientation and service innovative behavior. To achieve this, surveys targeting service providers working in the finance and insurance industries in South Korea were conducted. A total of 270 data were collected and used for analysis. The analysis showed that internal market orientation significantly increased perceived social capital on customers, and that perceived social capital on customers positively improved work engagement. In addition, it appeared that work engagement improved service innovative behavior. Regarding the serial multiple mediation effect, the direct effect of internal market orientation on service innovative behavior was not significant, but the serial multiple effect through perceived social capital and work engagement was significant. Thus, perceived social capital and work engagement fully mediated the relationship between internal market orientation and service innovative behavior.

PurposeThis research primarily aims to study the role of leader-member exchange (LMX) in frontline employees' (FLEs) innovative behaviors, whereby a mediating effect of employee happiness is proposed in this relationship. The moderating effect of service climate is also examined on the indirect effect of LMX on innovative behaviors through happiness.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a sample of 303 FLEs working in various service organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model.FindingsThe findings show that LMX has a positive and significant effect on FLEs' innovative behaviors and that employee happiness is an intervening variable. Service climate moderates the indirect effect of LMX on FLEs' innovative behaviors through happiness, and the effect is stronger in a low (unsupported) service climate.Practical implicationsThe findings of this research provide prescriptive insights into the critical role of supervisory behavior in FLEs' innovative service behaviors and how positive emotions contribute to employees' willingness to innovate. Thus, these findings make a unique contribution to research in service management.Originality/valueStudies examining how and when LMX can affect FLEs' innovative behaviors are limited. These findings offer new insights into the relative importance of supervisor and organizational support (service climate) in FLEs' innovative behaviors. The interaction effect of LMX and service climate has not been previously examined along with positive employee affect (happiness) and innovative behaviors.

Examining the impact of psychological capital on workplace outcomes of ethnic minority foodservice employees

Objective We tried to explore the relationship between work engagement and organiza-tional citizenship behavior among nurses in tertiary hospitals in order to provide evidence for implementing targeted interventions to promote nurses' organizational citizenship behavior and job performance from a perspective of positive psychology. Methods Totally 511 nurses from four tertiary hospitals of Jinan city were enrolled using multistage sampling. Data were collected with Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) and Chinese Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale. Data analysis included descriptive analysis, Pear-son correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Results The average scores of work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior were (3.82 ± 1.08) and (5.89 ± 0.66) , respectively. Work engagement accounted for 25.4% of the variance in identification with the company, 14.6% of the variance in altruism and 18.7% of the variance in conscientiousness. Conclusions Work engagement is a significant predictor of organizational citizenship behavior. Nurse managers are suggested to take actions in aspects of professional practice environment, resources allocation and staff training so as to enhance nurses' work engagement and subsequent their organizational citizenship behavior. Key words: Organizational citizenship behavior; Work engagement; Nurses; Hospitals

Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study explores the relationship between work-leisure conflict and front-line employees’ work engagement. From the emotional perspective, we further explore the mediating role of negative emotion, the moderating effects of emotional intelligence and team emotional climate at the individual and team levels, respectively. In this study, 521 front-line employees from 50 work teams were investigated, and relational models were established and analysed. The results show that work-leisure conflict has a significant negative impact on front-line employees’ work engagement, and the negative emotion from this conflict plays a mediating role in the process. Emotional intelligence plays a moderating role in the relationship between work-leisure conflict and work engagement at the individual level whereas team emotional climate plays a cross-level moderating role in this relationship at the team level. The findings of this study have theoretical value and provide a management reference for enterprise managers.

Purpose This study aims to develop and test a comprehensive model that begins with management commitment/concern and progresses through intermediate links of service climate and in-role frontline employee (FLE) performance to customer satisfaction and eventually to sales performance. Design/methodology/approach Branches of a major retail bank in New Zealand serve as the study setting. Data pertaining to management commitment/concern and service climate were collected using an intranet survey distributed to the branch employees, and customer satisfaction data were gathered via mail questionnaires from the branch customers. Objective measures of in-role FLE performance and sales performance were provided by the bank from corporate records. Findings Results showed that management commitment/concern was significantly related to service climate; service climate to in-role FLE performance; in-role FLE performance to customer satisfaction; and customer satisfaction to branch sales. Research limitations/implications Testing viability of the model in other service sectors would be fruitful. Practical implications Since service climate has a direct positive influence on FLEs' in-role performance, branch management should focus on creating a positive service climate by taking the necessary actions to improve training, rewards and technological support. Originality/value The study uses an objective in-role performance measure in measuring branch employees' performance.

The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the influence of workplace happiness and innovative work behavior on job satisfaction mediated by work engagement on employees of a private university in Tenggarong, East Kalimantan during the Covid-19 pandemic. This research is quantitative with a sample of 100 people taken through proportional stratified random sampling. The data analysis technique used is descriptive statistical analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). The conclusion of this study is that there is a positive influence between workplace happiness and innovative work behavior on job satisfaction, there is a positive influence between workplace happiness and work engagement, there is a positive influence between work engagement and job satisfaction, and there is a positive influence between workplace happiness on job satisfaction mediated by work engagement.

Impact of service climate and psychological capital on employee engagement: The role of organizational hierarchy

Although there is a consensus that transformational leadership (TFL) is critical to successful service innovation behavior, the relationship between the two remains inconclusive. This study adopts a dual perspective approach that considers both motivational and social-political perspectives to further elicit the influence of TFL on the service innovation behavior of frontline employees. Using multiphase and multisource data from 269 employees and 1396 customers of hair salons, the results show that the perceived organizational climate for innovation, creative self-efficacy, and expected image gains fully mediate the relationship between TFL and employees’ service innovation behavior. TFL positively influences employees’ perceived organizational climate for innovation, which in turn enhances the service innovation behavior of employees through both motivational (i.e. creative self-efficacy) and social-political (i.e. expected image gains) mediating mechanisms. Surprisingly, expected image risks are found to have a non-significant relationship with service innovation behavior. We discuss implications of these findings with respect to innovation literature and management practice, as well as offer suggestions for further research.

Although the supply chain and logistics sector in Indonesia is developing very well and contributes very significantly to the Indonesian economy, which is about 25% of Indonesia's total GDP (World Bank 2018), the industry is very competitive. To survive in this sector, companies must be able to compete through price, service quality, and product innovation. Work engagement can help employees remain focused, motivated, and productive in such a fast-paced and complex environment. The focus of this research is to confirm the effect of leadership, rewards, and service climate on work engagement and the mediating effect of service climate on work engagement. The sample of this study consists of 287 respondents who work in various divisions and branches of a logistics company in Jakarta, metropolitan Indonesia. The data is analyzed using the Smart PLS version 3.0 application. All of the research hypotheses were accepted, there for Leadership practices have a positive and significant effect on work engagement and service climate, Total Rewards have a positive and significant effect on service climate and work engagement, and Service Climate mediates the effect of Leadership practices and Total Reward on work engagement. It is expected the research findings can be used by the company to understand and improve their service delivery processes, enhance employee engagement and satisfaction, and ultimately increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, which are critical factors to survive in a competitive market.

To examine relationships between psychological capital, work engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour among nurses. Psychological capital, work engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour are all positive variables associated with work. Clarifying the relationship between the variables can help nursing managers implement tailored and effective intervention strategies to improve individual and organisational performance and quality of care. A quantitative cross-sectional study was designed. The study was carried out from June 2021 to September 2021 in Sichuan Province, China. A total of 606 nurses working at six tertiary hospitals were selected with convenience sampling. Participants were investigated using demographic, work-related information questionnaire, Psychological Capital Questionnaire, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Questionnaire. The scores of psychological capital, work engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour were 102.56 ± 15.47, 67.96 ± 21.71 and 101.57 ± 11.57, respectively. The multiple linear regression model explained 7.3% of the total variance in organisational citizenship behaviour related to demographic and work-related factors. There was a significant positive correlation between psychological capital, work engagement and nurses' organisational citizenship behaviour. Additionally, structural equation modeling showed that work engagement mediated the relationship between psychological capital and organisational citizenship behaviour with the partial mediating effect of 0.093. The final model explained 28% of organisational citizenship behaviour. Our results suggest that both psychological capital and work engagement are facilitators for organisational citizenship behaviour in nurses. Managers can increase nurses' organisational citizenship behaviour through developing psychological capital and improving the work engagement. This study indicates that both psychological capital and work engagement are protective factors of organisational citizenship behaviour, which provide proof for optimizing human resources management from a positive psychology perspective. Our finding can help managers correctly understand the mechanism of the relationship among work engagement, psychological capital and organisational citizenship behaviour and adopt effective intervention strategies to promote nurses' organisational citizenship behaviour.