Socio-emotional and operational demands on service employees

Enacting appropriate behaviors often requires service employees to suppress genuine emotions and/or express other emotions, genuine or contrived. Managing emotions to act in a socially appropriate manner constitutes a form of labor: emotional labor. If labor demands exceed the resources of the employee, burnout arises, with negative consequences for overall psychological well-being and job performance. Similarly, task related activities engender role stress, which can also lead to burnout. Both task related role demands and socio-emotional demands are likely to be omnipresent in interpersonal interactions in service settings. Accordingly, this study sets out to investigate the simultaneous impact of these job demands on burnout in front line service professionals. Based on survey data collected from allied health service workers, the study findings strongly suggest that both socio-emotional demands and task related role demands are significant determinants of workplace stress and that their simultaneous effects on employee burnout can be large.     

Reducing turnover intention: Perceived organizational support for frontline employees

Frontline employees are generally under great pressure, and carry out repetitive and mundane daily tasks, leading to burnout and a high turnover intention among them. To identify ways to reduce this turnover intention, this study examines the effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on burnout and turnover intention in the Chinese context and adds to the literature on frontline employee burnout. Using data from a survey of the frontline employees of a gas station in Beijing, we examine the mediating effects of frontline employee burnout on their POS and turnover intention. This study shows that POS has a significant negative impact on burnout and turnover intention, and that job resources cannot substitute POS.     

A meta-analysis of the relationship between perceived organizational support and job outcomes: 20 years of research

Anecdotal comments from practitioners and extant empirical research suggests a tenuous link between perceived organizational support and desired employee outcomes. Accordingly, in this study the authors conduct a meta-analysis examining the effects of perceived organizational support on four employee outcomes: organizational commitment, job satisfaction, performance, and intention to leave. The authors also examine the extent to which these effects are moderated by job type (frontline vs. non-frontline employee). Findings from the study indicate that perceived organizational support has a strong, positive effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment; a moderate, positive effect on employee performance; and a strong, negative effect on intention to leave. Study findings also indicate that the effects of perceived organizational support are more pronounced for non-frontline employees.     

How to prevent and combat employee burnout and create healthier workplaces during crises and beyond

Burnout results from chronic work-related stress. People who are burned out are emotionally drained and feel negative and detached from work, which leads to decreased performance, inhibited creativity and innovation, workplace accidents, absenteeism, and physical and mental illnesses. Burnout is widespread, pernicious, and costly to human life, firm profits, and society—especially during a global crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic but also during a broader set of pan-global crises yet to come. Fostering healthier workplaces is a necessity at any time, but particularly during a crisis that has intensified job demands and drained job resources. Based on a review of the evidence, we provide five recommendations and implementation guidelines that can help organizations prevent and combat burnout: (1) provide stress management interventions, (2) allow employees to be active crafters of their work, (3) cultivate and encourage social support, (4) engage employees in decision-making, and (5) implement high-quality performance management. Overall, our evidence-based recommendations, together with the implementation guidelines we provide, will help business leaders promote and create sustainable wellness at work during crises and beyond.     

The Role of Customer Orientation as a Moderator of the Job Demand–Burnout–Performance Relationship: A Surface-Level Trait Perspective

This study expands upon previous research on the antecedents (job demands and job resources) and outcomes of frontline employee burnout, and examines the role of customer orientation (CO) in the burnout process. Using data from frontline bank employees in New Zealand, we investigate both the direct relationships of CO to burnout and job outcomes (job performance and turnover intentions) and the buffering role of CO concerning the relationships between job demands, burnout, and job outcomes. The study results show that burnout mediates the effects of job demands and job resources on job performance and turnover intentions. Besides being directly related to burnout and job performance, CO also buffers the dysfunctional effects of job demands on burnout and job outcomes. Implications of the results are discussed and future research avenues are offered.     

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence,Organizational Commitment,and Job Satisfaction on Ethical Behavior of Chinese Employees

This study examines the impact of various factors on ethical behavior of 507 employees working for three state-owned Chinese firms. Regulation of one’s emotions (a facet of emotional intelligence) had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of respondents. Organizational commitment also had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of the respondents. Among various facets of job satisfaction, satisfaction with promotion, coworker, and supervision had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of respondents. Among control variables, age of the employee had a significant negative impact on ethical behavior, which indicated that the young employees showed a better ethical behavior than the old employees.     

Artificial intelligence as a boundary-crossing object for employee engagement and performance

The study proposes AI-powered tools and applications as boundary-crossing objects to examine how AI performance can affect employees' job engagement, service and job performance. Job security is modelled as a moderator in the boundary-crossing process. Several theories including boundary crossing, goal setting and self-regulation are drawn on to posit these relationships. The study was undertaken with Australia-based full-time employees who had experience with AI-powered tools at work. The results show that AI performance had a significant effect on job engagement, and employee service performance, which were significantly related to job performance appraisal. Job engagement and service performance exhibited significant mediation effects between AI and job performance. The moderation effect exerted by job security was significant in enhancing employees’ job engagement and service performance. The study contributes to service research and human resource management literature. The findings have implications for service marketers and human resource practitioners.     

How On‐the‐Job Embeddedness Influences New Venture Creation and Growth

This study aims to answer why some employees choose to start their own ventures, whereas others choose to seek jobs in other organizations after leaving their current employment. Drawing insights from knowledge‐based view and social capital theory, we examine the impact of on‐the‐job embeddedness on the decision of employee entrepreneurship, industry choice, and new venture growth. We argue that on‐the‐job embeddedness provides key resources for employees to start new ventures and grow them. We test our hypotheses with Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) data. Our results show that on‐the‐job embeddedness increases the probability of employees becoming entrepreneurs. Once they decide to become entrepreneurs, those employees with high on‐the‐job embeddedness are more likely to start new ventures in the industry in which they worked before. Moreover, employees' on‐the‐job embeddedness has a positive impact on new venture growth.     

The Power of One to Make a Difference: How Informal and Formal CEO Power Affect Environmental Sustainability

This study empirically investigated the impact of ethical leadership on employee burnout, deviant behavior and task performance through two psychological mechanisms: (1) developing higher levels of employee trust in leaders and (2) demonstrating lower levels of surface acting toward their leaders. Our theoretical model was tested using data collected from employees of a pharmaceutical retail chain company. Analyses of multisource time-lagged data from 45 team leaders and 247 employees showed that employees’ trust in leaders and surface acting significantly mediated the relationships between ethical leadership and employee burnout, deviant behavior and task performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for understanding how ethical leaders influence employees’ attitudes and behavior.     

A Falling of the Veils: Turning Points and Momentous Turning Points in Leadership and the Creation of CSR

Contemporary organizations often reciprocate to society for using resources and for affecting stakeholders by engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR). It has been shown that CSR has a positive impact on employee attitudes. However, not all employees may react equally strongly to CSR practices. Based on socio-emotional selectivity theory (Carstensen in Science 312:1913–1915, 2006), we contend that the effect of CSR on employee satisfaction will be more pronounced for older than for younger employees, because CSR practices address those emotional needs and goals that are prioritized when people’s future time perspective decreases. In one multi-source field study (N = 143) and one experimental study (N = 500), we demonstrate that CSR indeed has a stronger positive effect on employee satisfaction for older relative to younger employees. Accordingly, engaging in CSR can be an attractive tool for organizations that aim to keep their aging workforce satisfied with their job.     

Enhancing frontline employee support during a product-harm crisis: Evidence and strategic managerial implications for firms

Product-harm crises can negatively affect a firm's corporate image, reputation, and credibility. This research investigates antecedents and factors that can impact the extent to which frontline employees will be supportive of their organization when the firm faces such a crisis. Leveraging social exchange theory and its focus on reciprocal exchanges, we theorize and test processes using regression models, which shed light on how managers can solicit employee support during crises situations by providing the frontline employees with ethical and supportive working conditions. To offer convergent validity across multiple methodologies, we also test the influence of experimental effects of the relative severity of a crisis and whether a firm was quick or slow in its response on frontline employee support. Furthermore, our research demonstrates that the firm's strengths in corporate social responsibility, the employees' organizational citizenship behavior, and employee organizational identification serially mediate the supportive relationship, which provides a unique contribution to the marketing literature. Finally, we provide managerial implications to further enhance frontline employee support.     

Employee display of burnout in the service encounter and its impact on customer satisfaction

This study examines if employee display of burnout symptoms in service encounters has an impact on customer satisfaction. An experimental approach was used in which the employee's display of burnout (absent vs. present) and the service performance level (low vs. high) were the manipulated factors. The results show that employee display of burnout had a negative impact on customer satisfaction, that this effect was mediated by customers’ appraisals of the employee's emotional state, and that the effect was stronger under the condition of low service performance.     

Travel agency employees' career commitment and turnover intention during the recent global economic crisis

One hundred and eighty-four travel agency employees in South Korea participated in this study to examine (1) the effect of career commitment (CC) on employee turnover and (2) the moderating effect of job insecurity on the relationship between CC and turnover intention. This study was conducted during the recent global economic crisis and found that the participants of this study had a tendency to stay in their organization even though they felt insecure at work while having high CC. Managerial implications on career development and commitment of travel agency employees were discussed on the basis of the results of this study.     

A mutuality perspective of psychological contracts regarding career development and job security

Psychological contracts are more likely to be fulfilled when the parties to the contract develop mutuality (agreement) concerning the expectations and obligations of both parties. This study explores the impact of psychological contract mutuality about career development responsibility and job security on the in-role and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) performance of employees. These relationships are also tested to see if they vary by the managerial vs. non-managerial job level of the employee.     

Coping with Job Insecurity: The Role of Procedural Justice, Ethical Leadership and Power Distance Orientation

This study examines the relationship between procedural justice and employee job insecurity, and the boundary conditions of this relationship. Drawing upon uncertainty management theory and ethical leadership research, we hypothesized that procedural justice is negatively related to job insecurity, and that this relationship is moderated by ethical leadership. We further predicted that the moderating relationship would be more pronounced among employees with a low power distance orientation. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 381 workers in Macau and Southern China. The results support all of our hypotheses. The implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.     

The Effects of Perceived CSR and Implemented CSR on Job-related Outcomes: An HR Perspective

This research investigates the relative effects of perceived corporate social responsibility (PCSR) and implemented corporate social responsibility (ICSR) on employee work-life satisfaction and employee job satisfaction in Thai workplaces. The data were collected via self-administered questionnaires completed by 1,277 employees in different employment sectors in Thailand. The response rate was 73%. The results reveal that PCSR and ICSR have a positive impact on both work-life satisfaction and job satisfaction. We believe the research contributes significantly to the literature on the subject as the findings further validate results obtained in studies conducted in Western economies.     

The links between job insecurity,financial well‐being and financial stress: A moderated mediation model

This study proposed a nuanced approach to the association between job insecurity and financial stress by examining whether financial well‐being mediates the established association. In addition, we examined whether the association between the job insecurity and financial stress, through financial well‐being, is moderated by income. For this study, we conducted a path analysis using 1,145 survey respondents. Results revealed a significant relationship between the job insecurity and financial stress and a partial mediation effect of financial well‐being. Moreover, the indirect effect of job insecurity on financial stress through financial well‐being was moderated by income. Although people who have higher financial well‐being were more likely to have lower financial stress, this relationship varied by income such that it was stronger for higher income groups than for lower income groups. Our findings provide insights into the way job insecurity and financial well‐being influence financial stress. This study will help the researchers and practitioners develop more effective and adaptive intervention programmes and resources for individuals and families. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Is job control always beneficial? Exploring its nonlinearity in creativity and in-role performance

This study draws on resource allocation theory to examine the relationship between job control and two kinds of job performance, namely employee creativity and in-role performance, as well as to investigate whether supervisor encouragement of creativity moderates these two potentially nonlinear relationships. To test the proposed model, we collected data from 234 employees in Indonesia. The results show that job control has an inverted U-shaped relationship with employee creativity, but a U-shaped relationship with in-role performance. Supervisor encouragement of creativity moderates both relationships, such that the control–creativity relationship becomes U-shaped, while the control–in-role performance relationship becomes inverted U-shaped when supervisor encouragement of creativity is high. Implications for managers on how to provide resources to employees are discussed.     

Does playing a video game really result in improvements in psychological well-being in the era of COVID-19?

This study examines the structural relationships between the perceived value dimensions of quality, emotional, price, and social, positive and negative emotions, psychological well-being, and loyalty in the video game context along with the moderating role of the perceived severity of COVID-19. This study collected data from 258 video game consumers in the United States via three waves of surveys. The findings of structural equation modeling revealed significant associations among the perceived value dimensions, emotions, psychological well-being, and loyalty. In addition, the moderating role of the perceived severity of COVID-19 showed that the impact of video game consumers' positive emotions on psychological well-being would be weaker with a high level of perception of the severity of COVID-19. Based on the empirical results, this research proposes theoretical (i.e., extension of the cognitive appraisal theory in a digital environment, and integration of the cognitive appraisal theory with the two-factor theory of motivation) and practical implications (i.e., how to increase levels of users’ psychological well-being and loyalty via video games) for the video game industry during and after the era of COVID-19.     

Where there is light,there is dark: a dual process model of high-performance work systems in the eyes of employees

High-performance work systems have been widely adopted in the workplace. Previous research on high-performance work systems debated whether the generated effects are mutual gains or conflicting outcomes for employers and employees. Drawing on the job demands and resources model, this conceptual study proposes that high-performance work systems can be both beneficial and harmful by eliciting distinct perceptions in employees. Specifically, perceptions of job resources are the positive and perceptions of job demands are the negative mechanism whereby high-performance work systems affect employee job performance. This research further proposes that servant leadership strengthens the positive impact of high-performance work systems, whereas directive leadership strengthens the negative impact. Overall, this conceptual research provides new insights into the research on high-performance work systems.