A store-level analysis of frontline employees as enhancers of store loyalty

Abstract

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.