Author ORCID Identifier

Eric J. Michel: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4306-7489

Publication Title

Journal of Service Management

ISSN

1757-5818

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Purpose – Employing a service-profit chain (S-PC) framework, this manuscript investigates the relationship between employee engagement (EE) and customer engagement (CE) within service contexts and explores how a mediating mechanism, service employee work performance (SEWP), links EE with CE. Design/methodology/approach – Meta-analytic procedures ascertain the magnitude of the relationship between EE and SEWP (k 5 102, bρ 5 0.45) and between SEWP and three dimensions of CE: customer purchases (k542, bρ50.47), customer knowledge (k54, bρ50.33) and customer influence (k57, bρ50.42). The current meta-analysis reports an effect size for the EE-overall SEWP relationship nearly 1.50 times greater than related extant meta-analyses. Findings – Results suggest SEWP, consisting of service employee task performance and contextual performance, serves as an important intervening mechanism between EE and CE by considering nine dimensions of SEWP. Such findings suggest that to maximize SEWP, service employees must go beyond simply being satisfied in their work roles; instead, service employees must feel energized, find fulfillment and meaning and be engrossed in their work to maximize the service they provide to customers. Originality/value – This research extends previous meta-analytic efforts, bridges the multi-disciplinary gap between EE and CE research, provides an empirical link allowing for informed decision-making for managers and stakeholders, underscores the importance of service employees surpassing required job responsibilities to meet and exceed customer needs and suggests an agenda for future service research integrating EE and CE.

Publication Date

10-17-2022

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-06-2019-0171

Keywords

Employee engagement, Customer engagement, Meta-analysis, Service-profit chain, Service employee performance, Service quality

Comments

This author accepted manuscript is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) licence. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact permissions@emerald.com.

The version of record of this manuscript, first published in the Journal of Service Management, is available online at the Publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-06-2019-0171

Original Citation

Michel, E.J., Lindsey-Hall, K.K., Kepes, S., Qi, J.(M)., Leon, M.R., Weinzimmer, L.G. and Wheeler, A.R. (2022), "Bridging two tales of engagement: a meta-analytic review of employee engagement and customer engagement in service contexts", Journal of Service Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-06-2019-0171

Fulltext File with Record

1

Department

Department of Management

Rights Statement

This author accepted manuscript is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) licence. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact permissions@emerald.com

Share

COinS