How can Supervisors Help Frontline Employees Deal with Customer Mistreatment? An Abstract

Customer mistreatment of frontline employees (FLEs) is a widespread phenomenon and is detrimental to employee well-being driving increased job stress, work withdrawal, and employee incivility (Wang et al. 2011). To date, research in this field has focused on exploring the antecedents and conditions that trigger customer mistreatment of FLEs, mapping the reactions and consequences of customer mistreatment of FLEs. The role of supervisory interventions in managing the immediate impact on FLEs from such disruptive experiences has yet to be addressed, despite constituting the only proximal resource that can be enacted to help FLEs cope with in-progress episodes of customer mistreatment (Zhan et al. 2014). Drawing on the premises of the job demands–resources (JD-R) and conservation of resources (COR) frameworks, the current research employs an experimental methodology and explores how two of the most common forms of customer mistreatment toward FLEs (verbal aggression and demand for untenable service levels) affect FLEs’ psychological and behavioral reactions. In addition, the buffering effect of three supervisor leadership styles on FLEs’ psychological reactions and behavioral intentions following customer mistreatment is investigated. Through scenario-based experimental designs, two studies were conducted. Study 1 draws on full-time FLEs working in hotels and its results confirm that FLEs’ psychological and behavioral responses to customers’ display of verbal aggression and excessive demands vary significantly. Customer verbal aggression is associated with higher FLE retaliation intentions and role stress, the display of excessive demands from the customers’ side is associated with higher FLE rumination and stronger withdrawal intentions than verbal aggression. Study 2 adopts a 2 (customer incivility: verbal aggression/excessive demands) × 3 (supervisor leadership style: empowering/directive/laissez-faire) between the subjects’ experimental design, and draws on full-time FLEs working in hotels. Results of study 2 suggest that empowering and directive supervisors reduce the depleting effects of excessive customer demands on FLEs’ psychological and behavioral responses significantly more in comparison to laissez-faire supervisors. Also, supervisory styles differ concerning the extent to which they can reduce the depleting effect of customer verbal aggression on FLEs behavioral responses, with directive leaders reducing FLEs retaliation intentions significantly more, compared to both empowering and laissez-faire leaders.