Leadership, Employee Engagement, and Service Quality: A Review of the Literature

Bakkaloglu, M. (2023). Exploring the Impact of Servant Leadership on Thriving at Work and Adaptive Performance (Doctoral dissertation, Carleton University).

The research scrutinizes the relationship between servant leadership, surviving in the workplace, and adaptive performance. The findings imply that managers who incorporate servant leadership into their business improve the sense of thriving and the ability of their employees to adapt to changing environments. The research is significant for retail firms to promote employee growth and resilience, leading to improvement in the quality of services offered to customers and their general performance.

Barari, M., Ross, M., Thaichon, S., & Surachartkumtonkun, J. (2021). A meta‐analysis of customer engagement behavior. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), 457-477.

This meta-analysis compiles prior literature on customer engagement behavior, which is also pertinent for the retail industry. The findings revealed that customer engagement behaviors are a function of employee engagement. The work contributes to the knowledge of the factors affecting customer engagement and also presents the practical implications of managing employee engagement to improve customer service quality and stimulate positive customer actions for retail managers.

Blasco-Belled, A., Tejada-Gallardo, C., Torrelles-Nadal, C., & Alsinet, C. (2020). The costs of COVID-19 on subjective well-being: An analysis of the outbreak in Spain. Sustainability, 12(15), 6243.

This study does not solely target the retail sector, but it explores the changes in overall well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic that affect employees and ultimately impact customers. Their conclusions concern the influence of the pandemic on people’s psychology, which can affect one’s performance as an employee in different fields, including the retail industry. The findings provide ideas of how to preserve workers’ productivity and motivation, preserving the quality of customer service during crises.

Huntsman, D., Greer, A., Murphy, H., & Li, X. (2023). A serial mediation model exploring the impact of high-performance human resource practices on public sector performance through intermediate employee attitudes. International Journal of Public Administration, 46(15), 1106-1121.

This study seeks to establish how commitment-based human resource systems influence employee voice, engagement, and firm performance. The research argues that commitment-based human resource practices factor increase employee commitment, engagement, and voice behavior, which have an impact on firm performance. The findings reveal potential human resource solutions that can enhance the levels of employee engagement and organizational performance.

Karatepe, O. M., Rezapouraghdam, H., & Hassannia, R. (2020). Job insecurity, work engagement, and their effects on hotel employees’ non-green and non-attendance behaviors. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 87, 102472.

Although it has been conducted specifically for the hospitality industry, this study provides useful information for the retail sector. The researchers also look into the relationship between job insecurity, work engagement, and employees’ behaviors. The findings of the survey indicate that job insecurity reduces work engagement, predicting specific behaviors that could affect customer service. The findings can be used in the retail context to analyze the relationship between job security and engagement in customer service performance.

Lang, J. J., Yang, L. F., Cheng, C., Cheng, X. Y., & Chen, F. Y. (2023). Are algorithmically controlled gig workers deeply burned out? An empirical study on employee work engagement. BMC psychology, 11(1), 354.

This research aims to establish the effect of climate for innovation on job satisfaction and employee turnover intention within the retail industry. The results indicate that the climate for innovation has a significant impact on enhancing job satisfaction. However, the climate for innovation decreases turnover intention. Employee engagement mediates the relationships. The research is useful for retail managers to understand how the innovative structural design of the workplace positively affects the employees’ engagement and, in return, the quality of services to customers.

Luu, T. T. (2019). Building employees’ organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: The role of environmentally-specific servant leadership and a moderated mediation mechanism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(1), 406-426.

This study focuses on the leadership of employees who have an environmental aspect on the OCBE in the hospitality industry. This study provides a useful perspective for retail managers on how to develop the organizational green culture as well as the leadership approaches that encompass environmentalism. Potentially, similar actions can extend employee commitment to green endeavors that may raise customers’ perceptions of the environmental responsibility of the company. Consequently, this could help amplify the overall service quality in retail settings with a focus on viability.

Kim, M., Yin, X., & Lee, G. (2020). The effect of CSR on corporate image, customer citizenship behaviors, and customers’ long-term relationship orientation. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88, 102520.

This research examines how Corporate Social Responsibility impacts the image of the business, the loyalty of the customer, and the positive relationship perspective in the future of the hospitality industry. The study is informative to retail managers on the need to incorporate CSR activities into business strategies to enhance the quality of customer service and cultivate long-term patronage. Also, involving the employees in such activities may lead to higher job satisfaction and commitment, which enhances customer service.

Monje-Amor, A., Vázquez, J. P. A., & Faíña, J. A. (2020). Transformational leadership and work engagement: Exploring the mediating role of structural empowerment. European Management Journal, 38(1), 169-178.

This research focuses on the impact of work engagement in the relationship between transformative leadership and structural empowerment in the retail industry. Based on the structural equation modeling, they concluded that the relationship between work engagement and transformational leadership is positive, and structural empowerment partially mediated the relationship. The research suggests that retail managers can improve the organizational commitment of their employees and, therefore, improve the quality of customer service by incorporating transformational leadership and delegating autonomy.

Moon, T. W., Hur, W. M., & Hyun, S. S. (2019). How service employees’ work motivations lead to job performance: The role of service employees’ job creativity and customer orientation. Current Psychology, 38, 517-532.

The research focuses on the impacts of different factors in the organization that influence how employees relate to their customers in the service industry. Prosocial motivation and availability of resources at the workplace are shown to improve the relationship between employees the customers. The findings present critical information for managers to improve their engagement with the employees and customer-oriented behaviors, improving service quality in the business.