HomeSocial Sciences and Development Review Journalvol. 13 no. 1 (2021)

Customer Aggression and Organizational Turnover Among Service Employees in Metro Manila, Philippines

Guillermo Bungato Jr. | Mecmack Nartea | Giscelle Iveth Samonte

Discipline: Economics

 

Abstract:

The “Customer is always right” has been the motto of many service organizations for the longest time. It mirrors companies’ commitment to do their utmost best in creating a good customer environment to ensure that customers enjoy quality service. But there are instances that customers can get aggressive in social interactions with service employees. These instances do not only affect the marketing and sales aspect of the organization but can ultimately affect the service employees’ output quality and even prompt them to quit. This paper examined how customer aggression affects turnover intentions of service employees. This looked specifically on the effects of customer aggression on the emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions of service employees. Survey data was collected using stratified sampling from 328 service employees of KFC branches around Metro Manila. These data were analyzed using the GLM module in Jamovi. Results showed that customer aggression indeed influences emotional exhaustion and in turn decreases job satisfaction and increases turnover intentions. The mitigating effects of distributive justice on the customer aggression-emotional exhaustion relationship was confirmed. However, the mitigating effect of organizational pride on the job satisfaction turnover intentions relationship has been found to be significantly weak. These findings revealed the importance of having policies that communicate equity and justice, as well as the existence of rewards and recognition programs that can boost employee morale and loyalty.



References:

  1. Ahmad, M. B., Wasay, E., & Jhandir, S. U. (2012). Impact of employee motivation on customer satisfaction: Study of airline industry in Pakistan. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4(6), 531-539.
  2. AlKahtani, N. S., Iqbal, S., Sohail, M., Sheraz, F., Jahan, S., Anwar, B., & Haider, S. A. (2021). Impact of employee empowerment on organizational commitment through job satisfaction in four- and five-stars hotel industry. Management Science Letters,813–822. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2020.10.022
  3. Alola, U. V., Olugbade, O. A., Avci, T., & Öztüren, A. (2019). Customer incivility and employees’ outcomes in the hotel: Testing the mediating role of emotional exhaustion. Tourism Management Perspectives, 29, 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2018.10.004
  4. [4] Al-Hawari, M. A., Bani-Melhem, S., & Quratulain, S. (2019). Do Frontline Employees Cope Effectively with Abusive Supervision and Customer Incivility? Testing the Effect of Employee Resilience. Journal of Business and Psychology, 35(2), 223–240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-019-09621-2
  5. [5] Al-Zu’bi, H. A. (2010). A study of relationship between organizational justice and job satisfaction. International journal of Business and Management, 5(12), 102. Azharudeen, N., & Arulrajah, A. (2018). The Relationships among Emotional Demand, Job Demand, Emotional Exhaustion and Turnover Intention. International Business Research, 11(11), 8. https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v11n11p8
  6. Baron, R.A. and Neuman, J.H. (1996), Workplace violence and workplace aggression: Evidence on their relative frequency and potential causes. Aggr. Behav., 22: 161-173. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(1996)22:3<161::AIDAB1>3.0.CO;2-Q
  7. Bi, Y., Choi, S., Yin, J., & Kim, I. (2021). Stress on Frontline Employees from Customer Aggression in the Restaurant Industry: The Moderating Effect of Empowerment. Sustainability, 13(3), 1433. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031433
  8. Blašková, M., & Blaško, R. (2008). Sustainable development of rural tourism through relations between customers’ and employees’ motivation. Management theory and studies for rural business and infrastructure development, 15(4), 19-28.
  9. Boles, J. S., Johnston, M. W., & Hair Jr, J. F. (1997). Role stress, work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion: Inter-relationships and effects on some work-related consequences. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 17(1), 17-28.
  10. Boukis, A., Koritos, C., Daunt, K. L., & Papastathopoulos, A. (2020). Effects of customer incivility on frontline employees and the moderating role of supervisor leadership style. Tourism Management, 77, 103997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.103997
  11. Büyüköztürk, Ş., Çokluk, Ö. & Köklü, N. (2014). Sosyal bilimler için istatistik (15th Edition). Ankara: Pegem Akademik.
  12. Castro-González, S., Bande, B., & Vila-Vázquez, G. (2021). How Can Companies Decrease Salesperson Turnover Intention? The Corporate Social Responsibility Intervention. Sustainability, 13(2), 750. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020750
  13. Chand, M. and Katou, A.A. (2007), “The impact of HRM practices on organisational performance in the Indian hotel industry”, Employee Relations, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 576-594. https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450710826096
  14. Chew, Y. T. (2005). Achieving organizational prosperity through employee motivation and retention: A comparative study of strategic HRM practices in Malaysian institutions. Research and practice in human resource management, 13(2), 87-104.
  15. Clay-Warner, J., Reynolds, J., & Roman, P. (2005). Organizational justice and job satisfactin: A test of three competing models. Social Justice Research, 18(4), 391-409.
  16. Dar, A. T., Bashir, M., Ghazanfar, F., & Abrar, M. (2014). Mediating role of employee motivation in relationship to post-selection HRM practices and organizational performance. International Review of Management and Marketing, 4(3), 224.
  17. Demir, E., Saatcioğlu, Ö. & İmrol, F. (2016). Uluslararası dergilerde yayımlanan eğitim araştırmalarının normallik varsayımları açısından incelenmesi, Current Research in Education, 2(3), 130-148. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/crd/issue/28292/300531
  18. Fiernaningsih, N., Nimran, U., Raharjo, K., & Arifin, Z. (2019). The Influence of WorkLife Balance and Organizational Pride on Job Satisfaction and its Impact on Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Five and Four-Star Hotels Employee. Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 91(7), 1 9 1 –196. https://doi.org/10.18551/rjoas.2019-07.20
  19. Franco, C. (2021). Isang Jollibee crew, naiyak matapos sigawan ng customer, viral na. Kami.Com.Ph - Philippines News. https://kami.com.ph/127352-isangjollibee-crewnaiyak-matapos-sigawan-ng-customer-viral-na.html
  20. Gelade, G. A., & Ivery, M. (2003). The impact of human resource management and work climate on organizational performance. Personnel psychology, 56(2), 383-404.
  21. Goussinsky, R. (2012). Coping with customer aggression. Journal of Service Management.
  22. Grandey, A. A., Dickter, D. N., & Sin, H. P. (2004). The customer is not always right: Customer aggression and emotion regulation of service employees. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 25(3), 397-418.
  23. Goudarzi, K., Llosa, S., Orsingher, C., Gouthier, M. H., & Rhein, M. (2011). Organizational pride and its positive effects on employee behavior. Journal of Service Management, 22(5), 633–649.
  24. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2014). Multivariate data analysis (7thed.). Edinburgh Gate, UK: Pearson Education Limited.
  25. Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.44.3.513
  26. Hobfoll, S. E. (2001). Social Support and Stress. International Encyclopedia of the Socia & Behavioral Sciences, 14461–14465. doi:10.1016/b0-08-043076-7/03823-7
  27. Huck, S.W. (2012). Reading statistics and research (6th Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.
  28. Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J. E. M., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. W. B. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 310–325. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031313
  29. Hussain, M., & Khan, M. S. (2018). Organizational justice and turnover intentions: probing the Pakistani print media sector. Evidence-Based HRM: A Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, 7(2), 180–197. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebhrm- 04-2018-0030
  30. Hwang, J., Yoo, Y., & Kim, I. (2021). Dysfunctional Customer Behavior, Employee Service Sabotage, and Sustainability: Can Social Support Make a Difference? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3628. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073628
  31. Karatepe, O.M., Yorganci, I. and Haktanir, M. (2009), “Outcomes of customer verbal aggression among hotel employees”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. 713-733. https://doi.org/10.1108/09596110910975972
  32. Karatepe, O. M. (2011). Customer aggression, emotional exhaustion, and hotel employee outcomes: A study in the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 28(3), 279-295
  33. Kashif, M., Zarkada, A., & Thurasamy, R. (2017). Customer aggression and organizational turnover among service employees. Personnel Review, 46(8), 1672–1688. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr-06-2016-0145
  34. Khan, S.A. (2014). The factors affecting employee turnover in an organization: The case of Overseas Pakistanis foundation. African Journal of Business Management, 8(1), 25-34.
  35. Kraemer, T. and H.J. Gouthier, M. (2014). How organizational pride and emotional exhaustion explain turnover intentions in call centers: A multi-group analysis with gender and organizational tenure, Journal of Service Management, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 125-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-07-2013-0173
  36. Krishnan, R., Loon, K. W., Ahmad, N. A. F. B., & Yunus, N. A. S. (2018). Examining the Relationship between Organizational Justice and Job Performance. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i3/3942
  37. Kock, N., & Lynn, G.S. (2012). Lateral collinearity and misleading results in variance based SEM: An illustration and recommendations. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 13(7), 546-580.
  38. Labrague, L. J., & Santos, J. A. A. (2020). Fear of COVID‐19, psychological distress, work satisfaction and turnover intention among frontline nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 29(3), 395–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13168
  39. Lamba, S., & Choudhary, N. (2013). Impact of HRM practices on organizational commitment of employees. International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, 2(4), 407-423.
  40. Lewig, K. A., & Dollard, M. F. (2003). Emotional dissonance, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction in call centre workers. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 12(4), 366–392. doi:10.1080/13594320344000200
  41. Linsley, P. (2006). Violence and Aggression in the Workplace: A Practical Guide for All Healthcare Staff (1st ed.). CRC Press.
  42. Liu, X., van Jaarsveld, D. D., & Yanadori, Y. (2021). Customer aggression, employee voice and quit rates: Evidence from the frontline service workforce. British Journal of Industrial Relations. Published. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.
  43. Mas-Machuca, M., Berbegal-Mirabent, J. and Alegre, I. (2016), “Work-life balance and its relationship with organizational pride and job satisfaction”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 586-602. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-09-2014-0272
  44. Mahafzah, Ahmed & Aljawarneh, Nader & Alomari, Khaled & Altahat, Shadi & Alomari, Ziyad. (2020). Impact of customer relationship management on food and beverage services quality: the mediating role of employees satisfaction. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 8(2):222-230 http://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.8226
  45. Otori, Y. A., & Adamu, J. (2018). Effect of Customer Aggression and Job Stress on Employees’ Burnout: A Study of Health Professionals in Federal Medical Centre Gusau, Zamfara State-Nigeria. Lapai International Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 9(1).
  46. Plessis, A.J.d., Douangphichit, N. & Dodd, P. (2016). HRM in Relation To Employee Motivation and Job Performance in the Hospitality Industry. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, 1(2), 12-21.
  47. Poddar, A. and Madupalli, R. (2012), “Problematic customers and turnover intentions of customer service employees”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 7, pp. 551-559. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876041211266512
  48. Rafaeli, A., Erez, A., Ravid, S., Derfler-Rozin, R., Treister, D.E. & Ravit, S. (2012). When customers exhibit verbal aggression, employees pay cognitive costs. Journal of applied psychology 97, no. 5 (2012): 931.
  49. Ramos, C., Costa, P.A., Rudnicki, T., et al. (2018). The effectiveness of a group intervention to facilitate posttraumatic growth among women with breast cancer. Psycho‐Oncology, (27), 258–264. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pon.4501
  50. Raza, M. A., Gulzar, A., & Jabeen, R. (2017). Impact of Distributive Justice on Trust in Leader and Employee Turnover Intention: Moderating Role of Islamic Work Ethics and Organizational Culture. Journal of Islamic Business and Management (JIBM), 7(2). https://doi.org/10.26501/jibm/2017.0702-007
  51. Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2011). Teacher job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession: Relations with school context, feeling of belonging, and emotional exhaustion. Teaching and teacher education, 27(6), 1029-1038.
  52. Scanlan, J. N., & Still, M. (2019). Relationships between burnout, turnover intention, job satisfaction, job demands and job resources for mental health personnel in an Australian mental health service. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3841-z
  53. Shin, Y., & Hur, W. M. (2019). When Do Service Employees Suffer More from Job Insecurity? The Moderating Role of Coworker and Customer Incivility. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(7), 1298. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071298
  54. Sommovigo, V., Setti, I., & Argentero, P. (2019). The role of service providers’ resilience in buffering the negative impact of customer incivility on service recovery performance. Sustainability, 11(1), 285.
  55. Srinivasan, R. & C P, Lohith. (2017). Pilot Study—Assessment of Validity and Reliability. Strategic Marketing and Innovation for Indian MSMEs, pp.43-49. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3590-6_6.
  56. Stordeur, S., D’Hoore, W., & Vandenberghe, C. (2001). Leadership, organizational stress, and emotional exhaustion among hospital nursing staff. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 35(4), 533–542. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01885.x
  57. Tang, Thomas & Baldwin, Linda. (1996). Distributive and Procedural Justice as Related to Satisfaction and Commitment.. SAM Advanced Management Journal. 61 (3):25-31.
  58. Usmani, S., & Jamal, S. (2013). Impact of distributive justice, procedural justice, interactional justice, temporal justice, spatial justice on job satisfaction of banking employees. Review of integrative business and economics research, 2(1), 351-383.
  59. Velez, M. J., & Neves, P. (2017). The relationship between abusive supervision, distributive justice and job satisfaction: A substitutes for leadership approach. European review of applied psychology, 67(4), 187-198.
  60. Watrous, K. M., Huffman, A. H., & Pritchard, R. D. (2006). When Coworkers and Managers Quit: The Effects of Turnover and Shared Values on Performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 21(1), 103–126. doi:10.1007/s10869-005-9021-2
  61. Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective Events Theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior: An annual series of analytical essays and critical reviews, Vol. 18, pp. 1–74). Elsevier Science/JAI Press.
  62. Wen, B., Zhou, X., Hu, Y., & Zhang, X. (2020). Role Stress and Turnover Intention of FrontLine Hotel Employees: The Roles of Burnout and Service Climate. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00036
  63. Widyanti, R., Irhamni, G., Ratna, S., & Basuki. (2020). Organizational Justice and Organizational Pride to Achieve Job Satisfaction and Job Performance. Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University, 55(3).
  64. Yagil, D. (2008). When the customer is wrong: A review of research on aggression and sexual harassment in service encounters. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 13(2),141–152.
  65. Yagil, D. (2017). There is no dark side of customer aggression − It’s all dark. Journal of Marketing Management, 33(15–16), 1413–1420. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2017.1357332