In Plain English

A recent research brief by Satoris Culbertson in The Academy of Management Perspectives, summarized research findings concerning the relationship between employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction (original article was published in the Journal of Retailing). Any of you familiar with this column probably realize that this is a bit of a departure from what I normally do on this blog; I normally review original work, not reviews of original work. However, I think this article is interesting enough to feature on this forum in its current form. Not to worry, this is not a permanent shift. The Research Question Does increased employee job satisfaction lead to satisfied customers? This is an important question for many industries, not just retailers. Common sense suggests that happier employees make happier customers. However, I am not the kind of person that is satisfied with common sense. When I recommend an organizational intervention, I insist that it be supported by hard numbers, not simply gut feelings. Organizational interventions are an investment and stakeholders are entitled to anticipate a return (if you do not need this kind of information before purchasing a service, please contact me immediately!). Further, if this relationship really was simply a question of common sense, then I fail to understand why employees with the most contact with customers are often the last considered for job satisfaction enhancement initiatives (profit-sharing, benefits, work-life balance programs, performance bonuses, etc.). This meta-analysis statistically combined the results of 28 independent research studies that simultaneously collected data on employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Culbertson reports the following results:

• Increased job satisfaction was positively related to both customer satisfaction and customer perceptions of service quality.
• The link between employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction was stronger when said services were rendered to the customers themselves, than when the service was provided to the customer’s possessions. So, when the service was rendered to the customer directly, employee job satisfaction had a greater impact on subsequent customer satisfaction. The same relationship was observed when predicting perceived service quality.
• The link between employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction was not moderated by the type of relationship they had. Employee to customer relationships can take a number of different forms. This study focused on two of these; the single-exchange relationship that is very often encountered in retail organizations and client-type relationships that tend to be longer in duration and feature a number of distinct exchanges. Common sense might suggest that the richer, more involved client relationship is more sensitive to employee job satisfaction, but the data does not support this line of reasoning (see why I am suspicious of “common sense”?). By contrast, the relationship between employee job satisfaction and perceived service quality was moderated by relationship type, but not in the expected manner. Employee job satisfaction was more important for single-service encounters than for client-type relationships.
• The relationship between employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction was mediated by perceived service quality. In other words, data reveals that employee job satisfaction seems to have its direct impact on perceived service quality. Service quality then has a direct impact on customer satisfaction. Data do not reveal a direct link between employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. [Note: this research brief does not mention whether this relationship was fully or partially mediated. If you are familiar with this article, I would appreciate clarification.]

Applied Implications This pattern of results is pretty self-explanatory. For the most part, it makes intuitive sense. If customer satisfaction is important to your industry (I can’t think of any that are immune to this concern, though it is probably more important to some than to others), then it is in your best interests to keep your employees satisfied with their jobs.   I can only speculate about the rationale behind the results concerning relationship type. My familiarity with social psychology suggests a number of reasons why the single-encounter relationship is more sensitive to employee satisfaction. I am interested in hearing speculations from my wonderful readers!