Service Quality and Turnover Intentions as Perceived by Employees - Article Example

?Article Review Service quality and turnover intentions as perceived by employees: antecedents and consequences (Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri, In their study, Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri (2010) consider the causes and consequences of the relationship between the quality of service delivery and the likelihood of a service industry employee to change places of work. Among the factors considered in the study are the job empowerment levels, understanding of the role in a job position, and coaching derived from management and supervisors. The study was based on an employee’s point of view since it investigated the perceptions concerning service quality delivery to customers, especially since customer satisfaction is a vital antecedent to employee satisfaction with the job. Moreover, the authors assert that customers may have a central role to play in the employee turnover in a firm, since satisfied clients may increase the likelihood of employee retention for a firm due to heightened job satisfaction. Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri (2010: 213) found out that all other factors contributing to the rate of employee turnover are dependent on the employees’ perception of the quality of service that one is capable of providing. The study shows that employee perception acts as the link between antecedents of employee turnover (empowerment, coaching and clarity of one’s role at the workplace), and the consequence that is the likelihood of employees to leave a workplace for another one. The 1076 subjects of the study completed a self-interview questionnaire, all of whom were frontline employees for service firms in Norway (Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri 2010: 211). The sample was selected by judgment sampling, as 52 percent of the sample was male; average age was 32 years; 61.3 percent were permanently employed and working on a fulltime basis; 74.6 had lasted for approximately 6 years with their employer; and about half had achieved higher education. This sample is only appropriate for demonstration purposes as it is not representative of Norway’s service industry workforce; in addition, the sample size is small and not appropriate for generalization to the whole population (Grant and Cavanagh, 2004: 18). The authors should have adopted a random sample, mainly by a combination of a cluster sample and a systematic sample that is inclusive of all components of the service sector employee population, and is random enough to give each member of the population a chance to be picked in the sample. However, testing the questionnaires on 53 respondents before the study was a proper approach since the pilot study enabled them to identify limitations of the study before incurring financial and time expenses, and make modifications. Moreover, the use of a combination of questions from previous studies gave the authors an increased chance of making corrections on errors made in previous studies and improving on previous study techniques. The variables in this study are qualitative, including satisfaction, perceptions, needs and preferences; however, Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri (2010: 211) used a seven point Likert-scale to give the qualitative information a quantitative aspect. This involves making numerous assumptions, including the obvious one of assuming that employees had the ability to assign numerical values to their feelings and perceptions (Karatepe and Uludag, 2008: 116). Consequently, the objectivity of the study is reduced as a result of the process of changing quality into quantity, as employees are not homogenous in their perceptions. In addition, there is little difference between the seven levels of Likert-scale, and employees are more likely to be biased in their analysis due to real or perceived differences between them as seen in Chiu et al. (2005: 486). This makes it impossible to generalize the results of the study to include different backgrounds, mainly due to the varied results that are likely since employee perceptions are dependent on a myriad of market factors (Richards, 2009). Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri (2010) could have enhanced the quality of their research by avoiding the temptation to oversimplify the collection and analysis of the data; which they did by employing a scale to every response from the study subjects. As used by Siebert and Zubanov (2009: 295), they could have allowed the respondents to give short explanations to their answers; an approach that would be indispensable in excluding or generalizing the results of the study. Moreover, these explanations could have clarified the heterogeneous nature of employee perceptions, and allowed the application of study results at the workplace. One key assumption that the authors made that should not have been overlooked is the fact that similar answers by employees do not signify similar feelings on the side of employees (Pfeffer, 2005: 125). For instance, two employees may convey a reluctance to move from their current place of work; however, they may be having different reasons for their intentions. One of them could be willing to stay due to the good chances for development offered at the workplace, while the other may take that stance due to the unavailability of other options. The use of perceived service quality as a baseline determinant of employee turnover rate is suitable in the current market status, whereby employers have realized that an employee’s needs should be satisfied to increase the quality of service. According to Maertz et al. (2007: 1063), one significant limitation of the study, like many other theories in application today, is the generalization and the assumption that employees are homogenous and respond in a similar manner to workplace treatment. Moreover, the study makes these assumptions on the premise that implementing certain human resource management approaches would result in quality service. Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri (2010) should have provided conditions for the applicability of their study, and clearly stated that the topic is subject to further study since the quantitative results do not give a way forward for managers in dealing with employee turnover. Conclusion Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri (2010) should have taken a different approach in sampling to increase representation and improve the random nature of the study sample. This would have been achieved effectively by a combination of cluster and systematic sampling techniques. The methodology of the study is appropriate since they considered previous studies before embarking on research; however, a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection would have improved the quality of data and increased the applicability of results. Finally, results of the study should have been accompanied with clauses that define the conditions in which the data is applicable, in order to allow for easier generalization without the subjectivity that results from too many assumptions. References Chiu, C.K., Lin, C.P., Tsai, Y.H. & Hsiao, C.Y. (2005) ‘Modelling turnover intentions and their antecedents using the locus of control as a moderator: a case of customer service employees’, Human Resource Development Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 481-99. Grant, A.M. and Cavanagh, M.J. (2004) ‘Toward a profession of coaching: 65 years of progress and challenges for the future’, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 7-21. Karatepe, O.M. and Uludag, O. (2008) ‘Role stress, burnout and their effects on frontline hotel employees’ job performance: evidence from Northern Cyprus’, International Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 10, pp. 111-26. Maertz, C.P., Griffeth, R.W., Campbell, N.S. & Allen, D. (2007) ‘The effects of perceived organizational support and perceived supervisor support on employee turnover’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 28, pp. 1059-75. Pfeffer, J. (2005) ‘Changing mental models: HR’s most important task’, Human Resource Management, vol. 44, pp. 123-8. Richards, L. (2009) Handling qualitative data: a practical guide. SAGE Publications Ltd. Siebert, W.S. and Zubanov, N. (2009) ‘Searching for the optimal level of employee turnover: a study of a large UK retail organization’, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 294-313. Slatten, T., Svensson, G., & Sv?ri, S. (2011) ‘Service quality and turnover intentions as perceived by employees: antecedents and consequences’, Personnel Review, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 205-21. Read More