The Role of Employee Attachment in Creating Service Climate: A Low-Skilled Workers’ Perspective: An Abstract

Citation

Branco-Illodo I, Siebers LQ, Lee L & Li F (2020) The Role of Employee Attachment in Creating Service Climate: A Low-Skilled Workers’ Perspective: An Abstract. In: Pantoja F, Wu S & Krey N (eds.) Enlightened Marketing in Challenging Times: Proceedings of the 2019 AMS World Marketing Congress (WMC). Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. 2019 Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress, Edinburgh, 09.07.2019-12.07.2019. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 193-194. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42545-6_55

Abstract
This paper offers an alternative interpretation for the antecedents of service climate based on attachment theory, using the context of low-skilled workers. Adopting a case study approach to investigate a successful restaurant chain, we explain how attachment and gift-giving improve the relationships among fellow employees, managers and the organization. We identify novel attachment processes that contribute to the development of a service climate. We find that employees’ emotional attachment underpins the connection between the antecedents (i.e. human resources practices and leadership) and the outcomes of service climate (i.e. employee empowerment and service performance). This is the first study that examines the emotional aspect of service climate. Through this approach, we suggest that service organizations can implement humanized approaches to improve service climate and pursue superior service performance.

Keywords
Employee attachment; Low-skilled workers; Service climate; Work relationships; Emotional attachment