Individual Differences Among Service Employees

Authors:
  • PDPh D
    Ph D

Abstract
SUMMARY To do an excellent job of managing external relationships, service firms must be prepared to do an excellent job of managing internal relationships. This effort begins with recruiting, selecting, and retaining employees who are likely to serve customers well. While service firms strive to match the knowledge, ability, and skills of potential employees to the requirements of the job, most do not have the time or the resources to implement elaborate recruitment and selection systems. This is especially true among services where relatively high turnover levels mandate that recruitment and selection processes be fast and inexpensive. To meet this challenge, managers often focus on a set of easily identifiable individual characteristics, such as experience, job tenure, age, or education that can be assessed during the time of an interview or scan of a job application. This study examines the effect of these characteristics on the attitudes and responses of service employees that are critical for the ef...

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