Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of store managers’ employee climate perceptions on frontline employee (FLE), customer and store performance outcomes in the small-store setting.

Design/methodology/approach

This study derives the findings from a multi-source data set acquired in partnership with a North American-based retailer that includes survey responses from 1,133 store managers, 5,591 FLEs and 16,488 customers. This paper matches survey responses to corporate records and store sales and operations data.

Findings

This study finds that store managers’ employee climate perceptions affect FLEs both directly and indirectly, through store manager social support behaviors. This paper tests the boundary conditions for these findings by examining the moderating effects of store-level FLE tenure heterogeneity and competitive intensity. Study results provide partial support for the hypothesized relationships with regard to FLE tenure heterogeneity, but not competitive intensity.

Research limitations/implications

This research is subject to many of the limitations common to a survey-based study. While the use of one retailer provided opportunities to examine store-level performance data, future research would benefit by using a more expansive data set spanning several companies and industries. Moreover, as the current study was set in the small-store setting, future research should explore how store managers’ influence fluctuates depending on store size and the mechanisms through which organizational priorities flow through other management levels (e.g. department managers) in large retailers.

Practical implications

Study results provide managerial guidance regarding the implementation of an employee climate for the delivery of an enhanced customer experience and superior financial performance.

Originality/value

Although researchers have paid considerable attention to employees’ psychological and organizational climate perceptions, this study makes a unique contribution by examining the effects of store managers’ employee climate perceptions on FLE, customer and store-level outcomes.

中文翻译：

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商店经理对员工气候的看法如何影响一线员工、顾客和商店的绩效结果：小商店环境中的检验

目的

本文的目的是检查商店经理的员工气候感知对小商店环境中的一线员工 (FLE)、客户和商店绩效结果的影响。

设计/方法/方法

本研究从与一家北美零售商合作获得的多源数据集得出结果，其中包括来自 1,133 名商店经理、5,591 名 FLE 和 16,488 名客户的调查回复。本文将调查响应与公司记录以及商店销售和运营数据相匹配。

发现

本研究发现，店长的员工气候感知通过店长的社会支持行为直接和间接地影响 FLE。本文通过检查商店级 FLE 权属异质性和竞争强度的调节作用来测试这些发现的边界条件。研究结果为 FLE 任期异质性的假设关系提供了部分支持，但不支持竞争强度。

研究限制/影响

这项研究受到基于调查的研究常见的许多限制。虽然使用一家零售商提供了检查商店级绩效数据的机会，但未来的研究将受益于使用跨越多个公司和行业的更广泛的数据集。此外，由于目前的研究是在小商店环境中进行的，未来的研究应该探索商店经理的影响如何根据商店规模和组织优先级在大型零售商的其他管理层（例如部门经理）之间流动的机制而波动。

实际影响

研究结果为实施员工氛围以提供增强的客户体验和卓越的财务业绩提供了管理指导。

原创性/价值

尽管研究人员非常关注员工的心理和组织气候感知，但本研究通过检查商店经理的员工气候感知对 FLE、客户和商店级别结果的影响，做出了独特的贡献。