The service employees’ performance plays a crucial role in forming the perception of customers about the firm. The role of management lies in improving their employee performance by considering three perspectives namely customer-employee interface, management employee interface and employee-role interface.
Customer-employee interface
The employees’ interactions with the customers affect the perception of the customers about the firm. Customers look for certain attributes in the service encounter to form perceptions. The employee interaction with the customers is characterised by their behaviours, their self efficacy, adaptability and their discretion to exercise their problem solving abilities. All these characteristics are said to have a positive correlation with the customer’s perception about the firm. So, the manager must provide a conducive environment for the employees to exercise these attributes at the time of service encounter. Adaptability, problem solving are the behavioural attributes backed by attitudinal attribute of self efficacy. The managers play a key role in nurturing such qualities in the service employees by training them and by empowering them.
Employee-role interface
The role ambiguity and role conflicts are the major hindrances in the performance of service employees. Empowerment and self efficacy at times may also lead to role ambiguity. As the service employees are faced with boundary spanning, they often face role ambiguity. Role ambiguity can be mitigated with training and socialisation processes. The aspects of good communication with the manager makes the employee understands better about his role.
Employee management interface
The relationship between employees and managers can be strengthened by proper coordination. This coordination can be evaluate through behaviour based evaluation involving evaluating the behavioural attributes of the employees. Such behavioural attributes include commitment, effort, adaptability etc. The behavioural evaluation should be followed by empowerment. Empowerment enables the employee to use his/her discretion in day to day basis while performing the tasks.
The positive aspect related to empowerment is that the employee can exercise his skill of adaptability and problem solving in meeting the specific requirements of the customers. However, empowerment may also lead to role ambiguity. Empowerment can be carefully directed by openly sharing the firm’s goals and objectives. In that way, the service employee who is empowered makes a decision keeping in view the larger perspective of the firm’s goals and objectives.