Why do frontline employees speak up on behalf of customers? The influence of supervisors versus coworkers and the role of intrapersonal factors

Customer-Focused Voice (CFV) - an employees' discretionary expression of constructive ideas that challenge the status quo with the aim to benefit the customer -has been shown to improve service effectiveness. While the importance of supervisors in promoting employee voice is widely acknowledged in the literature, the relative impact of coworkers on voice behaviors is still unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we propose that su-pervisor support, coworker relationship quality, and intrapersonal employee factors combine to influence the extent to which frontline employees engage in CFV and the role that CFV plays on performance outcomes. The results reveal that supervisors and coworkers influence CFV through their effect on psychological safety, and these indirect effects are significant at higher levels of perspective taking self-efficacy. Perspective taking self -efficacy acts, as well, as a critical moderator to determine the extent to which psychological safety impacts in -role and customer-oriented performance.

Automated summary

Customer-Focused Voice (CFV), which refers to employees' discretionary expression of constructive ideas that benefit the customer, has been proven to enhance service effectiveness. While the importance of supervisors in promoting employee voice is widely acknowledged, the impact of coworkers on voice behaviors remains unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, this study suggests that supervisor support, coworker relationship quality, and intrapersonal employee factors collectively influence the engagement in CFV by frontline employees and the subsequent effects on performance outcomes. Findings indicate that supervisors and coworkers influence CFV by affecting psychological safety, and these indirect effects are significant when perspective-taking self-efficacy is high. Additionally, perspective-taking self-efficacy acts as a critical moderator in determining the extent to which psychological safety influences in-role and customer-oriented performance.