An Empirical Analysis of Service Orientation and its Impact on Employee Job Performance in Upscale Hotels

Abstract

This research investigated the service orientation of employees of upscale hotel properties. Employees (N = 355) and supervisors/managers (N = 41) of three full-service hotels located in a large metropolitan market in the Midwest participated. Significant differences were found in the employee empathy and sensitivity components of the Service Orientation Index (SOI). High customer contact employees, as determined by their own self-rating, had significantly higher scores on the sensitivity component of the SOI than employees who rated themselves as having low contact with guests. Results suggested that position-defined contact could predict employee self-rated job performance, but the interaction of the position-defined contact and SOI scores did not moderate employee self-rated job performance. Findings indicated that supervisor/manager ratings of employee job performance cannot be predicted from SOI scores, and the interaction of position-defined contact did not moderate supervisor/manager ratings of employee job performance in predicting service orientation.