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How Does Workplace Fun Impact Employee Perceptions of Customer Service Quality?

July 25, 2007

"With the service sector now accounting for two-thirds of current gross domestic product (Smith & Lum, 2005), management scholars are recognizing the need to more closely examine the link between various management practices and customer satisfaction.  This research demonstrates that the use of teamwork and effective human resource management processes in staffing, training, and reward systems can have a positive impact on service quality (Pugh, Dietz, Wiley & Brooks, 2002; Schneider & Bowen, 1993).

Recent analyses of Fortune's '100 Best Companies to Work For,' suggest that a 'fun work environment' is one of the factors distinguishing superior performers from others (Chan, Gee & Steiner, 2000; Joyce, 2003).  These organizations seem to believe that workplace fun will enhance both employee and customer satisfaction.  Southwest Airlines was one of the first servic3e organizations to incorporate fun into their corporate culture, resulting in positive consequences for both employee and customer satisfaction (Frieberg & Frieberg, 1996; Lancaster, 1999).

There is limited empirical research examining the link between workplace fun, employee satisfaction, and perceptions of customer service quality.  One exception is a study by Ford, McLaughlin, and Newstrom (2003) who surveyed 572 human resource professionals.  These authors identified 23 different activities from the popular literature and asked their respondents to indicate whether their organizations used these activities to create a fun work environment.  The top three most frequently used activities were casual dress days, employee recognition and rewards, and company-provided food and refreshments (these activities were used by 84%, 83%, and 82%, respectively).

Two more recent studies examined employee perceptions of what makes a fun work environment (Karl, Peluchette, Hall & Harland, 2005; Peluchette & Karl, 2005).  The type of activities perceived as most fun by the employees in these two studies were outings (company-wide trip to an amusement park), food (everyone goes out to lunch, cake and ice cream for birthdays, potluck), and contests (baby picture, guess who?).  Those rated the lowest were gifts (traveling flower bouquet,), wild and wacky (pretending you are riding a roller coaster), let's laugh at ourselves (teams create anthems or skits), communications, kits, and committees (meetings are started with everyone completing 'wouldn't it be fun if....'), and games (play trivia, board, or card games during lunch).

H1:  There will be a positive relationship between experienced fun and job satisfaction such that higher levels of fun in the workplace will be associated with greater job satisfaction.

H2:  There will be a significant interaction such that individual differences in the value of workplace fun will moderate the relationship between experienced fun and job satisfaction.  That is, the relationship will be stronger for those who pace a higher value on workplace fun compared to those who place a lower value on workplace fun.

H3:  There will be a positive relationship between employee satisfaction and employee perceptions of customer service quality.

H4:  There will be a positive relationship between experienced fun and employee perceptions of customer service quality such that higher levels of fun in the workplace will be associated with better customer service.

This study utilized a sample of undergraduate students enrolled at two medium-sized universities, one located in the Midwest and the other located in the southeastern part of the United States.  Participation was voluntary although participants were given some minimal course credit for doing so.  Because the focus of the study was on employee in the service sector, we intentionally recruited undergraduate students to complete the survey as most undergraduates are employed in service organizations.  Of the 393 surveys collected, 70% indicated that they worked in the service sector.  Of the remaining 275 respondents (those who did not hold service positions were eliminated from further service), 150 were males (54.5%) and 125 were females (45.5%).  The average age of the participants was 22 years (SD=4).  The average hours worked per week was 26.7 (SD=10.9).

The survey instrument consisted of two sections: (1) work-related beliefs and (2) demographic items including gender, age, type of organization, and hours worked per week.  The work-related beliefs and attitudes consisted of four measures:  (1) value of workplace fun, (2) level of fun experienced at work, (3) job satisfaction, (4) employee perceptions of service quality.  All items in this section were rated on a 5-point scale (1 Strongly Disagree, 5= Strongly Agree).  The measure for value of workplace fun was adapted from an attitude toward workplace fun scale developed by Karl, et al., (2005).  The level of fun experienced at work was measured using the following five items developed by Karl, Peluchette, and Harland (in press).  Job satisfaction was measured using five items from Brayfield and Rothe's (1951) job satisfaction index.  Employee perceptions of service quality was measured using a modified version of the thirteen item scale developed by Kettinger and Lee (1997).

In hypothesis one, we predicted that higher levels of fun in the workplace would be associated with greater job satisfaction.  The correlation was significant (r: .74, p <.001); thus supporting this hypothesis.  Hypothesis two predicted a significant interaction such that the value of workplace fun would moderate the relationship between experienced fun and job satisfaction.  These results show that those who experience greater fun at work have greater job satisfaction and this effect is stronger for those who value workplace fun than those who do not.

One of the most significant contributions of this study is a better understanding of service sector employees' value of workplace fun, the extent to which they experience fun in the workplace and their level of job satisfaction.  Additionally, we found that the relationship between workplace fun and job satisfaction was greater for those who place a high value on workplace fun.  Another significant contribution of this study is the link between employee job satisfaction and perception of customer service quality (Karl & Peluchette, 2006, p. 2-13)."

Reference: Karl, K. & Peluchette, J. (2006).  How does workplace fun impact employee perceptions of customer service quality? Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2.

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Created: 2007-07-02, Updated: 2008-12-28