Linking Error Management Atmosphere with Service Employee's Thriving at work: A Social Information Processing Perspective

Abstract

How to effectively motivate service employee's thriving at work is crucial to service companies. Drawing on social information processing theory, we proposed a direct effect moderation model between error management atmosphere and thriving at work. We collected 213 valid questionnaires from Chinese frontline service employees via a third-party professional online survey company. Results demonstrate that error management atmosphere has positive effect on service employees' thriving at work via psychological safety. Moreover, employee's regulatory focus moderated the relationship between error management atmosphere and thriving at work. Specifically, the positive association between error management atmosphere and thriving at work was strengthened when employees' promotion focus was high. However, the moderating effect of employees' prevention focus failed. This findings are of great significance for service companies when implementing error management atmosphere. This paper has not only enriched the error management and thriving at work literature, but provided important managerial implications for management on how to promote service worker's thriving at work in China.