EXPRESS: Diversity in Frontline Employee Perceptions: Policies and Procedures, Training, and Leadership as Drivers of Service Equality

Abstract

Excellent service is often discussed with an assumption of equivalency in its application, yet reality is far more complex. Customers have distinct needs that pose distinct challenges for frontline service employees. In hotel settings, providing excellent service to a diverse set of guests is more nuanced when frontline employees themselves are from a wide variety of backgrounds. Whereas the literature considers operational tactics to promote excellence in guest service, it is unclear whether training, policies and procedures, and leadership designed to advance excellence have the same impact on employees who, by virtue of their background, are more attuned to guests' needs. We extend the literature by empirically demonstrating that operational tactics impact frontline employees’ perceptions of service equality, with racial/ethnic minority employees seeing statistically distinct impacts. Employing a sample of 25,698 employee-year observations across 32 luxury hotels in the U.S. over three years, we find that codified policies and procedures, as well as training, improve assessments of guest service equality. In contrast, racial/ethnic minority employees are less impacted than their white counterparts by leadership stances that seem to promote equality more broadly. After controlling for time and other relevant employee- and hotel-level variables, operational tactics (a) improve perceptions of service equality, and (b) reduce the disparity between white and racial/ethnic-minority service-quality assessments. Our findings provide further direction for managers to elevate such perceptions of customer service equality across the board by leveraging training and by reinforcing clear operating policies and procedures.