Roles played by frontline employees in the delivery of governmental services: qualitative evidence from the public sector of Jordan

This research aims to explore the roles played by government service employees in the provision of services to the public. Interviews of a total of 30 employees were undertaken. It has been interesting to note that the research findings showed that service employees working within the Jordanian public sector played four different roles, i.e., complementary (32%), collaborator (41%), enabler (46%) and mediator (54%) (MECC). There has been both a theoretical and practical change to the role of employees within the service sector within the last 20 years. Previous research, however, has been insufficiently integrated and there was a need for a framework with internal consistency so that the roles of frontline service employees working within the context of governmental services could be understood. The implications of findings have are to show a shift in the function of public sector employees in terms of values such as freedom, participation and collaboration.