Evaluating the impact of service encounter incivility on employee job stress, turnover intentions and labor attrition: a study on frontline employees in the fast food service industry

Service encounter incivility is a common phenomenon across a broad spectrum of service industries globally. This paper examined the impact of service encounter incivility on employee job stress, turnover intentions and labor attrition in the fast food service industry in Zimbabwe. The Stressor-Stress-Outcome (SSO) framework and the Emotional labor theory underpinned this investigation. The study targeted frontline employees in the fast food service providers in Harare. An explanatory design and a quantitative approach were adopted. Using randomization and a structured hand administered questionnaire, 254 valid responses were obtained. Findings obtained through covariance based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) confirmed the significant effect of customer incivility on employee incivility and employee job stress. The findings also revealed that employee incivility affects employee job stress. The positive influence of employee job stress on turnover intentions was also evident. The results were also confirmatory of positive effect of turnover intentions on labor attrition. The paper recommends that fast food service providers should foster contact employee training, better reward strategies, employee recovery and employee empowerment. Customer education on service site processes and procedures, standardisation of processes and technology were also urged to reduce incidences of service encounter incivility and labor turnover in the fast food industry in Zimbabwe.Most businesses face challenges with customer misbehavior at service sites globally. It has been also been observed that employees often retaliate leading to service failure. This research investigates the effect of customer misbehavior and employee retaliation on employee job stress, quitting intent and labor turnover in fast food industry. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from employees. Results show that both customer misbehavior and employee retaliation cause employee job stress. Affected employees may show low morale, loss of job interest, low concentration and poor productivity. Employee stress explained quitting intentions, which also influenced labor turnover. The research demonstrates that customer misbehavior and employee venting causes loss of frontline staff within fast food service industry. The study encourages fast food businesses to adopt measures that reduce uncivil behaviors. To reduce dysfunctional encounters and labor turnover, using employees’ emotional intelligence, customer education, customer-centric culture and employee empowerment were suggested strategies.