Linking employee, customer, and business results: a study in the hotel industry

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the links between employee attitudes, customer loyalty and business results. Methodology/approach: From a conceptual point of view, this employee–customer–business results chain is well founded and generally accepted, also in the European Excellence Model. But for many companies, it seems difficult to demonstrate such links, and several issues must be addressed to uncover the links. To investigate these links empirically, a hotel chain provided data matching employee and customer measures with measures of profit, and a modelling approach is developed. Findings: The model is successfully applied. As it is possible to estimate and test the links, we have demonstrated the effects of employee attitudes on customer loyalty and further on business results. The findings provide strong empirical evidence for the developed model, and the study provides evidence of the employee–customer–business results chain. Research limitations: The study is limited to four hotels in Copenhagen, Denmark. Practical implications: The research findings provide a better understanding of the employee–customer–business results chain and may help practitioners in improving company financial performance. Originality/value: This paper provides new insights into the relationships between employee attitudes, customer loyalty, and business results.

Keywords:

• employee results
• customer results
• business results
• statistical analyses

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the data provided by Radisson Hotels, Copenhagen, Denmark. We thank Stig Jørgensen (CEO, House of Loyalty, Denmark), Mogens Stendrup (Vice President, Radisson Hotels), Finn Vestergaard (Director of Organization and People Development, Radisson Hotels), and Per K. Jacobsen (Director of Human Resources, Radisson Hotels) for their support in the project and useful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.