Service excellence from the employees’ point of view: the role of first line supervisors

What role can service employees’ direct supervisors play in stimulating service excellence? The aim of the current study was to provide more insight into the relationship between perceived leader behaviour and employees’ willingness to provide excellent service as well as their perceptions of service quality. In a survey study involving more than 3,500 service employees, the impact of the behaviours of first‐line supervisors on service related outcomes was studied. Supervisors’ supportive behaviours, providing useful information, giving feedback, fair evaluations of performance and their direct stimulation of service related behaviours were all found to be positively related to service outcomes. The results as well as the practical implications of these findings are discussed.