A generational study of employees’ customer orientation: a motivational viewpoint in pandemic time

Abstract

This study represents a scholarly endeavour to explore the effects of Covid-19 perceptions on customer orientation via job insecurity, burnout and workplace motivation alongside generational effects non-equivalency amongst a sample of customer service employees working in different businesses located in three countries in the MENA region. We received 752 responses composed of three generations (i.e., X, Y and Z) that were analysed mainly using Partial-Least-Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach and that included path and multigroup analyses. Our results show that intense Covid-19 perceptions have indirect adverse effects on customer orientation via a sequence of mediators comprising job insecurity, burnout and workplace motivation. Non-equivalency is spotted across generations regarding the relationships between job insecurity and burnout, burnout and motivation as well as motivation and customer orientation. Besides, intense Covid-19 perceptions act more substantially as an indirect trigger of less favourable levels of customer orientation amongst younger generations. Keywords: Covid-19, Job insecurity, Burnout, Motivation, Customer orientation, Generational differences.