Effects of envy on frontline extra-role service behaviors: the role of employee resilience

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which organizations can strategically leverage employee envy to enhance their customer-service-oriented behaviors. Our investigation entails an exploration of the intricate relationship between employee envy and two contrasting behaviors: observational learning and social undermining. We delve into how envy indirectly impacts employee performance in service work contexts—namely, extra-role customer service, through these two behaviors. Finally, we evaluate the potential moderating role of employee resilience within these indirect dynamics. The proposed moderated mediation model is empirically tested using data gathered from 300 employees and employing structural equation modeling. The findings underscore that envy is intricately linked to both constructive and destructive behaviors, which in turn exert opposite influences on extra-role service. We reveal how employee resilience attenuates the indirect negative connection between envy and extra-role service through social undermining. Therefore, it becomes into a tool for HR policies aiming to tackle these dynamics.