Effects of reengineering on the employee satisfaction‐customer satisfaction relationship

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the correlations between measures of employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction before and after a major process reengineering initiative. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in 130 branches of a large financial services organization using employee and customer surveys. Findings – Scores on some employee satisfaction factors were predictive of customer satisfaction at both time periods. Other employee satisfaction factors were found to have a stronger relationship with customer satisfaction in one period but not both. Research limitations/implications – This study needs to be replicated to determine the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications – Work demands which probably increased due to the reengineering initiative were predictive of customer satisfaction following the reengineering effort. Originality/value – Organizations need to consider the effects of organizational changes in their efforts to provide high quality customer service.