When Does (Mis)Fit in Customer Orientation Matter for Frontline Employees’ Job Satisfaction and Performance?

The role of coworkers’ customer orientation (CO) in influencing an employee’s CO has received sparse attention in the literature. This research serves two purposes. First, the study draws on person–group fit theory to develop and test a model of a frontline employee’s CO relative to that of his or her coworkers as well as the effects of CO (mis)fit on job satisfaction and service performance through coworker relationship quality. Second, the authors propose three work-group characteristics—group size, service climate strength, and leader‒member exchange differentiation—that they expect to mitigate the (negative) positive effect of employee‒coworker CO (mis)fit on coworker relationship quality. Data collected in a multirespondent (i.e., frontline employees and supervisors) longitudinal research design indicate that as group size increases, service climate becomes stronger, and group leaders develop different exchange relationships with employees, the inherently (negative) positive role of employee–coworker CO (mis)fit in influencing coworker relationship quality diminishes. Furthermore, coworker relationship quality fully mediates the associations of employee–coworker CO (mis)fit with job satisfaction and service performance. The authors close with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the boundary conditions of CO (mis)fit.