From fumble to flourish: how workplace attachment drives service recovery performance

Purpose

Drawing on the conservation of resources theory and attachment theory, this paper proposes that employee–organization relationship and satisfaction with work–life balance mediate the influence of workplace attachment on service recovery performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collection was carried out through the distribution of questionnaires among a sample of healthcare providers from Lebanese private hospitals and analyzed via structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results indicate that workplace attachment has a significant impact on employee–organization relationship, satisfaction with work–life balance and service recovery performance. The findings further reveal that employee–organization relationship and satisfaction with work–life balance significantly influence service recovery performance and fully mediate the relationship between workplace attachment and service recovery performance.

Originality/value

This study is the first to investigate the mediating role of the employee–organization relationship and satisfaction with work–life balance between workplace attachment and service recovery performance. Over and above, this study is the first of its kind that the authors are aware of, being conducted in the healthcare sector, specifically in Lebanon. Based on the findings, the paper discusses the theoretical contributions, managerial implications and suggestions for further studies.