Factors influencing service employee well-being: a test of the PERMA framework

Purpose This study aims to investigate the factors influencing service employee work and personal well-being affecting their intention to leave the organization. This research explored the effects of service climate, resilience and workplace well-being (WWB) on service employee perceptions of subjective well-being and turnover intention. PERMA framework of individual flourishing and well-being (Seligman, 2011) was used to measure employee WWB and reflected their positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment. Design/methodology/approach Service employees ( n = 250) completed an online self-administered survey. partial least squares structural equation (PLS-SEM) modeling and multi-group analysis (PLS-MGA) were utilized to test how gender differences influenced personal and organizational factors, and their impacts on PERMA dimensions and outcomes. Findings Results revealed a significant effect of service climate and resilience on PERMA. Only service employee work-meaning positively influenced SWB and negatively turnover intention. Examining each dimension of employee engagement showed similar impacts of service climate and resilience for both men and women, while absorption increased turnover intention for men. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to test the PERMA framework as service employee WWB. The study advances the employee well-being line of research by exploring the impacts of service climate and resilience on PERMA dimensions. The PERMA framework was extended to examine three sub-dimensions of employee engagement as unique PERMA dimensions. This study advances the limited knowledge of how work and personal factors affect service employees’ work and subjective well-being from a gender perspective.