Health and safety climates: influences on engagement and retention for frontline service employees

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the effects of perceived organizational health climate (POHC) and perceived organizational safety climate (POSC) on work engagement and turnover intention among frontline service employees (FLEs). Specifically, this research explores how POHC and POSC, individually and interactively, influence their turnover intention through work engagement. This study addresses the gap in the literature by highlighting the importance of integrated health and safety climates on service outcomes in the service industry, aligning with the Total Worker Health movement, which has not yet been explored in the service industry. Design/methodology/approach The study employed two-wave data collection to separate independent variables (POSC and POHC) and a mediator (work engagement) from a dependent variable (turnover intention). Participants were working for diverse service organizations in South Korea. Among 635 full-time FLEs, 301 finished both T1 and T2 surveys. Findings POHC reduced turnover intention among FLEs through work engagement, while POSC was non-significant in the proposed relationship. However, POSC was shown to strengthen the positive effect of POHC on work engagement and the indirect negative effect of POHC on turnover intention via work engagement, verifying the significance of Total Worker Health in the service industry. Originality/value This study explored the effects of POSC and POHC, and total health on FLE work motivation and turnover intention – topics that have thus far been neglected in the service literature.