Internal service recovery: developing a new construct

This paper introduces the concept of "internal service recovery" defined as what the organisation does to make internal customers (front-line employee s), who have recovered external customers from service failure,feel less fr ustrated and more confident of their ability to deal with dissatisfied cust omers in the future. Internal service recovery often requires reducing empl oyees' feelings of low perceived control and helplessness. The results from an exploratory study of staff and managers in four branches of a UK bank s hows that although the concept and practice of external service recovery is well understood, internal recovery is not. It is suggested that the "tradi tional" ingredients of external recovery (response, information, action and compensation) may be appropriate for the internal customer. It is also sug gested that the passive, alienated employee behaviour associated with "lear ned helplessness" may need to be addressed through additional interventions . The purpose of the paper is to encourage both researchers and managers to examine how the effectiveness of internal service recovery affects externa l service recovery and the satisfaction of both employees and customers.