{
  "title": "Employee engagement and customer satisfaction: what research says",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/engagement-des-collaborateurs-et-satisfaction-client-ce-que-dit-la-recherche-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-08-20",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "The link between engaged teams and satisfied customers is often asserted. Research partly confirms it — with caveats on causal direction.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Client Reception",
  "place": {
    "name": "Geneva",
    "region": "Genève",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "The starting model",
      "point": "James Heskett and co-authors (1994, Harvard Business Review) propose the 'service-profit chain' linking internal satisfaction, service quality and loyalty."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Large-scale measurement",
      "point": "James Harter, Frank Schmidt and Theodore Hayes (2002, Journal of Applied Psychology) report, in a meta-analysis across thousands of units, a positive association between engagement and customer satisfaction."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The causal caveat",
      "point": "Pleasant customers can also make work more satisfying: the link may run both ways."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The limit of common practice",
      "point": "Scripting front-desk 'good phrases' without touching working conditions treats the visible symptom and leaves the likely cause intact.."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Geneva",
      "point": "Each quarter, measure a short engagement indicator and customer satisfaction for the same team, and see whether changes follow each other over time."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Hayes",
      "year": "2002",
      "source": "Journal of Applied Psychology"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 164,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-08-20-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/engagement-des-collaborateurs-et-satisfaction-client-ce-que-dit-la-recherche",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/engagement-des-collaborateurs-et-satisfaction-client-ce-que-dit-la-recherche-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/engagement-des-collaborateurs-et-satisfaction-client-ce-que-dit-la-recherche-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/engagement-des-collaborateurs-et-satisfaction-client-ce-que-dit-la-recherche-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/accueil-client/geneve",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/geneve",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}