dc.contributor.author	Ward, Justin M.
dc.coverage.spatial	United States	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2021-04-08T20:26:38Z
dc.date.available	2021-04-08T20:26:38Z
dc.date.issued	2021-02
dc.identifier.other	335B5475-6550-72BD-43F1-08088226D14B	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10428/4722
dc.description.abstract	An ongoing challenge at U.S. federal agencies is to determine the most effective use of limited funds to successfully deliver services to customers. This public administration challenge is particularly troublesome in the current environment of federal budget cuts and rising customer expectations, especially in nonappropriated federal agencies. One opportunity for federal managers lies in their ability to foster supportive office environments in which employees feel psychologically safe to take risks, admit mistakes, and voice dissent. Research suggests these supportive environments can lead to increased levels of employee engagement. Further research suggests that increased levels of employee engagement can positively influence customer satisfaction. This study proposed and tested in a large federal agency a hypothesized correlation between the perception of psychological safety and customer satisfaction as mediated by employee engagement. The results indicate a positive, statistically significant relationship between federal employees’ perception of psychological safety and customer satisfaction at the office level, as partially mediated by employee engagement. These results supported the hypotheses and may serve to improve the appreciation in agencies and federal managers for the role that supportive office environments in which employees feel psychologically safe to take risks, admit mistakes, and voice dissent play in employee engagement and ultimately customer satisfaction. Keywords: Psychological Safety; Employee Engagement; Customer Satisfaction; Federal Government; Mediation Analysis; Public Administration;	en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents	List of Tables vi -- List of Figures vii -- Acknowledgements viii -- Dedication ix -- Chapter I: Introduction 1 -- Importance of the Research Topic 7 -- Contribution to the Field 10 -- Problem Statement 11 -- Research Questions 12 -- Summary 13 -- Chapter II: Literature Review 15 -- Theory Base for the Research 15 -- Organizational Support Theory. 15 -- Employee Satisfaction Trajectory Theory 18 -- Research on Study Variables 22 -- Psychological Safety 22 -- Employee Engagement 30 -- Customer Satisfaction 35 -- Support for a Mediated Relationship Between Psychological Safety and Customer Satisfaction 39 -- Study Hypotheses. 41 -- Key Definitions 42 -- Summary 45 -- Chapter III: Methodology 47 -- Research Approach 47 -- Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey 48 -- Psychological Safety Scores 49 -- Employee Engagement Scores 54 -- Leaders Lead 55 -- Supervisors 56 -- Intrinsic Work Experience 56 -- Customer Loyalty Survey 56 -- Internal Partner Satisfaction Survey 58 -- Operationalization of Variables 60 -- Mediation Analysis 62 -- Limitations 65 -- Contributions to Knowledge 66 -- Summary 67 -- Chapter IV: Results 68 -- Collected Data 68 -- Survey Demographics 68 -- Survey Results Analysis 70 -- Descriptive Data. 72 -- Results Summary 73 -- Summary of Effects 78 -- Statistical Validity Threats 79 -- Comparison of Back Office and Front Office Analyses 80 -- Office-Level Survey Results Analysis 81 -- Office-Level Results Summary 82 -- Chapter V: Discussion 85 -- Data Analysis 85 -- Research Question 1 86 -- Research Question 2 89 -- Research Question 3 91 -- Research Question 4 93 -- Interpretation of the Findings 96 -- Theoretical Implications 97 -- Practical Implications. 98 -- Assumptions and Limitations 99 -- Assumptions 99 -- Limitations 100 -- Delimitations 100 -- Recommendations 101 -- Recommendations for the Federal Practitioner Community 101 -- Recommendations for the Federal Community 103 -- Recommendations for Future Academic Research 104 -- Conclusion 105 -- References 107 -- Appendix A: VSU Institutional Review Board Exemption Report 147 -- Appendix B: CITI Certificate 149	en_US
dc.format.extent	1 electronic document (PDF/A), 163 pages. 1308875 bytes.	en_US
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.rights	This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.	en_US
dc.subject	Dissertations, Academic--United States	en_US
dc.subject	Consumer satisfaction	en_US
dc.subject	Federal government--Officials and employees	en_US
dc.subject	Federal government	en_US
dc.subject	Mediation (Statistics)	en_US
dc.subject	Public administration	en_US
dc.title	The Mediating Role of Employee Engagement on the Relationship Between Psychological Safety Perceived by Federal Employees and Customer Satisfaction	en_US
dc.type	Dissertation	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Department of Political Science of the College of Humanities & Social Sciences	en_US
dc.description.advisor	Jha, Nandan K.
dc.description.committee	Banerjee, Neena
dc.description.committee	Thomas, M. Blair
dc.description.degree	D.P.A.	en_US
dc.description.major	Public Administration	en_US