Manager leadership skills and organizational support for training: A correlational study

The purpose of the quantitative correlational research study was to determine, through one multiple linear regression analysis, if front-line employees' perception of managers' leadership skills and the perceptions of organizational support for training were significantly associated with customer service provision skills. The participants consisted of 110 Civilian Personnel Advisory Center (CPAC) customer-service front-line professionals on military installations in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas who completed a self-reporting survey. The major finding of the study was that only one supervisory leadership skill, leading by example, was significantly associated with front-line staff's self-reported customer service provision skills. As CPAC front-line staff's perceptions of supervisor leading by example behaviors increased, so did his or her perceived skills in customer service. Results from the study showed that perceived organizational support for job training was not significantly associated with perceived customer service provision skills. However, an unexpected finding in the study was that front-line staff, regardless of gender or ethnicity, perceived male supervisors as having higher levels of transformational leadership skills as compared to female supervisors. The research findings could possibly be more interesting if front-line staff perceptions of supervisor leadership were known to be influenced by staff/supervisor gender and ethnicity interactions. The perceived lack of organizational support for employee work needs is very concerning and draws attention to the need to better understand how organizational leaders can best support and advocate for his or her employees in the trenches.