Document Type

Honors Thesis

Publication Date

Fall 12-2019

Abstract

This pilot study seeks to answer if customer harassment training can influence server's turnover intentions. My research question was formed from the lack of literature surrounding customer-perpetrated sexual harassment. The articles that do address this phenomenon explain the disruptions it causes in the workplace along with the detrimental effects it has on the employees. Through this research I came up with the question: Can training restaurant servers on managing customer harassment influence turnover intentions? This was a mixed-method study that included five semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire. The women I interviewed dealt with customer sexual harassment either daily or weekly which exhausted them emotionally. The five women dealt with this type of customer behavior informally. Furthermore, the participants of this study spoke of the importance of management involvement in an organization. The participants (36) in the questionnaire discussed that workplace policy is helpful, more so than training. Management involvement and workplace policy that addresses customer perpetrated harassment were found to be the two most important factors in limiting employee turnover intentions as well as keeping employees happy.

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