Measuring Customer Service Orientation Using a Measure of Interpersonal Skills: A Preliminary Test in a Public Service Organization

Organizations are placing increased emphasis on identifying individuals with customer service orientation. In the present investigation we test whether interpersonal skills, as measured through Holland and Baird's (1968) Interpersonal Competence Scale, provides a narrow, yet valid, measure of customer service orientation. Data were collected from a sample of bus transit operators. Interpersonal skills was positively related to operator self-reported performance, but was not related to supervisor ratings or objective measures of performance. Implications for the study and use of broad versus narrowly defined personality constructs in organizational settings are discussed.