Abstract:

Customer experience management as the current peak in the area of modern customer-centric marketing is challenging companies to effectively manage factors influencing customer experience creation with the promise of achieving differentiation and competitive advantage. On the contrary, human resource management is currently embracing employee-centricity with increased focus on employee’s competencies, their development and activities such as knowledge and talent management.

The aim of this research is to find touch points between the marketing approach of customer experience management and human resource theme of employee competencies, then to identify key aspects of competence for customer experience oriented front-line employees and potential avenues for further research. The research is primarily based on the review of literature on competencies, and analysis and synthesis of 139 customer experience related research papers, complemented by the analysis of field notes from the field research on customer experience in the city transportation.

The literature review revealed 14 factors influencing overall competence of the employee (knowledge, skills, attitudes, behavior, abilities, motives, values, qualities, talents, experiences, self-knowledge, traits, social role, personality), the analysis and synthesis of 139 research papers revealed 5 main aspect groups (skill/knowledge/competence/expertise, attitude/behavior/action, company-related, service-related, relational) of the employees influencing customer experience, and the content analysis of field notes revealed 9 characteristics (communicativeness, look, attitude, assurance behavior, professionalism, skill, knowledge, adaptation, friendliness) of the city transportation front-line employees that influence customer experience.