The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between happiness at work and cross-selling performance in the banking sector. In addition, the mediating effect of service-skill use is analyzed in the relationship between happiness at work and performance. Confirmatory factor analysis is used by means of structural equation models to assess the relationship between happiness at work, service-skill use, and cross-selling performance. A sample of 492 financial service employees is examined. Results reveal that happiness at work positively and directly affects cross-selling performance. The study also shows that service-skill use plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between happiness at work and cross-selling performance. This research expands the theory of the happy productive worker perspective based on the job demands-resources model and defines and conceptualizes service-skill use. Employees who are happier at work cross-sell better, but their service-skill use mediates the effect of happiness at work on cross-selling performance.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the impact of high-involvement work systems (HIWS) on absorptive capacity. In addition, the mediating effect of happiness at work in the relationship between high-involvement work practices and absorptive capacity is analyzed.Design/methodology/approachA 2-1-2 bathtub multilevel mediation model was used to analyze a sample of 783 employees from 111 bank branches, gathering data at three different times.FindingsThe results reveal that HIWS positively affect absorptive capacity. In addition, they show that happiness at work partially mediates the relationship between HIWS and absorptive capacity.Originality/valueHappiness at work is a fundamental element for knowledge absorption. The findings support the basic assumptions of the job demands-resources model, and demonstrate how HIWS, acting as a job resource, lead to positive attitudes (happiness at work) and, in turn, to positive outcomes (absorptive capacity). The proposed HIWS, based on the assumptions of the mutual gains model, reveal a positive employment relationship with effects on both HAW and organizational outcomes. If organizations expose their employees to management practices that have specific benefits for their HAW, employees are more likely to perform their jobs in ways that will promote their absorptive capacity.

PurposeThis study explores the phenomenon of compassionate leadership, a promising concept in management literature. Despite significant contributions towards the understanding of its antecedents and consequences, the specific role of compassion concerning the leader behavior under extreme pressure remains unexplored.Design/methodology/approachDrawing empirically on the case of three banks under three different logics, the authors trace how heads of banking branches, namely, middle managers, deal with the paradoxical phenomenon of integrating their human nature with the coetaneous need to achieve aggressive objectives. The authors analyzed interviews using the interpretive research method (Hatch and Yanow, 2003).FindingsThe authors identified that the logic of savings banks and credit cooperatives, together with specific human elements, created a healthier environment to develop compassionate behaviors compared to commercial banks. The authors found coherence when linking the institutional message of putting the spotlight on a personalized treatment of customers, and the middle manager compassionate actions towards customers and subordinates.Research limitations/implicationsSuggestions for future theorizing and research are advanced, along with constructive practical implications to rehumanize the dark side of banking for both employees and customers.Originality/valueThe findings provided in this paper are original because they provide further evidence of linking business logics with compassionate leadership of middle managers and its impact on employees and customers.