Structuring a Training-Oriented High Performance Work System: A Systematic Review on Frontline Employees in the Service Sector

Abstract

Given the service sector’s inherent dynamism, organizations ultimately rely on their employees’ and managers’ knowledge, skills, and capabilities to complete tasks for their clients. However, the lack of pragmatic guidance for human resource development (HRD) professionals in the literature on a training-oriented high performance work system (HPWS) for frontline employees (FLE) justifies this study’s systemization of context-specific dimensions and implementation drivers. A systematic review in the period of 2008 to 2018 identified 185 potential articles, which, after a thorough content investigation, resulted in 90 papers that substantiated the proposal of 5 dimensions and 14 drivers for this particular HPWS. This paper’s main scientific contribution is the promotion of a better understanding of the conceptual work on the theme through a structured overview. The systemization of unprecedented dimensions and drivers of a training-oriented HPWS for FLE allows HRD professionals to efficiently plan their initiatives. It constitutes this article’s novelty and central applied contribution.