Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of job burnout on front-line employee performance in the banking industry. Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyzes questionnaires reporting on levels of exhaustion and disengagement (key features of burnout) together with hope and in-role and extra-role performance, completed by customer-facing employees of 15 banks in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Findings – Hope is such a small word, but such an important one. It can be the difference between finding a way to make something happen or deciding that nothing you do will help. The difference between “having a go” or giving up. In addition, when front-line employees in so many service settings face an increasingly challenging environment, maybe hope is also the difference between job burnout and continuing to do the job well. Practical implications – This paper demonstrates that that burnout is significantly related to in-role and extra-role job performance for front-line bank staff. It also shows that hope moderates these relationships. Social implications – This paper focusses on situations where interactions between staff and customers are important to business success. It also suggests that the effects of burnout can be reduced and performance improved by recruiting staff with positive psychological traits such as hope. Original/value – This paper is believed to be the first empirical research in the banking services industry on the effects of job burnout on extra-role performance, investigating the moderating effects of hope as a personal resource.