Investigating employees' deviant work behavior in the hotel industry during COVID-19: Empirical evidence from an emerging country

Employees in the hotel industry are among the most vulnerable groups that have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Anchored on the general strain theory, transactional theory of stress and coping, and theory of justice, this study investigates the mechanism through which hotel employees' perceived job insecurity affects their deviant work behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey method was used to collect three-wave sample data from 988 hotel employees in popular tourist destinations in Vietnam. Multivariate data analysis reveals a positive relationship between perceived job insecurity and deviant work behavior, and this relationship is mediated by psychological distress. Furthermore, abusive supervision positively moderates the association between psychological distress–deviant work behavior and the indirect influence of perceived job insecurity on deviant work behavior through psychological distress. These findings are useful for hotel managers seeking to manage and develop employees in a global health crisis such as COVID-19.     

Depletion of psychological,financial, and social resources in the hospitality sector during the pandemic

This study details how psychological, financial, and social factors shape employee deviant interpersonal behaviors during a pandemic. Data were collected with a survey of 372 front-line employees of hotels and analyzed with PLS-SEM. The findings showed social disconnectedness and perceived risk of unemployment leads to perceived isolation, which further creates depression in employees. The findings also showed that depression is positively related to employee deviance. Financial strain is a major cause of perceived isolation, depression, and deviant behaviors among front-line employees. Results also proved that social support reduces fear of isolation, depression, and employee deviance. This study provides guidelines that hotels need to understand the psychological stance of employees and design policies to overcome employee perceived fears and psychological disorders.     

Do job insecurity,anxiety and depression caused by the COVID-19 pandemic influence hotel employees’ self-rated task performance? The moderating role of employee resilience

The COVID-19 health disaster has had a dramatic impact on the global hospitality industry, affecting millions of people. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of job insecurity on hotel employees’ anxiety and depression, and whether these psychological strains could influence employees’ self-rated task performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examine the moderating role of hotel employees’ resilience in this context.The hypotheses were examined by collecting data from 353 hotel employees currently working in the Canary Islands (Spain). The results highlight the significant effects of job insecurity on employees’ anxiety and depression levels. However, hotel employees’ task performance was not affected by their job insecurity or by their anxiety and depression. In addition, employees’ resilience has a moderating effect as it reduces the negative influence of job insecurity on depression. Finally, the discussion section sets out various theoretical and practical implications of the findings.     

Organizational injustice and emotional labor of hotel front-line employees

Using equity and appraisal theories to integrate four dimensions of organizational justice and emotional labor, this study examines effects of organizational injustice and emotional labor. Perceptions of front-line hotel employees of customer injustice (interpersonal and informational), procedural and distributive injustice and their perceived effect on employees’ emotional labor and subsequent job satisfaction were examined. Our finding suggests the distributive injustice had an effect on hotel employees’ emotional labor, while effects of informational and procedural injustice on emotional labor were moderated by gender.     

What influences company attachment and job performance in the COVID-19 era?: Airline versus hotel employees

Airline and hotel employees are experiencing multiple forms of precariousness amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which have increased workers' distrust of their respective airline/hotel businesses and affected job performance and retention. This research builds and tests two sturdy theoretical frameworks to explain airline and hotel employees' job performance and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The frameworks, developed using a quantitative method, adequately account for employees' company attachment and job performance by using their perceived job insecurity, life satisfaction, and job satisfaction as the key antecedents; while employees' perceived job insecurity influences the formation of attachment to the company and job performance. The mediating nature of life and job satisfaction is also examined alongside the moderating role of two different industry types (airline versus hotel). The results show that the process of generating job performance differs between airline and hotel employee groups. The research implications and value are discussed.     

A study of critical factors of the job involvement for hotel employees—Taking hotels in Taiwan as an example

The selection of staff is always a critical success factor for managers in the hospitality service sector. This work focuses on the front-line employees and supervisors of international tourist hotels as the study subjects to explore the direct effects of the individual guanxi networks and POS (perceived organizational support) of hotel staff on their job involvement, and examines the indirect effects of these via personality characteristics. For this paper, questionnaire surveys were utilized; 246 questionnaires returned, of which 221 were deemed valid samples appropriate for further analysis. Reliability analysis, EFA, CFA, and SEM were used to examine the data.     

Facial attractiveness and stereotypes of hotel guests: An experimental research

The purpose of this research was to determine social interaction between hospitality employees and their guests, and consequently assess how front-line employees categorize and stereotype hotel guests based on their facial attractiveness with reference to three main characteristics. Social stereotypes represent a means of information transmission in the communication process and can enable a more rapid transfer of information during the service delivery in the hospitality industry. The experimental research was conducted with 113 hospitality employees at seven hospitality organizations on the Slovenian coast. The results showed a correlation between the perception of hotel guests' facial attractiveness with their assumed characteristics that can lead to stereotyping. Hotel employees often link the guest's facial attractiveness with three common perceived characteristics – guests' propensity to spend, guests' predisposition to being demanding and guests' ‘kindness’, and tend to stereotype them on the same basis. These research findings contribute to a better understanding of the complex interactions that occur during a service encounter and show how facial attractiveness of guests plays an important role in the construction of stereotypes by the hospitality employees.     

A diary study of work consequences for hotel employees victimized by supervisor from a demand-resource perspective on employee emotions

How would perceiving oneself as a victim of abusive supervisor behavior affect one’s work attitudes? This study examines the mediating role of emotional change on the detrimental work outcomes caused by hotel employees’ perceived victim identity. It further investigates how emotional exhaustion moderates the relationship between perceived victim identity and two outcome variables, daily job satisfaction and work engagement. The research hypotheses were tested by a multi-level analysis (cf., hierarchical linear modeling) using a sample of 128 hotel employees in China who took surveys twice per day over 14 consecutive days. The findings show that emotional change significantly mediates the negative effect of hotel employees’ perceived victim identity on their work attitudes, and emotional exhaustion moderates this effect such that higher exhaustion exacerbates the negative relationship. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings for hospitality researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Reducing perceived health risk to attract hotel customers in the COVID-19 pandemic era: Focused on technology innovation for social distancing and cleanliness

As an essential risk-reduction strategy, technology innovation is likely to play a key role in the hotel industry’s recovery from the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. However, its impact on customer decision-making behavior is unknown. Focusing on technology innovation for reducing guest interaction with employees and enhancing cleanliness, the purpose of this research was to examine the impact of expected interaction and expected cleanliness on perceived health risk and hotel booking intention. Three experimental studies were conducted using online consumer samples. The studies found that low levels of expected interaction through technology-mediated systems lead to low levels of perceived health risk. Perceived health risk mediates the relationship between expected interaction and hotel booking intention. In addition, high levels of expected cleanliness through advanced cleaning technologies moderate the impacts of expected interaction on perceived health risk. Importantly, the proposed perceived risk mechanism was effective in post-pandemic scenarios. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

饭店业员工过度劳动的实证分析与管理

近年来,过度劳动问题已严重影响到人们的工作生活和健康。文章以山东省饭店业为例,对员工的过度劳动状况进行调查。基于因子分析结果,从员工的生理表现、工作状态、行为反应3个维度14项指标进行过度劳动的方差分析。结果表明,饭店员工的过劳程度总体呈现中等偏上的水平,其中,性别、年龄、职位层级不同,过度劳动的生理表现差异性显著;受教育程度、工作年限、职位层级、饭店星级的不同,过度劳动的工作状态差异性显著;性别和受教育程度的不同,过度劳动的行为反应差异性显著。在分析结论的基础上,提出过度劳动两大系统6个层面的有效管理系统。     

Drivers of hotel employee’s voice behavior: A moderated mediation model

This study developed and tested a moderated mediation model for examining the relationships among person-organization fit (P-O fit), employee voice, employees’ perceived nature of the work and employees’ perceived functional quality of their services. Using 265 frontline employees from several 3 star hotels in Taiwan, the analytical results show that P-O fit is positively related to employee voice, and that employees’ perceived nature of the work mediates the positive relationship between these two variables. The analytical results also show that employees’ perceived functional quality of their services moderates the direct effect of P-O fit on employees’ perceived nature of the work, as well as the indirect effect of P-O fit on employee voice via employees’ perceived nature of the work. Theoretical and practical implications for the hospitality literature and hotel practitioners are discussed herein.     

Sensing the virus. How social capital enhances hoteliers’ ability to cope with COVID-19

In this study, we propose a broad conceptual model that incorporates social capital dimensions and problem-solving routines to understand the determinants behind hotel managements’ perception of and ability to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic—and thus, to innovate their service offering. We provide empirical support for the notion that, due to uncertainty about reopening after lockdown, the hospitality sector has found existing problem-solving routines to be of little use. Although the local community has been unable to form a shared vision around the pandemic, hoteliers have nevertheless relied on their network of relationships to sense the crisis and find their own ways to adapt. Interestingly, we find that overreliance on trustworthy relationships can diminish the ability to sense a crisis objectively. Our results not only shed light on sensemaking in the hotel industry, but also grapple with the theoretical nature of sensemaking as a socially constructed process.     

Why is hospitality employees’ psychological capital important? The effects of psychological capital on work engagement and employee morale

This study examines work engagement as a partial mediator of the effect of psychological capital (PsyCap) on employee morale in a sample of hotel employees. A survey was carried out with 312 front-line staff from 15 five-star hotels in Seoul, Korea. A one-month time-lag design (Time 1: PsyCap and work engagement; Time 2: employee morale) was used to reduce potential common method bias. The hypothesized relationships in the model were tested using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that work engagement partially mediates the effect of PsyCap on job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. Specifically, front-line employees with high PsyCap are more engaged with their work and more likely to display job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. The study concludes with a discussion of its empirical findings, strengths, theoretical contributions, and practical implications. Limitations and their implications for future studies are also reviewed.     

Government and social trust vs. hotel response efficacy: A protection motivation perspective on hotel stay intention during the COVID-19 pandemic

Based on protection motivation theory (PMT), this study conceptualizes a research framework to explain and examine customer intentions regarding hotel stays during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 700 U.S. consumers via a crowdsourcing website in July 2020. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data for testing proposed hypotheses. The analytical results showed that the level of threat perceived by customers significantly reduced their intention to stay at a hotel. On the contrary, individual customer response efficacy significantly enhanced their intention to stay at a hotel. Additionally, both government and social trust, as well as hotel response efficacy, were found to significantly increase hotel stay intention by mediating the effects of threat perception and individual response efficacy. To the best of our knowledge, this study is one of the first attempts to apply PMT to explain customer hotel stay intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic.     

When does an employee not help coworkers? The effect of leader–member exchange on employee envy and organizational citizenship behavior

Using a sample of 233 front-line hotel employees, we examined leader–member exchange (LMX), envy, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The results from path analysis support the research model that employees who have a relatively poor working relationship with their supervisor (i.e., low-quality LMX relationship) were more likely to show higher levels of envy than employees who have relatively closer working relationships with the same supervisor (i.e., high-quality LMX relationship). Ultimately, higher levels of envy decreased employee voluntary helping behavior (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior, OCB) toward coworkers. This finding suggests that employees perceiving a poor working relationship with their supervisor committed less voluntary helping behavior toward coworkers than their counterparts. Implications for managers and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Career resilience of the tourism and hospitality workforce in the COVID-19: The protection motivation theory perspective

By applying the protection motivation theory, the study aims to investigate factors influencing tourism and hospitality (T&H) workers' career resilience when faced with health-related risks at work during a pandemic. Data were collected from 495 part-time and full-time employees in the Vietnamese tourism and hospitality sector. The study found that workers' perceived vulnerability and perceived severity of the pandemic were positively associated with career resilience. Perceived severity was positively related to self-efficacy and response efficacy, while perceived vulnerability was positively associated with self-efficacy only. Both self-efficacy and response efficacy positively influenced career resilience through the mediating role of health risk preventative behavior. Theoretically, the study advances the stream of research in resilience in general and career resilience in particular among T&H workers when faced with a health-related crisis. Practical implications are provided with recommendations on how to facilitate career resilience among T&H employees working in the current high-risk environment.     

The COVID-19 pandemic: The mitigating role of government and hotel support of hotel employees in Egypt

We investigated the effect of government support of hotels on hotels' employee support (namely, health support, staff retention, and staff training) and consequently on employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment, through the moderating role of perceived overall organizational justice and ethical climate, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a quantitative approach and a framework that drew on the stakeholder and organizational support theories, we collected data from 669 employees in Egyptian hotels through a web-based survey. The results support the proposed framework and show a positive effect of government support through the strengthened perception of perceived overall organizational justice. Surprisingly, findings indicated that the association between job satisfaction and organizational commitment is significantly and negatively influenced by hotel ethical climate. Furthermore, job satisfaction partially mediates the association between hotels’ support of employees and organizational commitment. The study holds important implications for both theory and practice.     

Constraints to attracting new hotel workers: A study on industrial recruitment

The global hospitality and tourism industry is not only burdened with high turnover rates but also may soon be in the throes of a labor shortage. As such, a better understanding of industry employment perceptions has become a critical issue for hospitality managers. Of particular concern are the perceptions of those potential employees that do not have prior employment experience in the hospitality industry. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to consider perceptions of hotel employment among the segment of the potential employee population that has no current or past experience working in hotels. Per the tenets of Constraint Theory, perceptions of pay, promotion opportunities, work-to-life conflict, and workplace-induced isolation are proposed to significantly affect potential employees’ attitudes toward hotel employment. In turn, these attitudes are proposed to affect both intention to apply for hotel work and the intention to recommend applying for hotel work to others.     

How Does the Work Status Affect Employees’ Job Attitude and Behavior in the Hotel Industry?

The study focuses on how work status impacts employees’ perception of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance in the hotel industry. Also, it explores whether supervisors perceive employees’ job attitudes and behavior in the same way as they perceive. Data were collected from a self-administered survey for five-star hotel employees and supervisors in Seoul, South Korea. A total of 335 valid responses were collected from 280 employees and 65 supervisors and analyzed by using structural equation modeling. The results of the study indicated that nonstandard employees expressed higher job satisfaction and higher organizational commitment but perceived lower job performance than standard employees did. Work status had no significant moderating effect on the relationships between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance; however, the results of this study indicated that supervisors’ perceptions of nonstandard employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance were quite different from those of the nonstandard employees themselves. This study suggests that hotel operators should develop strategies to fully utilize nonstandard employees who reveal potential for quality service to guests.     

The impact of hotel CSR for strategic philanthropy on booking behavior and hotel performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some hotels have engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to help overcome the crisis. Given that most existing research examines the impact of hotel CSR on a single stakeholder, how hotel CSR activities in a crisis are perceived by multiple stakeholders is unknown. Drawing on the concept of strategic philanthropy, this study examines the impact of hotel CSR activities during the pandemic, such as providing accommodations to healthcare workers, on hotel firms' market value and prospective hotel customers’ booking behavior. Adopting mixed-methods approach, this study finds negative impacts of hotel CSR for strategic philanthropy on firm market value and customer booking behavior. The study result indicates that the value of hotel CSR depends on the nature and environmental contexts of CSR. Specific theoretical and practical implications are provided.