Employee responsibility and basic human values in the hospitality sector

This study attempts to investigate the connection between the personal value profile of different groups of hospitality employees (i.e., restaurant managers, chefs/cooks, waiters/bartenders, and kitchen helpers) and the magnitude of authority and responsibility in their positions using the analytical aspect of Schwartz’s (1992) theory in basic human values as the basis. A set of logistic regression models are created to provide support for the hypotheses related to such jobs with self-transcendence, self enhancement axis, and openness to change-conservation axis of Schwartz’s theory of basic human values and to achieve the objectives of the study. Our findings generally supported the hypothesized relationships between personal values and professional status of hospitality employees. Distinct relationships are manifested in jobs with higher professional status such as restaurant managers and chefs/cooks. The study aims to expand on the existing literature by exploring the human values in the hospitality sector.     

Big Five Personality Traits and Turnover Intention Among Thai Hotel Employees

This study hypothesized that the Big Five personality traits predicted turnover intention, and that hospitality competency and job satisfaction mediated the relationship of the Big Five personality traits to turnover intention among 183 Thai hotel employees. Regression analysis with bootstrapping was used to test the direct and mediation effects. Results supported two hypotheses: the Big Five personality traits negatively predicted turnover intention and job satisfaction mediated the relationship of the Big Five personality traits to turnover intention while hospitality competency did not. Thai hotel employees’ Big Five personality traits were related to their job satisfaction to predict their turnover intention.     

The effects of psychological capital,social capital,and human capital on hotel employees’ occupational stress and turnover intention

Occupational stress and turnover intention are a growing and costly concern for the hospitality industry. Drawing on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, the study developed a research model to simultaneously examine the effects of psychological capital, social capital, and human capital on occupational stress and turnover intention. A sample size of 380 hotel employees in China was used to test the proposed model using the PLS-SEM methodology. The results suggest that occupational stress plays a full mediator role between psychological capital and turnover intention, and plays a partial mediator role between relational social capital and turnover intention. Psychological capital and relational social capital were found to have relatively higher effects on occupational stress compared to other types of capital. The study extends JD-R theory by recognizing that occupational stress functions as a mediator between the three types of capital and turnover intention. The study concludes by offering a set of practical implications stemming from this research for hotel practitioners.     

An examination of social support and social identity factors and their relationship to certified chefs’ burnout

This study examined the relationship between certified chefs’ burnout and its antecedents and intention to turnover. Applying self-identity and social exchange theories, the authors examined organization-based self-esteem and perceived organizational support as determinants of burnout. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was modified and operationalized to measure chefs’ burnout and the Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire was used to measure intention to turnover. Data were collected from certified chef members of the American Culinary Federation. Using structural equation modeling, the researchers examined path relationship of organization-based self-esteem, perceived support, exhaustion, cynicism, inefficacy, and intention to turn over. This paper reports the results of principal components analysis and alternative structural equation models and the implication for owners, managers, and chefs.     

Linkages between creativity and intention to quit: An occupational study of chefs

Human resource issues persist as a vexation for tourism managers. Foodservice is a core component of many tourism destinations and attractions yet the foodservice labour market is historically volatile. This article reports on the findings of a job satisfaction survey of chefs working in Australia's tourism and hospitality industry. This study's aim is to determine empirically whether there is a positive relationship between creativity and job and occupational satisfaction. A customised instrument is designed to mitigate the shortcomings of generalising scale items and findings of generic job satisfaction surveys to a single occupation. This paper focuses on identifying a range of dimensions of job satisfaction and occupational attributes connected to creativity and its associated dimensions. Reliability and data reduction analyses were conducted to validate the construction of composite ‘creativity’ variables for the basis of further comparisons. The findings indicate that the sample ranks creativity more highly than working conditions and that there is a clear relationship between creativity and both organisational and occupational satisfaction. Results vary as a function of gender. In conclusion, theoretical and practical implications for occupational and tourism management are discussed.     

Perceived organizational diversity and employee behavior

While the impact of organizational diversity on employee work outcomes has received significant research attention, there is a dearth of literature in hospitality settings, particularly in Eastern cultures. Integrating the Social Identity Theory and diversity literature, this study, using data collected from 22 hotels in Taiwan, examined the relationship of perceived organizational diversity with Job Performance (JP), Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB) and Turnover Intention. The results indicated that the level of diversity perceived by hotel employees, significantly influenced employee JP and OCB. Ethnicity status also moderated the relationship between the perception of diversity levels and employee turnover intention. Specifically, a negative relationship between perceived diversity and turnover intention was observed among indigenous employees while a positive relationship was observed among non-indigenous employees.     

Revisiting hospitality's marginal worker thesis: A mono-occupational perspective

This article re-examines the literature on workplace deviance in the context of employment relations in the hospitality industry and presents data from a qualitative study. Intertwining various manifestations of deviance apparent in business management research, sociological literature and that reported in hospitality industry studies, this paper further applies these contexts to investigate the professional experiences of a sample of chefs from Australia. In summary, the findings suggest that while deviance, in its various forms, is an intrinsic occupational idiosyncrasy, and that deviant practices indeed are commonplace in the hospitality industry, workers within the industry are conscious of the negative effects these images have on occupational image. Structural shortcomings including organisational, occupational and industry regulation appear, at least partially, responsible for a cycle of deviance. These findings might assist researchers and practitioners in their endeavours given the efforts of industry leaders and hospitality educators to enhance and professionalise the industry's image.     

Turnover intention in the hospitality industry: A meta-analysis

This study meta-analytically examined 35 antecedents of turnover intention in the hospitality industry. Results based on 391 correlations from 144 independent studies indicated that work attitudes, job strains, and role stressors/interrole conflicts showed relatively large effects on turnover intention. Compared to the findings from previous meta-analyses in other industry contexts, burnout, role stressors/interrole conflicts, coworker support had stronger relationships with hospitality employees’ turnover intention. The results also showed some evidence of national cultures and job levels being the potential moderators of the relationships between turnover intention and its antecedents.     

Employee performance outcomes and burnout following the presentation-of-self in customer-service contexts

This study examines how emotional intelligence and occupational commitment have a moderating effect on the relationship between emotional labour and its potential outcomes. Two acting strategies reflect emotional labour, namely surface and deep acting, with burnout and performance as the prospective outcomes. Burnout is operationalized into emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and diminished personal achievement; whereas performance is operationalized into task performance and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The study investigates employee responses from several tourism and hospitality organizations in Florida, USA. The results show that emotional labour relates most positively to task performance and to burnout in the case of surface acting. Tests of moderation show that occupational commitment enhances performance outcomes by facilitating emotional labour strategies, and the prevalence of higher emotional intelligence amongst employees reduces burnout. These findings contribute to the literature on emotional labour by incorporating emotional intelligence and occupational commitment as moderators and by incorporating OCBs within performance analyses.     

The effects of mentoring on role stress,job attitude,and turnover intention in the hotel industry

In response to a dearth of mentoring studies in the hospitality literature, this study develops and tests a research model to investigate the influence of mentoring functions on role stress, job attitude, and turnover intention in the hotel industry. The data were collected from employees who had experienced mentoring programs at super-deluxe hotels in South Korea. This study conceptualized mentoring activity as having three main functions, including career development, psychosocial support, and role modeling. Structural equation model (SEM) analyses were used to explore the statistical significance of the paths between these functions and the main outcome variables. The psychosocial support function showed a significant relationship with all variables in the model (i.e., a positive effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment, but a negative effect on role conflict, role ambiguity, and turnover intention). The relationships were not significant between the career development function and role ambiguity, between role modeling and role ambiguity, or between role ambiguity and turnover intention. The results will enable a better understanding of the effects of hotel mentoring programs and indicate directions for improving their outcomes. The findings can help hotel managers in developing more effective mentoring programs.     

Consumer aggression and frontline employees’ turnover intention: The role of job anxiety,organizational support,and obligation feeling

In the hospitality industry, frontline employees' turnover poses a challenge because it involves immense human and financial costs. This study innovates by investigating the impact of consumer aggression on frontline employees' turnover intention using conservation of resources and social exchange theories. A survey conducted with 300 frontline employees working for 15 hotels confirms that (1) their job anxiety mediates the relationship between their perceived consumer aggression and their intent to quit; (2) their perceived organizational support reduces the positive relationship between their perceived consumer aggression and their job anxiety; and (3) their felt obligation reduces the positive relationship between their job anxiety and their intent to quit. We discuss managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions.     

Employees intent to leave: A comparison of determinants of intent to leave versus intent to stay

The purpose of the study is to examine whether the predictors that decrease employee intention to leave will also increase employees’ intention to stay. Therefore, the objective of the study is twofold: (1) to examine the influence of perceived organizational support, perceived supervisors’ support, and organizational commitment regarding intent to leave and (2) to investigate the influence of the same variables on intent to stay. A total of 416 hospitality employees in the U.S. participated. The results suggest that perceived organizational support and organizational commitment decreased intent to leave while only perceived organizational support had a positive impact on intention to stay. Implications detail ways that hospitality organizations can focus on increasing their employees’ commitment through perceived organizational support as a critical component of turnover culture.     

COVID-19 and unpaid leave: Impacts of psychological contract breach on organizational distrust and turnover intention: Mediating role of emotional exhaustion

This study examines the influence of COVID-19 on unpaid leave, the direct impacts of psychological contract breach on organizational distrust and turnover intention, and their indirect impact through emotional exhaustion. The study used partial least squares to analyze the data set of 238 questionnaires from hospitality establishments. Results indicate a significant direct positive impact of psychological contract breach on organizational distrust and favorable indirect effects through emotional exhaustion. However, psychological contract breach had no direct effects on turnover intention. The study has equally found the positive effect of organizational distrust on turnover intention. The research provides both theoretical and practical implications and suggests areas for further studies.     

“He just didn’t seem to understand the banter”: Bullying or simply establishing social cohesion?

Within the professional kitchen bullying is reported as widespread, aggressive and related to a significant retention problem. This research explores negative behaviour in professional kitchens and its impact on organisational commitment. A mixed methods approach is used employing a survey among chefs followed by semi-structured interviews. An exploratory factor analysis examines the underlying constructs of bullying and job satisfaction and data are analysed through Partial Least Squares. Our research highlights that bullying behaviour is experienced most by younger, more junior chefs. However verbal bullying, the form most strongly reported, has no effect on either satisfaction or commitment. Emergent themes of communication and inclusion illustrate bullying behaviour to be a cohesive aspect of kitchen culture. Our findings suggest behavioural impacts, rather than bullying characteristics, must be considered within their context in order to establish whether or not they are actually damaging to an industry.     

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.     

Celebrity chef adoption and implementation of social media,particularly pinterest: A diffusion of innovations approach

Pinterest research is beginning to emerge, in part due to the importance of visually stimulating photos within hospitality and tourism. Photos are popular with many chefs for marketing, with some actively using Pinterest and other social media. Some of the world’s top celebrity chefs are a growing phenomenon as influential leaders of their personal brand as well as other goods, services, and causes. This research reports on a pilot study of how celebrity chefs have adopted and implemented social media, especially Pinterest, using the Diffusion of Innovations as a theoretical framework. The study found that of the top 48 chefs, all adopted Facebook, closely followed by 47 adopting Twitter; just 17 adopted Pinterest. The chefs’ social media and Pinterest implementation varied widely. This study sheds insights about social media, particularly Pinterest, extends innovation diffusion research, and serves as a base for future research of both celebrity chefs and social media.     

Hospitality management study programme and students’ perceptions: universities in South Africa

This study using a questionnaire survey of 200 hospitality management students in two South African Universities assessed the perceptions of these students towards their study programme, the support they get while studying, and their intention to work in the hospitality sector over the long-term. Results from data analyses indicate that the students are generally satisfied with their study and would recommend hospitality management as a study programme to friends and relatives. Many of them also expressed the desire to work in the hospitality sector over the long-term. Their major concerns towards their study are in the areas of inadequacy of the hospitality management curriculum to address their study needs, the fear that fulfilling jobs will not be available for them after graduation, and their lack of knowledge regarding public and private funding for hospitality entrepreneurship activities. This study therefore calls on hospitality management study programme managers in South Africa to include entrepreneurship courses that address how graduates can source public or private funds to start up their own hospitality businesses, to decrease dependence on employers. Graduates with comprehensive and integrated knowledge of the hospitality sector operations and opportunities will not have fear of getting jobs and performing well in the sector.     

The future of the chef occupation and the food and beverage sector after the COVID-19 outbreak: Opinions of Turkish chefs

The aim of the present study is to reveal the opinions of the chefs who working as a manager in the kitchen department within the food and beverage sector about what changes might have occurred in their occupation and food and beverage sector after the COVID-19 outbreak. The data were collected through online interview forms and content analysis was used as a data analysis method. The findings reveal three main categories: general opinions after the COVID-19 outbreak, changes that could occur in the food and beverage sector after COVID-19 outbreak, and thoughts for the future of the chef occupation after the COVID-19 outbreak. Since this paper is the first to reveal the opinions of the chefs about what changes might have occurred in their occupation and food and beverage sector after the COVID-19 outbreak, and no similar study could be found in the existing literature, these findings are original.     

Hospitality Culture and Climate: A Proposed Model for Retaining Employees and Creating Competitive Advantage

In order to gain competitive advantage, companies must determine the relationship between human resource practices and firm performance. This conceptual article proposes a model that highlights the importance of selecting people who “fit” within the organizational culture and climate of the firm. The authors propose combining established scales of hospitality culture and climate in order to assess a candidate's fit to the organization. Ideally, these people would be more hospitality service oriented and could foster the “spirit of hospitality” through the organization and thus, on to the customer. Hiring the right people will also lead to increased organizational commitment, consequently, reducing turnover levels. This in turn will lead to higher service levels, increased customer satisfaction, and loyalty.     

Job involvement,commitment, satisfaction and turnover: Evidence from hotel employees in Cyprus

The study of attitudes at work seeks to enhance organizational knowledge and capabilities in developing an ‘ideal’ working environment that delivers exceptional customer service. The current study investigates the causal relationships of job involvement, organizational commitment (normative and affective), and job satisfaction (intrinsic and extrinsic), with the intention of hospitality employees in Cyprus to either remain at or leave their job. Utilizing structural equation modeling, positive associations were found between job involvement, affective and normative commitment, and intrinsic job satisfaction. Positive associations between affective and normative organizational commitment, and intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction were also found. In addition, negative associations between affective organizational commitment, extrinsic job satisfaction and turnover intention were revealed. However, a negative association between intrinsic job satisfaction and turnover intention was not supported. The implications of these results for future research are also discussed.