Situational and personal factors influencing hospitality employee engagement in value co-creation

This study explores the situational and personal factors affecting hospitality employees’ engagement in the co-creation of value. The concept of value co-creation emerged from the general co-creation literature, and little research has assessed how situational and personal factors enhance our understanding of value creation. To explore these underlying factors, a qualitative study involving in-depth and focus group interviews was conducted at three luxury hotels in Hong Kong and Macao. The research findings indicate five situational factors and five personal factors impact cocreated value for hotel guests in the luxury sector. Insights are provided into the potential use of these factors to better manage employee engagement and the customer experience to facilitate value co-creation. The implications of the study and directions for future research are discussed.     

The influence of exploitative leadership on hospitality employees’ green innovative behavior: A moderated mediation model

Growing awareness of environmental sustainability in the hospitality sector has made employee green innovative behavior an important element of their establishment’s performance. Drawing from ego depletion theory, this paper aims to study how and when exploitative leadership influences hospitality employees’ green innovative behavior. We collected data from 467 full-time hospitality employees and their direct leaders in 96 teams, and examined a cross-level moderated mediation model employing multilevel path analysis. The results showed that exploitative leadership in the hospitality sector negatively associates with hospitality employees’ green innovative behavior, mediated by their emotional exhaustion. The results further showed that perceived organizational support moderates the influence of exploitative leadership on emotional exhaustion and subsequent green innovative behavior. Implications for theory and practice in the hospitality sector are discussed.     

The impact of exploitative leadership on frontline hospitality employees’ service performance: A social exchange perspective

Based on social exchange theory, we investigate the impact of perceived exploitative leadership on frontline hospitality employees’ service performance. A three-phase analysis of 207 supervisor–subordinate dyads from three hotels in China demonstrates that exploitative leadership has a negative effect on frontline hospitality employees’ service performance. Furthermore, leader−member exchange (LMX) plays a mediating role in the relationship between exploitative leadership and employee service performance. Moderated path analyses indicate that traditionality weakens the direct influence of exploitative leadership on LMX and an indirect influence of exploitative leadership on employee service performance through reduced LMX. We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Using ethical leadership to reduce job stress and improve performance quality in the hospitality industry

Given an increased call for examining ethics in the hospitality industry, this research examines how ethical leadership influences the job stress and performance quality of customer-contact employees in the hospitality industry. Results indicate that customer-contact employees’ views of their supervisor’s use of ethical leadership behaviors is related to lower levels of ethical ambiguity and job stress. Ethical ambiguity is positively associated with job stress, which is negatively associated with customer-contact employees’ performance quality. Perceived ethical leadership behaviors positively influence performance quality. Based on the findings, implications are provided for both theory and management, and directions for future research are offered.     

Knowledge sharing in the hospitality context: The roles of leader humility,job crafting,and promotion focus

Grounded in a view of self-transcendence, leader humility is expected to influence employees to acquire and share knowledge for self-development. This study investigates how and when leader humility activates hospitality employees’ knowledge collection and knowledge donation. The dataset was built from 674 employees and 87 direct managers working in the Vietnam-based hotel organizations. Analyzed through multilevel structural equation approach, the data provided support for the positive relationships between leader humility and knowledge collection and donation behaviors among hospitality employees. The three dimensions of job crafting functioned as mediators for these relationships. Employees’ promotion focus played a moderating role for the relationships between leader humility and seeking resources and challenges, but did not interact with leader humility to impact job demands. The discussion on the implications for hospitality scholars and practitioners from the research findings is presented.     

New employee orientation,role-related stressors and conflict at work: Consequences for work attitudes and performance of hospitality employees

Combining role theory with theories on hindrance stressors and intragroup conflict, we develop a model of the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of new employee orientation in hospitality organizations. We test hypotheses about main and mediated effects in this model, using data from a sample of 156 recently hired hospitality interns and applying a longitudinal approach, with data collection shortly after organizational entry and several months later. Results suggest that employee orientation is negatively related to two hindrance stressors: role ambiguity and role conflict. Role ambiguity predicts a range of attitudinal outcomes and the relationship is partially mediated by relationship conflict. In addition, role ambiguity is negatively related to task performance. Role conflict predicts hospitality employees’ job attitudes and this relationship is fully mediated by relationship conflict. We discuss important theoretical and practical implications of these findings for human resource management in hospitality firms.     

Paradoxical leadership and hospitality employees’ service performance: The role of leader identification and need for cognitive closure

Based on the social identity theory, this study examined the relationship between paradoxical leadership and employees’ service performance in the hospitality industry. Data were collected from a multisource, time-lagged survey of 72 leaders and 556 employees in eight full-service hotels in China. Using hierarchical linear modeling, paradoxical leadership was found to be positively related to employees’ leader identification, which consequently enhanced their service performance. Furthermore, the level of an employee’s need for cognitive closure moderated the relationship between paradoxical leadership and leader identification such that paradoxical leadership exerted a stronger positive influence on leader identification for those employees with a lower need for cognitive closure. These findings have implications for both paradoxical leadership and hospitality management practices.     

Intrinsic or extrinsic motivations for hospitality employees’ creativity: The moderating role of organization-level regulatory focus

This study predicts that the intrinsic (creative personality) and extrinsic motivators (transformational leadership) reinforce employee creativity and job performance in the hospitality industry. More importantly, the positive moderating effects of organizational regulatory focus (promotion and prevention) on employee creativity are included in proposed model. To test the mode, data (339 employees and 72 supervisors) was collected from 62 Taiwan international hotels in the summer of 2014. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) were conducted to examine measurement model and hypotheses. The HLM results confirmed the effects of individual-level factors. However, an organizational promotion focus only enhances the extrinsic creative motivator. The intrinsic creative motivator was reinforced by an organizational prevention focus. The research findings suggest that hospitality managers should consider both individual- and organizational-level factors simultaneously. Indeed, the organizational goals could be set depending on the features of the department. Further discussions and implications are elucidated.     

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.     

Personality profiles for hospitality employees: Impact on job performance and satisfaction

Prevailing hospitality research has demonstrated the impact of personality traits on various human resource outcomes. However, most studies on employee personality applied a construct-centered approach and treated each personality dimension as a separate construct. Although some psychologists have begun to study the combinations of various personality dimensions as overall individual profiles, much remains unknown about the generalizability of these personality profiles in hotel employees and how these profiles might affect individual work outcomes, including job performance and satisfaction. To address this literature gap and cross-validate the results, data from 1035 respondents was collected from two five-star hotels of Hong Kong with different backgrounds. Drawing on self-regulation theory and using the Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), we identified two major personality profiles from the respondents. Results showed that the personality profiles led to varying levels of job performance and satisfaction, depending on the employees’ frequency of contact with the hotel guests. Conceptual, methodological, and practical implications were discussed.     

Examining the spillover effect of frontline employees’ work–family conflict on their affective work attitudes and customer satisfaction

This study examines the negative spillover effects of hospitality frontline employees’ work–family conflict on their affective reactions, commitment, and customer satisfaction. A field survey was conducted to obtain a dyadic data set (148 paired employee–customer responses). Our results indicate that frontline employees’ role conflict between work and family results in less positive affective reactions to the job, decreased emotional attachment to the organization, and lower levels of customer satisfaction. These findings suggest that hospitality firms need to understand that factors outside the workplace influence service excellence, thus calling for a family-friendly organizational culture.     

Call Center Employees’ Intent to Quit: Examination of Job Engagement and Role Clarity

Call centers have become a valuable resource for hotels in managing customer experiences and relationships, yet they have also developed a reputation for being a stressful job which has made it a significant challenge to retain employees. Given high turnover rates among call center employees, it is important for hospitality firms to understand the factors influencing their intentions to quit. This study focuses on job engagement and role clarity to examine hotel call center employees’ intent to quit. The survey results of call center employees at a large resort hotel suggest that job engagement significantly influences the hotel call center employees’ intent to quit after accounting for job satisfaction and organizational support. Role clarity, however, is not related to intent to quit. Managerial implications and recommendations for increasing employee job engagement are discussed.     

Exploring employees’ perceptions of costs and benefits of unionization in the hospitality industry

There is scant research on the impact of unionization on hospitality employees’ job security, health, and working conditions. This research explores employees’ beliefs of costs and benefits of unionization in hospitality organizations given that previous research has mainly focused on its influence on the firm and the industry. The findings of this study suggest that unionization can present a unique set of challenges both for line-level employees and managers. The ‘it’s not my job’ attitude associated with unionization can have a dampening impact on employees’ future career opportunities. Future research needs to consider the long-term consequences of unionization on employees.     

Can taking charge at work help hospitality frontline employees enrich their family life?

Managing work-family interface has been a key issue for hospitality employees. By integrating the literature on thriving at work into the work-family enrichment model, this study proposes taking charge as a resource-generating behavior that employees could undertake to enrich their family life. Using data collected on two occasions from frontline employees and their supervisors in a hotel in China, we find that those who take charge are more likely to experience thriving at work, which helps them improve the quality of their family life. Furthermore, working under a leader facing high role ambiguity augments this relationship. The study findings advance current work-family enrichment literature, and also carry important practical implications for promoting employees’ work-to-family enrichment in the hospitality sector.     

What factors influence Generation Y’s employee retention in the hospitality industry?: An internal marketing approach

Individuals from Generation Y are entering into the hospitality job market, but little is known about their intention to remain in the hospitality business. The purpose of this study was to examine what factors affect a Generation Y employee’s intention to remain with a hospitality company with respect to internal marketing tactics. Qualtrics, an online survey service company, was used to distribute and collect a self-administered questionnaire survey. A theoretically proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling. The results of this study indicated that “work environment” significantly influence Generation Y employees’ job satisfaction, followed by “empowerment,” “pay,” and “relationships with managers,” which in turn, influences “employee commitment” and “intention to remain in hospitality business.” The implications of the study are discussed.     

Improving frontline service employees' innovative behavior using conflict management in the hospitality industry: The mediating role of engagement

Conflict within an organization is inescapable. However when frontline hotel employees can overcome conflicts their levels of engagement can increase and innovative behavior may emerge. The purpose of this study was to verify that the conflict management, as perceived by frontline employees, significantly affects their levels of engagement and innovative behavior. The results support this notion. Further, in the sample of 383, those employees expressing a high level of engagement were more likely to engage in innovative behavior. Also, employee engagement fully mediated the relationship between conflict management climate and innovative behavior. These findings have important implications for managing conflict management in the hospitality industry. Finally, limitations and future research directions are also discussed.     

Linking customer-employee exchange and employee innovative behavior

Employee innovative behaviors lay the foundation for organizational innovation and are of importance to business success, especially for service firms. Although these innovative behaviors are performed at the individual level, employees still need to have frequent exchanges with others, such as customers. As there is little research investigating customer-employee exchange (CEX) and its influence on employee innovative behavior in services, this study aims to fill this gap in a hotel context. The results of a survey with 180 respondents indicate that both the solidarity and harmonization components of CEX have positive effects on employee innovative behavior, yet the information exchange between customers and employees does not significantly influence employee innovation. Also, higher level of CEX leads to higher level of perceived social psychological climate for innovation. The mediating effect of social psychological climate in the relationship between CEX and employee innovative behavior is partially supported. The findings contribute to the understanding of the role of social exchanges in facilitating employee innovative behavior and provide implications for the management of employee innovative behavior in hospitality firms.     

Thinking job embeddedness not turnover: Towards a better understanding of frontline hotel worker retention

This article reports the findings of a study of 327 Australian hotel frontline employees using a survey of job embeddedness. The research provides a novel application of the job embeddedness construct to the hospitality industry, not only validating the factor structure of the job embeddedness scale, but also investigating the relationship between job embeddedness and other job-related attitudes that influence employee turnover. Findings indicated that a six factor solution is the best explanation. Testing a model of the embeddedness-commitment and embeddedness-turnover relationship, the embeddedness dimensions of organizational sacrifice and community links displayed a positive relationship with organizational commitment. A negative relationship was found between organizational sacrifice and intentions to leave, while a positive relationship was found between community links and intentions to leave. One implication for hospitality managers is that there is an opportunity for hotel organizations to increase the job embeddedness of their employees by increasing the perceived costs of leaving.     

A longitudinal analysis of an accelerating effect of empowerment on job satisfaction: Customer-contact vs. non-customer-contact workers

The primary purpose of this paper is to examine whether the impact of empowerment on job satisfaction increases as time changes, and whether this impact is stronger for customer-contact employees than non-customer-contact employees. This study employs a Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) technique to test research hypotheses using a longitudinal dataset from an annual employee opinion survey conducted by a hospitality company in the United States for three consecutive years; 67 work teams consisting of 1534 employees are the unit of analysis. This study finds that the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction is more salient for customer-contact employees, and the effect of empowerment accelerates over the years regardless of the nature of work. Implications of the findings are discussed for researchers and industry practitioners alike.     

The effects of generational work values on employee brand attitude and behavior: A multi-group analysis

The competitive hospitality industry requires effective external and internal brand management. Since service employees bring the brand to life, insight regarding their motivational drivers is important. Given a multigenerational hospitality workforce, individual motivations will likely differ and therefore inform attitudes and behavior differently. Adopting work values as a motivational lens, and drawing on generational theory, this study surveys 303 hospitality employees to understand how generational collective memories (i.e., formative referents) inform individuals’ work values. Further, it examines how generational work values differentially influence employees’ perceived brand fit and brand citizenship behavior. The results suggest that an individual’s collective memories from their formative years influence their work values, with altruistic, social and intrinsic work values having a positive impact on employee brand attitude and behavior, while extrinsic and leisure work values have no significant impact. Generational differences are evident, but not always in a manner that is consistent with previous literature.