Does remaining silent help in coping with workplace incivility among hotel employees? Role of personality

Abstract

PurposeDrawing on the Conservation of Resources theory, the study attempts to examine the relationship between workplace incivility (supervisors and co-workers) and employee silence among the frontline hotel employees. It futher intends to understand the role of the Big five personality as a moderator in strengthening the stated relationship. MethodologyThe data for the study was collected from the frontline employees of the hotels located in the Northern India at three different time intervals. Statistical tools like SPSS 22 and AMOS 22 were utilized to test the hypothesized relationships. FindingsThe findings of the study suggested that workplace incivility both for supervisors and co-workers was positively related with silence and its dimensions. Furthermore, Big five personality traits i.e. conscientiousness, extroversion, and neuroticism were found to significantly moderate the association between workplace incivility (supervisors and co-workers) and employee silence behaviour. Practical implicationsThe present study outcomes encourage organizations to recognize the damaging effect of workplace incivility, compelling them to prevent and stop mistreating employees and curtail silence. Originality/valueThe contribution of the study is immense in developing the awareness of the harmful effect of workplace incivility from supervisors and co-workers and is the novel research to experimentally probe employee silence. Additionally, the study adds to the literature by taking Big five personality dimensions as a moderator between workplace incivility (supervisors and co-workers) and silence behaviour in the hotel sector in the emerging economies like India.