How Does Workplace Romance Influence Employee Performance in the Hospitality Industry?

Hyo Sun Jung,Hye Hyun Yoon

doi:10.3390/su12135478

Abstract

With the aim of providing insights to scholars, administrators, and managers on how an employee’s romantic involvement influences job engagement and performance, this study examined workplace romance as a psychological mechanism for determining job performance. A total of 224 deluxe hotel employees in South Korea participated in the research. The results indicate that workplace romance significantly affects employees’ job engagement and performance. Employees who sustain a favorable and positive relationship with others in their organization eventually exhibit increased work effectiveness, which then exerts a constructive effect on hotel services and performance. Moreover, workplace romance experience can significantly improve the effect of workplace romance on job engagement. The paper also discusses limitations and future research directions.

Highlights

Many people meet and socialize in the workplace [1], which increases the potential for romantic involvement [2,3]
The confirmatory measurement models demonstrated the soundness of measurement properties (χ2 = 162.881, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.912, and root mean square residual = 0.054, see Table 1)
No significant moderating effects were found in the relationships between job engagement and job performance and between workplace romance and job performance; Hypotheses 4b and 4c were rejected

Summary

Introduction

Many people meet and socialize in the workplace [1], which increases the potential for romantic involvement [2,3]. Despite the obvious considerable influence of romantic relationships on organizational performance (including employee behavior and efficacy), far, this issue has been underexplored in the domain of business administration. A unfavorable perception of romantic relationships in the workplace has been adopted, as attempts to break down the boundary between work and personal lives or pursue a romance are traditionally regarded as problems for an organization [8]. Such a standpoint is supported by social exchange theory, which maintains that employees might consider leaving the workplace as a result of disadvantageous social exchanges. Given the diverse views on workplace romance, discussing its organizational effects is a timely endeavor

Methods

Results

Conclusion