Leaders’ coaching behaviors and the emotional exhaustion of hotel frontline supervisors: Examining the serial mediating effects of taking charge and work engagement

Abstract

Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory and the Job Demand–Resources model, this study investigates the emotional exhaustion of frontline supervisors—a critical labor force issue in the hospitality sector. The research empirically examines the network of relationships among leaders’ coaching behaviors, work engagement, taking charge behaviors, and their effects on mitigating emotional exhaustion. The proposed hypotheses are tested using partial-least squares structural equation modeling to analyze data from 133 frontline supervisors from Malaysia’s hotel sector. Frontline supervisors’ perceptions of leaders’ coaching behaviors do not directly offset their emotional exhaustion. However, being coached plays a key role in supporting frontline supervisors’ work engagement and taking charge behaviors, consequently reducing their emotional exhaustion. This presents new insights for hospitality organizations to build human capital and support the capabilities and performance of their frontline supervisors, with ripple effects for organizational culture, employee performance and retention, service quality, and hotel performance.