Linking empowering leadership to employee work-behaviors in the hospitality context: The role of harmonious work passion as a mediator

Abstract

Empowerment initiatives have gained significant acclaim in hospitality scholarship for improving employees’ related work outcomes. Based on self-determination theory, this study explores the role of harmonious work passion (HWP) as a mediator in the relationship between empowering leadership (EL) and employee work-behaviors. Data from 252 hotel employees were collected and analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique. The findings provide important insights for hospitality managers to enhance critical employee work behaviors by fostering EL and HWP in their organizations. This study extends the literature on EL and HWP which are still under-researched but growing in the hospitality sector.