Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate how foodservice employees’ perceptions of their leader’s integrity affect their work engagement and organizational citizenship behaviors, with the aim of moderating empirical evidence of generational differences. This study was administered to 218 foodservice employees using a self-administered questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the measured items were reviewed using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and they were verified using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study results showed that leader integrity had a significant positive effect on employees’ work engagement, and organizational citizenship behaviors, while employee engagement induced by leader integrity increased organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Also, the results found that the effects of leader integrity on OCBs were stronger for Generation Y workers than for Generation X workers. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.
Highlights
Due to intensifying competition and transparent outcomes, foodservice companies rely on their employees to provide leadership and customer service [1], yet they have difficulty recruiting and retaining highly qualified employees because of low wages, long working hours, high turnover rates, and poor conditions of employment [2]
In regards to the leader’s benefits from complying with moral and ethical standards, the concept of leadership integrity is distinct from the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory that explains the superior-subordinate relationship based on social exchange theory [8]
The analysis showed that the positive effects of leader integrity on engagement did not moderate by the generation of the employees, so Hypothesis 4a was rejected
Summary
Due to intensifying competition and transparent outcomes, foodservice companies rely on their employees to provide leadership and customer service [1], yet they have difficulty recruiting and retaining highly qualified employees because of low wages, long working hours, high turnover rates, and poor conditions of employment [2]. This is why it is necessary to investigate the work attitudes and behaviors that enable these companies to keep service employees engaged in their organizations and encourage these workers to behave with genuine positivity. In a frame analysis aimed at forecasting the results of human resources management practices, Gould-Williams and Davies [9] stated that employees’ trust in their leaders is highly important for creating employees’ enthusiasm, motivating the employees, and retaining them
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