Abstract
The current study addresses the gap in how context and individual differences help in developing a proactive workforce in the hospitality industry. Based on the model of proactive motivation and self-determination theory, this study investigates the simultaneous impact of interpersonal leadership and learning goal orientation through the mediating role of employee engagement. The study sample (N =438) is collected from front line hospitality employees in Malaysia. Results of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) show that both context (i.e., interpersonal leadership) and individual differences (i.e., Learning Goal Orientation) are significant predictors of employee engagement and, in turn, of proactive service performance. Moreover, engagement is found as a significant mediator between both the predictors and the criterion. Interestingly, however, in comparison with interpersonal leadership, learning goal orientation is noticed as a substantial predictor of employee engagement and proactive service performance. Implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed accordingly.
Highlights
In the times of hyper-competition in tourism services industry, with digital platforms (e.g., Airbnb) disrupting conventional hospitality practices (Guttentag & Smith, 2017), it is becoming more and more difficult for the hard-core hotel sector to earn its well-deserved share in the continuously growing global travel and tourism industry (“WTTC Global Travel & Tourism,”2016)
Based primarily on the descriptive model of proactive motivation (Parker et al, 2010) and explained through the tenets of self-determination theory (SDT: Deci et al, 2017), our study investigated the relative importance of contextual and individual difference factors in predicting proactive service performance through employee engagement, in the context of frontline hospitality employees
Using employee engagement as an intervening mechanism in the research model of this study from the autonomous motivation of the self-determination theory perspective is a rare combination found in hospitality employee behavior research
Summary
In the times of hyper-competition in tourism services industry, with digital platforms (e.g., Airbnb) disrupting conventional hospitality practices (Guttentag & Smith, 2017), it is becoming more and more difficult for the hard-core hotel sector to earn its well-deserved share in the continuously growing global travel and tourism industry (“WTTC Global Travel & Tourism,”2016). Motivated frontline employees can ensure the above mentioned competitive advantage for the hospitality industry by taking the initiative in providing excellent guest experience (Vachon, 2013). It is so because, on the one hand, proactive people do not follow the status quo and take the initiative to achieve a self-determined future for themselves but for others too (Grant, n.d.), on the other hand, they can inspire bystanders as well for taking self-started action to thrive (AngelaN, 2019). Proactivity is a commendable phenomenon that makes people forward-looking and active in foreseeing problems to deal with and opportunities to identify beforehand (Grant & Ashford, 2008). Hospitality researchers have recently started giving importance to proactive service performance by investigating well-thought research models to find best possible predictors of the phenomenon (e.g., Chen, Lyu, Li, Zhou, & Li, 2016; Lyu, Zhou, Li, Wan, Zhang, & Qiu, 2016; Raub & Liao, 2012; Wu, Chen, Lee, & Chen, 2016)
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