Workplace Monitoring: The Moderating Roles of Aesthetic Labour Attributes towards Employees’ Performance in a Fast-food Restaurant

Abstract

Front-line employees in the hospitality industry are considered as the source of service differentiation. Workplace monitoring encourages decision-making and awakens predictions about employees' future actions, skills, and their suitability for employment. Monitoring proponents contend that it is a good way to ensure that goods and services are of high quality. Despite many discoveries on the workplace monitoring in the hospitality industry, study on the aesthetic labour attributes specifically in fast-food restaurants is still under explored. Hence, the objective of this current study is to examine the effect of workplace monitoring and the moderating role of aesthetic labour towards employee performance in the fast-food restaurant. This study adopted a non-probability purposive sampling design and data was collected via questionnaires personally administered to frontline employees from selected fast-food restaurant’s outlets. To test the proposed hypotheses, a correlational research design was used, and a causal-comparative design was adopted. The results showed that workplace monitoring has a positive influence on employee performance in the fast-food restaurant. Additionally, aesthetic labour significantly moderates the relationship between workplace monitoring and employee performance. The findings suggested that in any realistic environment, aesthetic labour cannot be perceived and examined on its own, and the organization must monitor the workplace to identify the state of the employees.