Frontline Hotel Employees Research Articles

Reviving employees’ essence of hospitality through spiritual wellbeing, spiritual leadership, and emotional intelligence

This study contributes to the ongoing discussion stressing the need to reinvigorate meaning and purpose to the younger generation of employees and revitalize the essence of hospitality. To this end, the study proposes and tests a model of how spiritual leadership and emotional intelligence are related, directly and indirectly through spiritual wellbeing, to the creative performance and customer-oriented boundary-spanning behaviors (COBSB) of employees. The research hypotheses were tested using data collected from 238 frontline hotel employees and 53 supervisors and analyzed via nonlinear estimations. The findings revealed that spiritual leadership and emotional intelligence were curvilinearly related to spiritual wellbeing, COBSB, and creative performance. Specifically, too much of spiritual leadership was not necessarily a good thing, and the less emotionally intelligent can sometimes be better off. Moreover, spiritual wellbeing mediated the relationship of emotional intelligence and spiritual leadership with COBSB and creative performance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed further.

How does customer cooperation affect employees’ prosocial service behavior in upscale Chinese hotels? An affective social exchange perspective

PurposeGuided by the affect theory of social exchange, this study aims to examine the affective process underlying the impact of customer cooperation on hotel frontline employees’ prosocial service behavior. Job autonomy was tested as a boundary condition.Design/methodology/approachA mix-mode quantitative survey collected data from 818 frontline employees in 14 upscale hotels across China. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the research hypotheses.FindingsResults suggest that customer cooperation influences employees’ prosocial service behavior directly and indirectly via employees’ positive affect. Contrary to expectations, job autonomy weakened the relationships among customer cooperation, positive affect and employees’ extra-role customer service but did not moderate the impacts of customer cooperation and positive affect on employees’ role-prescribed customer service.Originality/valueAs an initial attempt to investigate the effects of customer cooperation on two types of frontline employees’ prosocial behavior, this study broadens the application of the affect theory of social exchange and contributes to an understanding of the theory’s boundary conditions by testing a framework under the contextual condition of job autonomy.

Daily spillover from home to work: the role of workplace mindfulness and daily customer mistreatment

PurposeThis daily diary study aims to examine the influences of daily poor sleep quality on employees’ emotional exhaustion at work via negative affect at home. Additionally, this study examines the moderating effects of day-level customer mistreatment and person-level workplace mindfulness in hotel frontline employees’ daily spillover from the nonwork domain to the work domain.Design/methodology/approachAn experience sampling method was applied, and the survey data were collected from 98 frontline service employees in the hotel industry in China. This study included a one-time initial survey and a ten-day daily diary study.FindingsThis study reveals that frontline service employees’ poor sleep quality of the previous night influences their emotional exhaustion after work through negative affect at home. On days when employees perceived a low level of customer mistreatment, the daily positive association between negative affect at home and emotional exhaustion after work would be attenuated. Moreover, employees with a higher level of workplace mindfulness are less likely to be influenced by the negative affect at home.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that hospitality organizations should extend their focus on caring about employees’ nonwork life quality, such as improving daily sleep quality and providing workplace mindfulness trainings.Originality/valueThis study adds to the current literature on work and nonwork spillover by considering the spillover process from employees’ nonwork domains to work domains by taking a dynamic and multilevel perspective.

Linking ethical leadership and behavioral outcomes through workplace spirituality: a study on Indian hotel industry

PurposeThis study aims to understand and examine the mediating role of workplace spirituality on ethical leadership and behavioral outcomes. The study used the social exchange theory and social learning theory to study the underlying mechanism.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected from 348 frontline hotel employees of North India using convenience sampling. The study used structural equation modeling and Macro PROCESS Hayes (2017) to test the hypothesized model.FindingsThe study found a positive association between ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior and a negative association between ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior. Workplace spirituality mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and its outcomes.Practical implicationsThe study brings out the significance of ethical leadership and workplace spirituality in enhancing organizational citizenship behavior and reducing unethical pro-organizational behavior.Originality/valueThere is a paucity of research done on the mediating role of workplace spirituality in understanding its significance in aligning ethical leadership and behavioral outcomes. Hence, the authors attempt to address this gap by understanding the role of workplace spirituality and its association with ethical leadership, unethical pro-organizational behavior and organizational citizenship behavior among the employees of the hotel industry.

The Effect of Supervisor’s Abuse on Hotel Employees’ Job Satisfaction, Affective Organizational Commitment and Work Engagement

ABSTRACT Our study examines the impact of abusive supervision on affective organizational commitment (AOC). The study further examines work engagement (WENG) and job satisfaction (JSAT) as mediating mechanisms in the relationship between abusive supervision and AOC. The aforesaid hypothesized relationships were tested utilizing data gathered from frontline employees in upscale hotels in two waves in Ghana. We tested the hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that abusive supervision is not significantly related to AOC. However, the findings demonstrate that WENG and JSAT fully mediate the relationship between abusive supervision and AOC. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Using hotel reviews to assess hotel frontline employees’ roles and performances

PurposeThis study aims to explore how marketers can use text mining to analyze actors, actions and performance effects of service encounters by building on the role theory. This enables hotel managers to use introduced methodology to measure and monitor frontline employees’ role behavior and optimize their service.Design/methodology/approachThe authors’ approach links text mining and importance-performance analysis with role theory’s conceptual foundations taking into account the hotel industry’s specifics to assess the effect of frontline hotel employees’ actions on consumer satisfaction and to derive specific management implications for the hospitality sector.FindingsThis study identifies different actors involved in hotel frontline interactions revealing distinct role behaviors that characterize consumers’ perspectives of service encounters with different role types associated with front-office employees. This research also identifies role performance related to role behavior to improve service encounters.Practical implicationsCustomer–employee interactions can be assessed by user-generated contents (UGC). Performance evaluations relate to frontline employee roles associated with distinct role scripts, whereby different hotel segments require tailored role designs. Insights of this study can be used for service optimization, market positioning as well as for improving human resource management practices in the hotel industry.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the service encounter literature by applying role theory in the text mining of UGC to assess frontline employees as actors and the effects of their actions on service quality delivery.

HOTEL FRONT LINE EMPLOYEES’ PERCEPTIONS ON LEADERSHIP AND WORKPLACE MOTIVATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS

Purpose - This study aims to identify the extent to which different motivational elements can support strong bonds and good cooperation between front-line employees and hotels’ leadership in times of crisis and work suspension. Design - The views of a sample of employees working in 4 and 5 star hotels in Heraklion Prefecture were studied in May 2020, when hotel operations were suspended. Methodology - Two hundred and one completed questionnaires were collected, consisting of 31 six-point Likert scales, whose data were analysed using the Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Approach - The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) followed the principal component method of extraction based on a varimax rotation, while the CFA adοpted the method of Structural Equation Modeling, that was based on the maximum likelihood method of estimation. Results - In times of crisis, front-line employees of hotels consider that the creation of strong bonds and a good spirit of cooperation and communication between them and the leadership of the hotels is strongly based on the exploitation of their skills and the developmental opportunities offered. Originality of the research - The research identified motivational factors that can support the creation of strong bonds and a good spirit of cooperation and communication between front-line employees and hotel management in times of crisis. On a practical level, the findings can help hotel managers gain strategic advantage and experience for the future, should they need to deal with similar situations.

Mediating mechanisms in the relationship between supervisor incivility and employee service delivery in the hospitality industry

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the influence of supervisor incivility on employees’ general self-efficacy and engagement and their mediating roles in a relationship between supervisor incivility and employees’ service delivery. The study also explores how gender (dis)similarities between supervisors and subordinates affect these relationships.Design/methodology/approachA total of 276 frontline hotel employees in the US Midwest participated in the study. The research model was examined through a two-step structural equation modeling.FindingsThe study findings suggest that an uncivil supervisor negatively influences hotel employees’ self-efficacy and engagement level, which served as underlying mechanisms connecting supervisor incivility with reduced service delivery. The findings did not support the moderating role of gender (dis)similarity.Practical implicationsThe results of the current study should urge organizations to acknowledge the detrimental impact of workplace incivility and to commit to the prevention and termination of employee mistreatment. Organizations make efforts to ensure that supervisors serve their internal customers with support and gratitude and help enhance employees’ psychological resources.Originality/valueThe current study advanced the body of literature by suggesting an integral psychological underlying mechanism linking uncivil treatment and declined performance in the hospitality industry.

Influence of Cultural Intelligence and Psychological Capital on Service Quality: A Study of the Hotel Industry in Sabah, Malaysia

Cultural intelligence (CQ) and psychological capital (PsyCap) are two critical characteristics that can be leveraged to develop dynamic hotel frontline employees capable of sustaining service excellence. While both the hotel industry and researchers have followed this trend, there are few studies in the research setting that delve into this relationship. This study examines the effects of cultural intelligence on service quality with psychological capital serving as a mediating variable. To confirm the proposed hypotheses, this study collects 300 questionnaires from four- and five-star hotels. For quantitative analysis, partial least squares structural equation modelling was used. The findings revealed that PsyCap is favorably associated with three components of CQ (metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral elements). Simultaneously, the CQ cognitive and behavioral elements were found to be positively related with service quality (SQ). These findings offer hotel managers practical guidance on how to evaluate critical internal resources and capabilities as a source to implementing and sustaining human resource practices.

Can proactivity translate to creativity? Examinations at individual and team levels

Building on Trait Activation Theory, this study explored whether, how, and why proactive personality and inclusive leaders can foster creativity at both individual and team levels. Using multi-wave data collected from hotel frontline employees and their supervisors, the study first found that at individual level, proactive personality could influence creativity via psychological safety, with inclusive leadership moderated the indirect relationship. The study further tested at team level, using lab experiment with hospitality majored students, the relationship between proactivity and creativity. The findings at the team level suggested that teams with highly proactive members exhibited higher levels of creativity than teams without highly proactive members. This research revealed the psychological mechanism of how proactivity contributes to individual creativity, and teams can benefit from having proactive members. • The study explored whether, how, and when proactive personality and inclusive leaders can foster team creativity. • The study employed a mix-method research design, examining individual level relationships and team level relationships. • At individual levle, psychological safety mediated the relationship between proactive personality and individual creativity. • At team level, teams with highly proactive members outperform teams without.

Work engagement, organizational embeddedness, and life satisfaction among frontline employees of star-rated hotels in Ghana

To expand the literature on embeddedness and life satisfaction, the present study examines the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between organizational embeddedness and life satisfaction among hotel employees in Ghana. Multi-wave data were conveniently collected from 274 employees working as full timers in selected rated hotels in Accra. Structural equation modeling results demonstrated that organizational embeddedness positively influenced life satisfaction and links positively affected life satisfaction. Moreover, work engagement mediated the organizational embeddedness-life satisfaction nexus. Lastly, the results showed that work engagement mediated the effects of link and fit on life satisfaction. Managers of hotels should provide employees who offer frontline services with several important organizational resources such as fit and links to enhance their work engagement and therefore augment their satisfaction with life.

Customer mistreatment and employee customer-focused voice: the bright and dark sides of felt trust

PurposeThis study aims to assess a moderated-mediation model to account for the relationship between customer mistreatment and frontline hotel employees’ customer-focused voice, where their organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) served as a mediator and their felt trust (reliance and disclosure) by supervisors served as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through paper-based questionnaires in a cross-sectional survey, consisting of 319 valid supervisor-employee-paired responses from 33 international tourist hotels in Taiwan. Regression analyses were used for hypothesis testing.FindingsOBSE mediates the negative effect of customer mistreatment on customer-focused voice. Employee felt reliance intensifies the negative impact of customer mistreatment on OBSE, and this interaction effect, in turn, reduces customer-focused voice through OBSE. The employee felt disclosure marginally significantly buffers the effect of customer mistreatment on OBSE.Practical implicationsGiven the adverse effect of customer mistreatment on customer-focused voice through OBSE, hotels should strengthen employees’ service mindset and value their suggestions. The double-edged effects of felt trust suggest that managers should form a trusting relationship with their subordinates and reassure them that isolated incidents of customer mistreatment will not jeopardize their reputation.Originality/valueThis study integrated sociometer and self-consistency theories to examine OBSE as a psychological mechanism to explain the mistreatment-voice process. Besides assessing felt trust’s two-dimensional effects, this research is possibly the first attempt to examine felt trust as an enabling force or a threat to OBSE in the context of customer mistreatment.

The effects of service climate and internal service quality on frontline hotel employees’ service-oriented behaviors

When employees in a service profit chain receive quality internal services, they provide quality services to external customers, but extant research does not address what connects internal and external services. This study espouses service climate as an integral part of the service profit chain by exploring its role in linking internal service management and external service performance, and the boundary conditions in which it operates. Data collected from 538 employees of 81 department managers in 24 Chinese hotels were examined using hierarchical linear modeling. Results suggest that managers’ commitment to service quality affects service climate through empowering leadership, service climate links empowering leadership and employee service-oriented behaviors, and external departments’ internal service quality strengthens the positive effect of service climate on service-oriented behaviors. This study advances the literature by integrating service climate and internal service quality into the service profit chain, helping hospitality managers understand how to foster service-oriented behaviors.

Authentic Leadership and Engaging Employees: A Moderated Mediation Model of Leader–Member Exchange and Power Distance

This study developed and tested a multilevel, moderated mediation model of whether, how, and when authentic leadership can affect employee work engagement in a hotel context, building on social exchange theory. A two-wave data collection process gathered 440 valid responses of hotel frontline employees from five-star hotels in China. The result supported a positive influence of authentic leadership on work engagement and the mediating role of leader–member exchange (LMX). Hotel employees’ perceived power distance orientation moderated the indirect relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement through LMX. In contrast to previous studies supporting the negative effect of power distance on employee behavior, the present findings suggest that power distance strengthens the relationship between authentic leadership and hotel employees’ work engagement. This study contributes to authentic leadership literature and provides insights into how interactions between personal and contextual factors affect authentic leadership’s influence on work engagement in hospitality organizations.

Leadership, proactive personality and organizational outcomes: role of parallel of mediators in Pakistani 3-star hotels

PurposeDrawing from social exchange theory, this paper aims to examine the role of five mediating mechanisms between the relationships of critical constructs of frontline employees’ performance, and both transformational leadership and proactive personality to find out which mediating mechanism highly boosts frontline performance in 3-star hotels, Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachBy testing parallel mediating linkages, this study used a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique using partial least square-SEM. This empirical investigation used a quota sampling technique to collect data from the frontline employees of 3-star hotels from the top five big cities of Pakistan. The study administered online survey questionnaires among 500 frontline workers in 3-star hotels.FindingsThe results of the study supported a substantial direct influence of transformational leadership and proactive personality on employees’ performance. Nevertheless, it was observed in the findings of this investigation, significant mediating relationships between frontline employees’ performance and the key constructs of transformational leadership and proactive personality. However, the construct of work engagement was not found to have a significant mediating relationship between front-line employees’ performance and both constructs of transformational leadership and proactive personality. Moreover, leader-member exchange was identified as the highest mediating mechanism among the five. It is noteworthy, the results of this study highlighted that the notion of leader-member exchange is extremely embedded in transformational leadership to enhance the frontline performance than proactive personality.Practical implicationsThe empirical evidence of this study insinuates that the management may establish a system of collaborative learning and social exchange between leaders and followers. This approach might be the essence to improve the work outcomes of frontline employees specifically within the 3-star hotels and hospitality organizations at large.Originality/valueThis study contributes to novel findings particularly to determine the five mediating mechanisms, i.e. work engagement, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, organizational commitment and leader-member exchange between frontline employees’ performance and the constructs of transformational leadership and proactive personality. It might be noteworthy, the empirical and anecdotal pieces of evidence of this study indicated a social exchange system within transformational leadership optimizes the frontline employees’ performance that ultimately contributes to the overall organizational outcomes.

Service Priority Climate and Service Performance Among Hospitality Employees: The Role of Emotional Labor and Workload Pressure

Frontline hotel employees face a complex organizational environment that constantly makes multiple demands, creating a persistent trade-off between service as a key element of the organization’s strategy and other competing or even conflicting goals. This study proposes an integrated and unique way of discerning the relationship between service climate and service performance through the prism of surface and deep acting emotional labor and suggests a new dimension of the service climate—the service priority climate. Specifically, we examined employees’ use of emotional labor strategies as a mechanism that explains the relationship between service priority climate and service performance. We also investigated whether workload pressure influences this relationship. Using a multilevel, multisource study, we surveyed a sample of 245 hotel employees working in 39 departments and their direct managers. The results demonstrated that when employees regarded service as a priority compared with other competing goals, they used more deep acting emotional labor strategies, resulting in better service performance. However, this was apparent only when workload pressure was low. Implications for hospitality organizations are discussed.

From the Editor

This issue continues one of the traditional themes of GBOE with four articles broadly related to human resource management. Sylvia Freitas Mello and Patricia Amelia Tomei begin the issue by looking at the life of expatriates undertaking international assignments. In “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on expatriates: A pathway to work-life harmony?” (https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22088) they examine how the “new status quo” created by COVID-19 has impacted on expatriates' lives. Their qualitative study of 12 expatriates shows how the pandemic influenced expatriates' expectations regarding their work-life interface, and how it offered a pathway to a changing their work-life balance. The study provides recommendations to human resource managers on how to achieve work-life harmony, where work and life are seen as a single domain. Studies show that human resource management can have a positive impact on organizational ambidexterity, but few examine both employee motivation for ambidexterity, and their ability to achieve it, in the nonprofit sector. In “High involvement human resource practices and their impact on organizational ambidexterity: The mediating role of employees' ambidextrous behaviors” (https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22090) Dina Farouk Al-Agry examines ambidexterity, at both the individual and the firm level, using a sample of 130 healthcare personnel from a leading children's cancer hospital in Egypt. The results show the value of high-involvement human resource practices in achieving ambidexterity through encouraging employees' ambidextrous behavior. Following a similar theme in their article “High commitment human resource management practices and hotel employees' work outcomes in Bangladesh” (https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22089), Mohammad Rabiul Basher Rubel, Daisy Mui Hung Kee, and Nadia Newaz Rimi look at how high commitment human resource management creates and sustains employee relationships. Viewing high commitment human resource management as a relational process, and based on data from 365 front-line employees in five-star hotels in Bangladesh, they show how high commitment human resource management influences work outcomes. The results show the role that high commitment human resource management plays in ensuring positive work outcomes, and indicates how organizations might benefit from this knowledge. Finally, although the cost of workplace deviance goes beyond simple financial losses, there is little research on the influence of ethical climate types on workplace deviance. In “The impact of perceived ethical climate types on workplace deviance: An empirical investigation of IT professionals in India” (https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22085), Hiranmayakaparthi Ramadugu and Renu Rastogi look at the impact of perceived ethical climate types on workplace deviance in the Indian IT industry. Based on data from 158 IT professionals, they analyze workplace deviance using four ethical climate types. Their results show that ethical climate types can be leveraged to counteract the threat of deviant behavior in the workplace.

How is COVID-19 pandemic causing employee withdrawal behavior in the hospitality industry? An empirical investigation

PurposeThis study divulges the new concept of employees' withdrawal behavior during the global pandemic (COVID-19). The study's purpose is to draw new insights into workplace stressors and employee withdrawal behavior. The study also considers the mediating role of aggression and the moderating role of COVID-19 worry and cyberloafing.Design/methodology/approachThe study's statistical population consists of 384 frontline hotel employees from Pakistan's hospitality industry. Statistical analysis SPSS and AMOS were utilized to conduct Pearson's correlation and multilevel regression analysis. A Hayes process technique has been used for moderation and mediation analysis.FindingsThe results demonstrated that COVID-19 has a psychological effect on the employee's mental health and higher turnover intention during the current pandemic. Workplace stressor is significantly related to aggression and employee withdrawal behavior. Aggression mediates the relationship between workplace stressors and withdrawal behavior. The study results show that COVID-19 worry moderates between workplace stressors and aggression – notably, cyberloafing moderate aggression and withdrawal behavior.Practical implicationsThe government and hospitality organizations need to implement crisis management strategies in response to COVID-19. This research can help management in coping with employees' mental and psychological challenges. Employees' mental health has been affected during the current global health crises. Firms should encourage their employees psychologically while going for downsizing.Originality/valueThis study enhances the existing literature on the COVID-19 crisis in Pakistan's hospitality industry. This study contributes to new understandings of employees' withdrawal behavior in the hospitality industry. The research shows how COVID-19 affects employees' turnover, mental health and job performance in the hospitality industry. Employees are facing mental and physiological challenges during COVID-19. The study fills a considerable gap in the hospitality industry by exploring the role organization's crisis management during a global pandemic.

Feeling empowered and doing good? A psychological mechanism of empowerment, self-esteem, perceived trust, and OCBs

Building on agency theory and signaling theory, this study investigated the psychological mechanism of how empowerment impacts hotel frontline employees' self-esteem, perceived trust, and OCBs performed toward both internal and external customers. Using a longitudinal research design with data collected via three waves, the results supported that three out of four dimensions of empowerment had significant and positive influence on employees' self-esteem and perceived trust, both of which are significant predictors for three types of OCBs. The study makes important contributions to literature and suggests that hotel employees feeling empowered can enhance their overall wellness while contributing to their OCB performances. Thus, empowerment should be properly used as a strategy to facilitate employees’ contextual performance.

The Effects of Psychological Capital and Internal Social Capital on Frontline Hotel Employees’ Adaptive Performance

This study examines the relationship between psychological capital, social capital, and adaptive performance in China’s lodging industry. Recent research has revealed that the production attributes of internal social capital can explain adaptive performance, and that psychological capital affects the relationship attributes of social capital. This raises the question of whether social capital might mediate between psychological capital and adaptive performance. Therefore, this study examined data from a sample of 304 hotel employees in China, using internal social capital as a mediating variable. The results confirmed that psychological capital has a significant positive impact on adaptive performance. Social capital also plays a mediating role partially between psychological capital and adaptive performance. The findings of this study contribute to the theoretical framework of psychological capital and adaptive performance and provide a new approach to human resource management in the lodging industry and other dynamically competitive service industries.