Job performance in public institutions was closely linked to the way human factors were managed within organizations. In local governments, where citizen service and administrative efficiency played a central role, employee motivation became a particularly relevant element. This study aimed to analyse the impact of motivation on the job performance of the staff of the Salinas Municipal Government, taking into account the organisational and contractual characteristics of the municipal context. The research was conducted using a mixed-methods approach with a non-experimental, cross-sectional design. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were applied through structured surveys administered to municipal employees and semi-structured interviews conducted with key informants, allowing the collection of perceptions related to motivation, organisational climate, and job performance. The results showed that employee motivation was associated with levels of commitment, perceived efficiency, and the quality of work performed by public servants, with observable differences related to working conditions and organisational dynamics. Based on these findings, it was concluded that strengthening employee motivation represented a key factor for improving job performance and optimising human talent management in the municipal setting, thereby contributing to a more efficient public administration oriented towards citizen service

How does collective performance-related pay influence street-level bureaucrats’ job performance in public service settings? What is the magnitude of this effect? How do such incentive systems ultimately impact clients’ outcomes? To address these questions in a natural work environment, we analyze a dataset of 35,635 elective surgical procedures conducted in 23 public hospitals in Israel during the 2018–2019 fiscal years, where performance-related pay is implemented at the collective, hospital-level rather than the individual level. Overall, the findings support our hypothesis that collective performance-related pay improves SLBs’ performance. For client outcomes (LOS), the evidence is heterogeneous: the pooled nonparametric comparison shows no robust difference, while the causal model detects a small average signal, and hospital-level patterns vary—suggesting context-dependent effects. By drawing on large-scale administrative data from an actual policy implementation, this study extends prior research that has largely focused on individual-based incentives in experimental or highly stylized settings and contributes to the street-level bureaucracy and performance management literature by empirically distinguishing between effects on frontline performance and effects on client outcomes.

Purpose This study examines how inclusive leadership (IL) enhances employee job performance (JP) in hospitality through emotional and relational mechanisms in multicultural Southeast Asian hotel contexts. Specifically, it investigates the roles of organizational pride (OP), psychological ownership (PO), organizational identification (OI), and workplace friendship (WF) in explaining how IL supports employees in delivering services that help guests feel at home in Malaysia and Singapore. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 336 full-time hotel employees in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Singapore. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the effects of IL on OP, PO, OI, and JP, and to test WF as a moderating factor. Findings IL positively affected OP, PO, OI, and JP. These emotional mechanisms directly enhanced performance, while WF strengthened the IL–job performance relationship in multicultural hospitality teams. Research limitations/implications This study’s cross-sectional design limits causal inference between IL and JP. Although procedural remedies reduced common method bias, self-reported data may still contain response bias. The purposive sample of 4- and 5-star hotel employees in Malaysia and Singapore restricts generalizability to other hospitality settings or cultural contexts. Future research should employ longitudinal or multi-source designs, include broader hotel categories, and test the framework across diverse Southeast Asian and Western environments. Examining demographic, generational, and innovation-related factors would further refine understanding of IL’s emotional and relational effects on sustainable performance in multicultural workplaces. Practical implications Hotel managers should prioritize IL practices that promote employee voice, fairness, and participation. Strengthening OP, PO, and OI can improve frontline performance, while fostering workplace friendships can further support leadership effectiveness during high-demand service situations. Social implications This study highlights the broader social value of fostering IL practices within hospitality organizations, particularly in culturally diverse environments like Malaysia and Singapore. IL promotes fairness, respect, and belonging, which can help reduce workplace tension and create more harmonious multicultural service settings. Strengthening employees’ pride, identification, and supportive peer relationships contributes to a more positive social climate, improving staff well-being and interpersonal cohesion. By encouraging inclusive behaviors at all organizational levels, hotels can cultivate workplaces that value diversity, empower employees, and model socially responsible management practices that extend beyond the organization into the wider community. Originality/value This study advances hospitality leadership research in Southeast Asia by integrating social identity theory, psychological ownership theory, social exchange theory, and relational coordination theory to provide a culturally grounded explanation of how il sustains high-quality service performance.

The paper evaluated the impact of Ins-Service Training Programmes on Job Performance of Academic Staff of Colleges of Education in the 21stCentury.This is against the outcry of members of the public on the quality of graduates from primarytertiary levels.A survey approached was employed for the study, one Hypothesis was proposed and tested.The findings reveal that In-Service Training Programmes significantly improves staff job performance in many areas of their duties such learning news strategies for teaching managing large class size, improving their knowledge base in the subjects among others.It was therefore suggested among others that employers and their management need to provide within the framework of agreed policies, a wide range of development opportunities for all categories of staff.

In today’s dynamic and uncertain organizational environment, employees’ proactivity has become increasingly vital for organizational resilience and performance. As a proactive form of behavior that challenges existing norms for constructive purposes, investigating constructive deviance is essential for understanding how employees contribute to organizational success. This study explores how and when constrictive deviance influences employees’ job performance by integrating moral conviction theory and resource conservation theory. Using three-wave survey data collected from 244 employees, the results show that: (1) constructive deviance has a positive predictive effect on ethical conflict; (2) ethical conflict mediates the relationship between constructive deviance and job performance; (3) moral identity strengthens the positive relationship between ethical conflict and job performance; and (4) moral identity further moderates the indirect effect of constructive deviance on job performance via ethical conflict, the higher the level of employees’ moral identity, the stronger the positive indirect effect of constructive deviance on job performance through ethical conflict. These findings not only uncover the mechanism and boundary conditions through which constructive deviance affects job performance, but also extend the understanding of ethical conflict in the workplace and offer important practical implications for managing positive deviant behaviors.

This study determines the mediating role of emotional labor in the effect of work commitment on job performance and intention to quit. Conducted in Antalya’s hospitality sector, In the literature review section, the concepts of work engagement (independent variable), job performance and turnover intention (dependent variables), and emotional labor (mediating variable) are defined along with their sub-dimensions. Furthermore, previous studies examining the relationships between these variables were reviewed, and explanatory information regarding their results was presented. SEM was employed to test research hypotheses, treating emotional labor through its sub-dimensions and other variables as unidimensional constructs. The SEM results revealed a positive relationship between work commitment and job performance, surface acting, and deep acting, while showing a negative relationship with intention to quit. Surface acting and deep acting partially mediate the effect of work commitment on job performance and intention to quit, though no significant relationship was found between surface acting and job performance.

This research aims to 1) investigate and explore the influence of financial literacy on financial happiness, 2) examine the influence of financial literacy on job performance, and 3) assess the impact of financial happiness on job performance among Muslim state officers in the three southern border provinces of Thailand, namely Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat. This study employs a quantitative research approach, utilizing questionnaires for data collection. The sample group consists of 510 Muslim state officers working in local administrations within the three southern border provinces. Statistical analyses included frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, with data analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The study's findings indicate that two hypotheses were supported. Hypothesis 1, which posits that financial literacy positively influences financial happiness, showed a direct effect of 0.845. Hypothesis 3, which suggests that financial happiness positively influences job performance, demonstrated a direct effect of 0.694. However, Hypothesis 2, which proposed a positive influence of financial literacy on job performance, was rejected, with a direct effect of 0.109 and an indirect effect of 0.586. These findings can be applied in various contexts to enhance the quality of life in terms of financial literacy, financial happiness, and job performance among Muslim state officers in the southern border provinces of Thailand.

The need to transition from representational diversity to meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts that improve employee performance has increased due to the expanding diversity of the healthcare workforce. This study investigates the effects of Health Professions Education–DEI (HPE-DEI) programs on healthcare professionals' job performance using Social Identity Theory. A quantitative, cross-sectional strategy was used to gather information from 300 medical professionals employed by public and commercial healthcare organizations in Punjab, India. Data analysis was done using SmartPLS 4.0 and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that DEI efforts significantly improve job performance. In particular, task and contextual performance are strongly influenced by self-awareness and beliefs, environmental awareness and context, and self-efficacy for action; the best predictor is self-efficacy for action. By offering empirical proof that inclusive and equity-oriented practices are important factors influencing workforce performance in healthcare settings, the study adds to the literature on DEI and healthcare professionalism.

The current research aims to identify the infrastructure and critical success factors that enable human resources management in organizations to standardize employee information and achieve the quality of that information through the accuracy, speed, clarity, reliability, and legality provided by information governance systems as essential factors of information quality. The intended benefit of the current research lies in integrating information technology, in accordance with the governing frameworks, into human resources management processes, particularly employee information systems, in a manner that reduces the effort, time, and cost of accessing the information needed about job performance. The research design is based on formulating a set of questions. The research used a descriptive analytical approach through content analysis, which includes analyzing opinion polls conducted by research and studies, analyzing the results of studies, and the organization's records on the study's variables to test its hypotheses. One of the research limitations is that information technology governance is a modern topic that suffers from resistance to change and a lack of understanding of its variables in public organizations, which poses a challenge in proving the impact of such governance on human resources information. Regarding practical justifications, utilizing IT governance dimensions and exploring the relationship with HR information quality are fundamental justifications for enhancing and improving HR management processes. The originality and value of the current research lie in its being one of the first to address the dissemination of IT governance and assess its impact on HR information quality.

Racial discrimination in the United States is an issue that negatively affects physical and mental health, job performance, career satisfaction, and self-esteem. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of microaggressions in the workplace towards dental hygienists who identify as racial/ethnic minorities and effects on their health-related quality of life. Cross-sectional survey research was used with a purposive sample of racial and ethnic minority dental hygienists (n = 207) in the United States. The survey utilised two validated instruments: Racial Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS) and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL-4). Analysis was conducted with descriptive statistics, correlations, and logistic regression. The completion rate for the survey was 64.3% (n = 133). All participants experienced some form of racial/ethnic microaggression. Black or African American participants experienced Second-Class Citizen and Assumptions of Criminality (p < 0.001) and microaggressions in the workplace environment (p < 0.001) more frequently than individuals identifying as Hispanic or Latino. HRQoL-4 items were statistically significantly associated with REMS subscales. Logistic regression identified the REMS Workplace and School Microaggressions (WSM) subscale (B = 0.13, SE = 0.06, Wald χ2(1) = 5.40, p = 0.020, OR = 1.14) as a predictor of higher odds for reporting 15-20 days affected by mental health issues. In addition, the WSM subscale (B = 0.14, SE = 0.06, Wald χ2(1) = 6.51, p = 0.011, OR = 1.15) was a predictor of reporting 15-30 days usual activities were negatively affected by physical and mental health issues. Findings showed workplace racial/ethnic microaggression negatively affected the number of days per month that mental health and usual activities were impacted for this sample of dental hygienists who identified as ethnic or racial minorities. Identifying and addressing racial/ethnic microaggressions is crucial for increasing workforce diversity and enhancing awareness may promote a more inclusive and positive dental work environment.

When we initiated the call for papers for this Research Topic, the world was actively dealing with the COVID pandemic which had a swift and dramatic impact on how people completed their work and the context in which they performed their essential tasks.Notably, remote work became an overnight reality for employees who previously worked entirely at their company's physical location. Specifically, we hoped that our call for papers would encourage research that provided insights into the implications of remote work on worker performance. Across the eight papers that comprise this Research Topic, at least four themes emerge that suggest remote and/or hybrid work goes far beyond just a reflection of a change to where and when work gets done, but also how work gets done in our post-Covid world. These studies emphasize how autonomy, accountability, leadership, well-being, and organizational design interact to shape job performance. Our editorial underscores this breadth by bringing together conceptual advances, integrative reviews, and empirical investigations that leverage multiple methodological approaches and span a wide range of work contexts. A third theme is that hybrid work has important impacts on the work environment including physical, temporal, social, and virtual elements (Vartiainen & Vanharata).Misalignment between these elements, organizational goals, and employee needs is an explanation for inconsistent employee well-being and performance outcomes across studies (Vartiainen & Vanharata; Mabaso). Since the onset of the pandemic and our call for papers related to this Research Topic, hybrid work has moved rapidly from a crisis response to institutionalized practice in modern organizations. Recent reviews and conceptual essays emphasize that hybrid and flexible work arrangements are now pervasive across industries and national contexts, reshaping expectations about where and how work gets done and warranting rigorous scholarly attention (e.g., Leonardi, Parker, & Shen, 2024;Nyberg, Shaw, & Zhu, 2021). As remote and hybrid work continues to evolve, the goals of encouraging research on this topic remain as relevant today as they did when we first launched this Research Topic. Indeed, the most urgent questions are no longer merely descriptive but theory-driven, requiring conceptual precision, longitudinal evidence, and multilevel designs to understand dynamic outcomes (e.g., hybrid work as a multidimensional phenomenon with individual and collective implications). The contributions assembled here represent important early steps, yet recent, encompassing reviews suggest significant theoretical and empirical questions still remain (e.g., Ferdous, Ali, Desouza, & French, 2025;Gajendran, Ponnapalli, Wang, & Javalagi, 2024;Handke, Aldana, Costa, & O'Neill, 2024;Shirmohammadi, Au, & Beigi, 2022).One area concerns how hybrid work impacts the job's tasks. On one hand, working in a virtual environment requires new digital competencies to deal with technologies and other contextual factors. On the other hand, the new context requires re-skilling quite a few non-digital competences that become 'digitalized' given the new context in which they are to be performed such as leading a meeting (e.g., Peiró & Martínez-Tur, 2022). Future research is needed on the implications of these changes on performance and its appraisal in the hybrid environment, as well as on the emerging risks and their prevention.Another area for future research is related to how hybrid work affects collective work processes, especially in settings characterized by reciprocal or sequential interdependence (i.e., teams). Hybrid work reduces access to informal coordination mechanisms that teams may use when working in the same physical environment. Further, the lack of spontaneous interaction may increase reliance on formal structures, explicit documentation, and digital coordination tools. Future research should examine when such formalization enhances effectiveness versus when it introduces rigidity and overload.Longitudinal and multi-level designs are particularly needed to assess whether coordination failures compound over time or whether teams adapt by developing new shared mental models.Hybrid work may lead to the systematic advantage afforded to those who are physically present in organizational spaces (Choudhury, Foroughi, & Larson, 2021). This evidence suggests that remote workers may experience reduced access to informal networks, developmental opportunities, and advancement pathways and is consistent with papers in this Research Topic that demonstrate that hybrid work has differential effects across employees. This raises important research questions related to the how structural mechanisms play a role in producing (in)equality. Intersectional perspectives will be particularly valuable, as hybrid work may differentially affect groups based on gender, caregiving responsibilities, disability status, career stage, and beyond.Hybrid work is not a temporary deviation, or fad, from traditional organizational structuring of work. Quite the contrary, hybrid work is a prominent feature of modern organizations now and in the future. As such, it demands a sustained and theoretically grounded research agenda. The coming years offer an opportunity for scholars to move beyond surface-level research and to generate insights that inform both theory and practice. The challenge is not merely to understand hybrid work, but to understand how organizations can implement it to function effectively, equitably, sustainably, and humanely.

Abstract The sustainability of public health systems relies heavily on the mental health and well-being of the healthcare workforce. In resource-constrained settings like South Punjab, Pakistan, excessive job demands pose a significant risk to both employee welfare and the quality of healthcare delivery. This study examines the impact of job demands on job performance, specifically investigating the mediating role of emotional exhaustion as a critical determinant of public health service effectiveness. Grounded in the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model and Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) theory, this research utilized a quantitative cross-sectional design. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to a purposively selected sample of 249 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff, from public sector institutions. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings indicate that high job demands exert a significant positive effect on emotional exhaustion (β = 0.835), which subsequently degrades job performance. Emotional exhaustion was found to significantly mediate the relationship between job demands and performance (β = 0.426), suggesting that workforce burnout is a primary pathway through which systemic pressures undermine healthcare service quality.

This study examined the causal modeling of the influence of instructional supervision, teachers’ motivation, and principals’ decision-making styles on Mathematics teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study adopted a model-fit correlational survey research design. The sample size of 227 Mathematics teachers in public secondary schools was used for the study. The sample was obtained through multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire developed by the researcher titled; Instructional Supervision Questionnaire (ISQ), Teachers’ Motivation Questionnaire (TMQ), Principals’ Decision-Making Styles Questionnaire (PDMSQ) and Mathematics Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (MTJPQ). Reliability coefficient of 0.87, 0.92, 0.88, and 0.84 were obtained for ISQ, TMQ, PDMSQ and MTJPQ respectively using Cronbach Alpha method. The study adopted structural equation modeling (SEM), specifically the partial least squares (PLS-SEM) for data analysis. The findings revealed that teachers’ motivation exerted a strong and statistically significant direct effect on Mathematics teachers’ job performance, while principals’ decision-making styles such as top-down and disturbed exerted moderate but significant direct effects. Principals’ instructional supervision was found to exert a significant indirect influence on teachers’ job performance through teachers’ motivation. Collectively, the three exogenous variables of instructional supervision, teachers’ motivation, and principals’ decision-making styles explained 93% of the variance in Mathematics teachers’ job performance, indicating strong explanatory power of the causal model. The study concludes that teacher motivation is the most influential factor in determining job performance, while effective supervisory and participatory leadership practices further enhance teachers’ effectiveness. It is recommended that school principals strengthen instructional supervision, adopt participatory decision-making approaches, and implement strategies to enhance teacher motivation to improve Mathematics teaching outcomes in secondary schools.

Purpose Grounded in the event system theory and the stressor-detachment model, this study aims to investigate how crisis strength differentially influences employee fatigue via a detrimental emotional process, namely, affective rumination, and job performance via a constructive cognitive process, namely, problem-solving pondering, with family support serving as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach The authors examined the hypotheses across two studies (Study 1: an experiment and Study 2: a multi-wave field study). Findings Study 1 demonstrated that crisis strength could promote problem-solving pondering and affective rumination, and that family support moderated the relationship between crisis strength and affective rumination. Study 2 replicated these relationships and examined their distal outcomes. Specifically, crisis strength increased employee fatigue through affective rumination and enhanced job performance through problem-solving pondering. Family support further moderated the indirect relationship between crisis strength and employee fatigue through affective rumination. Practical implications Hospitality organizations should not treat crises solely as threats but also as potential catalysts for employee growth and resilience. Originality/value While crisis strength has been linked to negative outcomes for hospitality employees, this study extends the literature by examining its double-edged effects.

Occupational injuries among firefighters significantly impact their job performance. To reduce these injuries and enhance their professional capabilities, this study investigates and comprehensively evaluates the factors contributing to occupational injuries among frontline firefighters in China. It analyzes the underlying mechanisms of these injuries and proposes preventive strategies. This study employed questionnaire surveys and factor analysis methods to conduct a comprehensive investigation and comprehensive assessment of occupational injuries and their influencing factors among 200 firefighters in China. The research subjects were randomly selected from the grassroots firefighters in cities of FuJian Province. Among them, 179 firefighters successfully completed the questionnaire survey. Through exploratory factor analysis, the key factors influencing firefighters' injuries were identified. The injury rate among the participating firefighters in 2023 was 40.78%. The highest injury rate was observed during daily training (58.52%). Notably, the injury rate tends to decrease with increasing age. The most common types of injuries were sprains and strains (57.10%), with the knee joint exhibiting the highest incidence of injury among all body parts (47.00%). The primary factors influencing occupational injuries among firefighters include training factors, support factors, educational factors, and mental health factors, which collectively account for a variance contribution rate of 79.56%. Training, support, educational, and mental health factors are the 4 primary influences on firefighters' occupational injuries. The administrative department should strengthen the study and practice of physical fitness theory for firefighters, prioritize the prevention of occupational training injuries, enhance the scientific rigor of training programs, and promote the occupational health of firefighters. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2026;77(1):1-10.

This study investigates the impact of workplace ostracism on job performance, with a focus on the moderating role of emotional intelligence. Using a quantitative research design, the study collected data through purposive sampling from a sample of 170 university employees (102 females, 68 males), Participants complete questionnaires measuring workplace ostracism, job performance, and emotional intelligence using Workplace Ostracism scale, Job Performance scale, and the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale. In SPSS data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation, one-way ANOVA, independent sample t-test, regression and the PROCESS macro. Findings indicate a significant negative correlation between workplace ostracism and job performance. Additionally, a negative correlation exists between workplace ostracism and emotional intelligence, whereas emotional intelligence and job performance showed a significant positive correlation. Results further indicated that less experienced employees experienced higher workplace ostracism than more experienced ones, and age and qualification levels also varied. However, emotional intelligence does not moderate the relationship between workplace ostracism and job performance suggesting that emotional intelligence alone may not be sufficient to mitigate its effects. The study emphasizes fostering inclusive workplaces and enhancing emotional intelligence training to improve job performance.

Audit quality plays a critical role in maintaining the credibility of financial statements; however, excessive work pressure may trigger auditor burnout and potentially reduce audit performance quality. This issue is important to examine because burnout affects not only individual auditors but also organisational sustainability and public trust. This study aims to analyse the influence of three burnout dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishment, on job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover intention among auditors. This study adopts a quantitative explanatory design using a cross-sectional survey approach. The research population consists of auditors working in government agencies, state-owned enterprises, and public accounting firms in Jayapura, Papua. A purposive sampling technique was employed, resulting in 100 auditors who met the criterion of having at least one year of audit experience. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire with a four-point Likert scale and analysed using canonical correlation analysis to examine the simultaneous relationship between burnout dimensions and work outcomes. The results indicate that emotional exhaustion does not have a significant relationship with job satisfaction, job performance, or turnover intention. In contrast, depersonalisation shows a significant relationship with job performance and turnover intention, while reduced personal accomplishment is significantly related to job performance but not to job satisfaction or turnover intention. Overall, depersonalisation emerges as the most influential burnout dimension affecting auditors’ work outcomes. The findings highlight the importance of organisational policies aimed at reducing depersonalisation through social support mechanisms, fostering a collaborative work environment, and strengthening recognition systems and competency development programmes to enhance auditors’ sense of personal accomplishment and performance.

To identify effective interventions designed to improve work ability and reduce early exit from the labor market of midlife and older workers. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycInfo up to February 17, 2025, focusing on studies aimed at improving work ability and associated conditions (work productivity, work engagement, job performance, and work capacity) and reducing early exit from the labor market among participants aged ⩾40 years. Two reviewers evaluated the quality of studies. The effectiveness of interventions was evaluated using meta-analysis and, when not feasible, qualitative synthesis. Of 17,505 publications, 41 studies were included, comprising 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs, n = 4123) and 27 non-randomized studies (n = 4,616,452). Meta-analysis of RCTs showed that aerobic or strengthening exercises modestly improved work ability (pooled standardized mean difference 0.26, 95% CI 0.08-0.44). Qualitative synthesis indicated cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) reduced productivity loss in workers with chronic health conditions. A meta-analysis of non-randomized studies showed policy reforms raising the eligible retirement age increased employment by 12 percentage points (pps) (95% CI 7-17) and decreased retirement by 29 pps (95% CI 8-50), but increased disability benefits by 6 pps (95% CI 1-11), unemployment by 7 pps (95% CI 2-12), and economic inactivity by 6 pps (95% CI 5-8). Policy reforms tightening unemployment benefit requirements increased employment and reduced unemployment, but increased disability benefits. Exercise improved work ability and CBT reduced productivity loss. Regulatory actions on retirement age and unemployment benefits were associated with higher work participation.

Purpose This study investigates how gamification strategies in hospitality organizations influence employee engagement, workplace fun, involvement and job performance. By adopting a dual-theoretical lens – self-determination theory (SDT) and the job demands-resources (JD-R) model – the study aims to explain the motivational and organizational mechanisms underlying gamification's impact. Design/methodology/approach A concurrent mixed-method design was employed, integrating qualitative interviews with hospitality professionals and quantitative survey data from frontline employees. Thematic analysis was used to extract qualitative insights, while quantitative data were examined using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings Gamification was found to enhance employee engagement and performance by addressing psychological needs (SDT) and acting as a workplace resource (JD-R). Workplace fun and involvement emerged as critical mediators, linking gamified activities to increased intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment. Practical implications The results provide hospitality managers with actionable strategies to design gamification frameworks that are perceived as fair, development-oriented, and socially enriching, ultimately leading to sustained employee engagement and performance. Originality/value This study contributes to the hospitality literature by offering an integrative theoretical explanation for gamification's effects, bridging individual psychological needs with structural workplace dynamics through a mixed-method lens.

The main aim of this work was to assess the influence of alcoholism on the workplace in Kerala, India. The study assessed the workplace consequences of alcohol addiction by comparing alcoholic workers with non-alcoholic workers across several indicators, including work incapacity, punctuality, wage loss due to misconduct, borrowing from colleagues, absenteeism, income loss resulting from absence, and job loss. A cross-sectional study was conducted where 210 alcoholic respondents were selected from various Alcoholics Anonymous groups through multi-stage sampling technique. The same number of non-alcoholic respondents with the same socio-economic background were also selected as control group. Statistical analysis was performed using binomial logistic regression and the Mann–Whitney U test. In this study, we observed a direct relation of alcohol addiction with the inability to work [Odds Ratio (OR) = 40.24], with not being punctual in work (OR = 7.7), and with payment loss due to misbehaviour (OR = 4.25). Similarly, the paper also revealed a direct association of alcohol addiction with monthly absence from work (U=36245.00) and with job loss (U =29706.50). Thus, alcoholism has led to a negative impact on the workplace compared to the families of non-alcoholics.