Michael J. Tews

Emotional labor: A conceptualization and scale development

Abstract Despite increased research attention, the emotional labor construct remains without a clear conceptualization and operationalization. This study designed a conceptually grounded, psychometrically sound instrument to measure emotional labor with an emphasis on the experience of discrete emotions—the Discrete Emotions Emotional Labor Scale (DEELS). This conceptualization and operationalization of emotional labor departs from existing efforts because it focuses on the behavior of emotional expression, encompassing genuine, faked, and suppressed positive and negative emotional displays. Results provide initial evidence for the convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity of the DEELS.

Construct Validity of a General Training Climate Scale

There is growing evidence that an organization’s training climate can influence the effectiveness of formal and informal training activities. Unfortunately, there is limited data regarding the psychometric properties of climate measures that have been used in training research. The purpose of this article is to examine the construct validity of a training climate measure. Results from content adequacy, reliability, aggregation, and convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity assessments provide support for the measure’s use in diagnostic and theory testing efforts.

Learner Engagement: A New Perspective for Enhancing Our Understanding of Learner Motivation and Workplace Learning

Abstract Organizations invest millions of dollars in workplace learning programs to develop human capital for competitive advantage. The effectiveness of workplace learning programs is directly linked to learner motivation. However, we contend that our current understanding of learner motivation and workplace learning is limited by the tendency to conduct research based on the traditional instructional system design model and the limited adoption of organizational behavior theories to guide such research. We propose that studying workforce learning from a psychological engagement perspective is necessary to gain a better understanding of learner motivation and subsequent knowledge and skill acquisition. We review studies of learning methods and contextual factors that likely influence learner engagement. We propose a research agenda focusing on six directions for future research.

Ability versus Personality Factors that Predict Employee Job Performance

All hospitality operators want employees who can learn their jobs quickly and have personality traits that allow them to maintain their performance over time. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to find individuals who possess all of the desirable attributes, and thus, some degree of compromise is generally required. The prevailing view is to select those with great personalities and then train them for the technical job requirements. However, strict adherence to this perspective is not advisable. The study presented in this article found that both general mental ability and conscientiousness are important for predicting the performance of restaurant employees on the front line. Moreover, it appears that these two individual characteristics are important at different stages of an employees job tenure. Using data from 241 line-level restaurant employees, the study found that general mental ability was a better predictor of performance for new employees, whereas conscientiousness was a better predictor of performance for experienced employees. These findings have direct implications for staffing decisions, as well as new employee training and development and performance management.

What matters most? The perceived importance of ability and personality for hiring decisions.

This study examined the emphasis hiring managers placed on general mental ability (GMA) and personality—agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and extraversion—when evaluating applicant profiles for servers for a national restaurant chain. GMA was framed as either “intelligence” or the “ability to learn and solve problems.” Under both conditions, GMA was valued, but less than agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability, even though GMA has been demonstrated to be the strongest predictor of employee performance. Framed as the “ability to learn and solve problems,” GMA was more highly valued, but still less than personality.

Alcohol and illicit substance use in the food service industry: assessing self-selection and job-related risk factors.

The present study examines alcohol and illicit substance use in the food service industry with a generalizable national sample. Specifically, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this research examines whether previous substance use predicts employment in food service and assesses the impact of job-related factors including cumulative experience, occupational differences, compensation, shifts worked, and holding multiple jobs on substance use. The results demonstrate that a modest self-selection effect does exist and that bartenders, employees who receive tipped compensation, and those who hold multiple jobs engage in greater substance use. These findings are discussed along with implications for practitioners and opportunities for future research attention.

An Empirical Investigation of the Relationships among Climate, Capabilities, and Unit Performance

For the current study, the authors examined the relationships among two dimensions of organizational climate and several indices of individual and unit-level effectiveness. Specifically, the article proposes that an organizations service and training climate would be related to employee capabilities—operationalized in terms of frontline service capabilities and managerial support capabilities—and that such capabilities would be related to unitlevel measures of employee turnover and sales growth. Using survey and operational data from 201 management and frontline staff members in 22 units of a national restaurant chain, the results from correlation and regression analyses generally supported the proposed relationships. This study replicates and extends previous research and provides a foundation for future conceptual development and empirical work in this research area.

Enhancing Work—Family Balance Research in Family Businesses

Rothausen thoroughly reviews the literature on work—family balance in traditional workplaces and provides a useful framework for determining a healthy balance between work and family in a family business context. This article addresses Rothausen’s contributions to enhancing work—family research in family businesses, and it specifies areas for further research using a fit model. Work family scholars have the potential to integrate research in economics, sociology, and psychology and so help form interdisciplinary teams to conduct research on family businesses.

Fun in the College Classroom: Examining Its Nature and Relationship with Student Engagement.

Despite the popular belief that fun has a positive impact in learning contexts, empirical research on fun in the classroom has been limited. To extend research in this area, the goal of this study was to develop and validate a new scale to assess fun in the classroom and examine its relationship with student engagement. The multi-stage scale development effort resulted in a two-dimensional measure, including fun activities and fun delivery. Fun activities reflect a variety of hands-on exercises and ways to promote social involvement among students. Fun delivery is more instructor-focused, including the use of humor, creative examples, and storytelling. Interestingly, fun delivery, but not fun activities, was positively related to student engagement. These findings suggest that not all fun is equal and highlight the need for additional research to validate the impact of fun on meaningful student outcomes.

Toward a Resilience Model for the Hospitality & Tourism Industry

The present research examines the impact of natural disasters on hospitality industry jobs and attempts to model job resilience after the industry experiences a disaster. While disasters are increasing at an unparalleled velocity, the hospitality industry has yet to fully appreciate their impact, reach, and consequences. Because the industry is a critical source of domestic economic activity, it is important to understand what happens to industry jobs post disaster and the mechanisms by which industry resilience is achieved. Using systems theory and a capital stock approach, our prior research supports our hypothesis: changes in hospitality industry jobs as a result of experiencing a natural disaster are a function of community resilience. Our regression results suggest characteristics such as creating and maintaining social networks of shared norms and values in a community help explain more changes in industry jobs than does the consequence of anatural disaster. This new model of resilience builds on community characteristics to foster industry jobs sustainability.