Seonghee Cho

Employee Relation Programs and Hotel Performance: Impact on Turnover, Labor Productivity, and RevPAR

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of employee relations programs (ERP) on organizational performance in the lodging industry. ERP provides employees with opportunities to participate in planning and improving work-related tasks. Four items were used to measure employee relations: formal complaint-resolution programs, participation programs, attitude surveys, and suggestion systems. Further, three types of organizational performance measures, namely employee turnover, labor productivity, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) were used. Findings indicated that ERP led to higher labor productivity and RevPAR.

How hospitality students develop perceptions of potential employers - a post-internet update.

This 2003 study repeats and extends a 1997 investigation of how students perceive hospitality organizations as prospective employers. Using structural equation modeling, the study confirmed five factors to examine the relationship between the factors and the likelihood of employment in eight industry segments. The greatest difference between the 1997 findings and those of 2003 is the rise of the Internet in guiding students’ attitudes toward various industry segments. With regard to quick-service restaurants (QSRs) and private clubs, company-sponsored events particularly improve the likelihood of that a student will accept employment in those segments. Word of mouth and experience as a customer, on the other hand, can decrease a student’s interest in working in economy hotels and QSRs (even though direct work experience improves notice for those two segments). Ironically, the personal recruiting visit seems to have less influence on employment decisions than one might expect.

Psychological Contracts, Perceived Organizational and Supervisor Support: Investigating the Impact on Intent to Leave Among Hospitality Employees in India

This study investigates the effects of perceived organizational support on transactional and relational contracts and how these two types of psychological contracts influence employee intent to leave. Additionally, perceived supervisor support was examined as a predictor of perceived organizational support. Given the high employee turnover rates in the hospitality industry, lack of employee turnover studies in hospitality context, and more importantly, lack of employee turnover studies in countries other than the Western organizational contexts, the current study examines the above relationships with restaurant employees in India. Results showed that perceived supervisor support increased employee perceptions of organizational support, perceived organizational support increased relational psychological contracts but not transactional contracts, and only relational contracts had a significant effect on employees’ intent to leave. Implications of these results and issues for future research are discussed.

A Food Safety Belief Model for Latino(A) Employees in Foodservice

Reducing the risk and occurrence of foodborne illness is a priority for the foodservice industry. Despite the large presence of Latino(a)s in the foodservice workforce, there is little research on attitudes toward food safety and related behavior among this group. This study employed the health belief model to investigate Latino(a) foodservice employees’ attitudes toward food safety and the antecedents of food safety behavior. Results showed that food safety knowledge did not affect self-reported food safety behavior but did significantly predict perceived susceptibility, severity, and barriers. The analysis also indicated that perceived benefits have a direct impact on food safety behavior.

Uncovering the Link Between Organizational Behaviors and Employment Status in the U.S. Hotel Industry

Part-time workers have been considered a necessity for gaining a competitive advantage in the U.S. hospitality industry. More than 500 line employees working in the U.S. hotel industry were invited to participate in this study. Regression analysis was used to uncover the relationship between behaviors and attitudes of part-time versus full-time hotel workers. Significant variations between the two groups were found. Part-time workers showed more “voice” and “action” organizational citizenship behaviors than full-time employees did. This study provides hotel managers with a better understanding of the differences between the organizational behaviors of part-time and full-time workers and provides an evaluation for enhancing the attitudes of part-time employees within U.S. hotels.

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on work engagement in the hospitality industry: Test of motivation crowding theory

The aim of this study was to examine extrinsic and intrinsic motivations as the antecedents of work engagement and to empirically test the motivation crowding theory using hospitality employees. The findings showed that intrinsic motivation played an important role in improving employees’ work engagement. The study also found that there was no indication that employees’ intrinsic motivation diminished when extrinsic motivation entered. It is also suggested that employers need to understand that creating a comfortable workplace environment and making jobs more interesting and meaningful will increase employees’ intrinsic motivation, which will help employees to engage more at work. Motivational antecedents of work engagement have been rarely studied and no studies have been conducted to research impacts of extrinsic and intrinsic motivators on employees’ work engagement in the hospitality industry, particularly in small restaurant businesses. In addition, empirical studies on motivation crowding theory are needed due to the inconclusive results.

The moderating effect of self-efficacy and gender on work engagement for restaurant employees in the United States

Purpose The purpose of the study was to examine the moderating effect of self-efficacy and gender on work engagement. Design/methodology/approach The survey study was conducted on 149 restaurant employees, and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Findings Self-efficacy significantly moderated the impact of perceived organizational support on work engagement, but the moderating effect of self-efficacy was only significant for women with low self-efficacy. Self-efficacy did not moderate the impact of work engagement on intent to leave. Practical implications The results of the study provide suggestions for managing men and women with different levels of self-efficacy in the hospitality workplace. Originality/value The focus of previous studies on work engagement has primarily been on its antecedents and outcomes, but little is known about individual differences in the relationship between work engagement and its antecedents/outcomes. This is the first study investigating self-efficacy and gender as moderators of work engagement in the hospitality industry.

Personalities of Travel Agents with Strong Sales Records in Taiwan

Studies have shown that a certain personality leads to higher job performance. This finding has led many companies to use personality traits when they hire employees. Despite abundant studies on personality, little is known about suitable personality traits for travel agents, especially in Taiwan. With 230 travel agents working in sales departments for corporate clients and transient travelers in Taiwan, their personalities, actual sales records, and managers’ performance evaluations were used to identify significant personality traits affecting job performance. The results reflect different personality traits for travel agents working with corporate clients and individual transient travelers. The results revealed that travel agents working with corporate contracts have strong commanding and continuative personalities but weak innovative and independent personalities. On the contrary, the agents working with transient travelers showed strong innovative, commending, independent, and sympathy personalities but a weak deliberate personality. Based on the findings, the implications are discussed.

Latina/o Food Industry Employees’ Work Experiences Work Barriers, Facilitators, Motivators, Training Preferences, and Perceptions

The present study explored the work experiences, job satisfaction, and work behaviors of Latina/o restaurant workers. A total of 10 semistructured focus group (N = 75) interviews were conducted in the Midwest and Southwest. Data were analyzed using a combination of Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; Hill et al., 2005; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) and phenomenology approaches. Five themes emerged across the data: work-related barriers (i.e., time, language, negative perceptions of training, and managers and coworkers), work facilitators (i.e., formal training and informal training), motivation for performing tasks (i.e., recognition, concern for others, concern for job security, personal values, and tangible rewards), cultural context (i.e., perceptions of Latina/o workers), and training preferences (i.e., practice, audiovisual, comfort/discomfort with computers, and language preferences). Some of these themes have traditionally been considered industrial/organizational concerns, but they are becoming increasingly relevant for career counseling practice. Findings suggest that Latina/o workers face considerable barriers in implementing requisite work behaviors, which may impact the maintenance of employment. Recommendations for career counseling practice and research with Latina/o workers are provided.

Interaction effect of display rules and emotional intelligence on hotel managers’ and non-managers’ work engagement

This paper aims to investigate the interaction effect of job demands (e.g. display rules; DRs) and personal resources (e.g. emotional intelligence; EI) on work engagement and whether this interaction effect varies between managers and non-managers.,This study has been conducted on 572 hotel employees (153 managers and 388 non-managers) in China, and multiple linear regression analyses have been used to analyze the data.,The results indicate that the direct impact of DRs on work engagement was significantly positive for both hotel managers and non-managers; DRs boosted the positive impact of EI on work engagement, but only among managers; and EI boosted the positive impact of DRs on work engagement, but only among managers with high EI.,Previous studies have primarily focused on the antecedents and outcomes of work engagement, but little is about the direct impact of job demands and the interaction effect of job demands and personal resources on work engagement. This is the first study investigating DRs and its interaction effect with EI on work engagement among hotel managers and non-managers, respectively.