Achieving engagement among hospitality employees: a serial mediation model

Purpose This paper aims to disclose some mechanisms whereby job engagement can be created in a hospitality context. A study was conducted to examine the relationships among high-performance work practices (HPWPs), empowering leadership behaviors, psychological empowerment and engagement. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical serial mediation model was developed to examine the proposed relationship. The hypotheses were tested using regression analysis with bootstrapping. In total, 340 hotel workers participated in this study. Findings Both empowering leadership and psychological empowerment were found to be independent mediators of the HPWPs–engagement relationship; in addition, empowering leadership and psychological empowerment mediated this relationship serially. Research limitations/implications Results suggest that hospitality organizations should implement HPWPs and encourage empowering leadership behavior in their managers to create a work context that fosters psychological empowerment. These strategies will, in turn, generate employee job engagement. A richer, deeper understanding of various antecedents of engagement is the main theoretical contribution of this work. Practical implications This research stresses the importance of specific organizational conditions and managerial strategies in achieving psychological fulfillment of hospitality employees. In sum, the present study provides important insights for managers and human resource managers in the hospitality industry who seek to foster empowered, engaged employees. Originality/value The findings suggest that HPWPs are associated with employee engagement through a serial mediation model with two mediators. No research to date has used this nascent methodology to explore the association between HPWPs and engagement.