Innovations in management of hotel employees: The relationship between organizational resilience and work engagement

Abstract

In many destinations, crises such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, and outbreaks negatively impact the tourism industry. Such crises stress out both management levels and employees, declining productivity. In an environment where the crisis is intense, tourism enterprises need to take the necessary precautions to continue their activities and ensure sustainability. This study focuses on the implications of organisational resilience on employees, which refers to the ability to continue its activities in the face of crises. This study, handled in the context of Social Exchange Theory, has two purposes. The first purpose of the study is to determine the effect of organisational resilience on organisational support and work engagement. The second purpose of this study is to determine the mediating role of organisational support in the relationship between organisational resilience and work engagement. The study is cross-sectional and employs a quantitative method. The study used convenience sampling because it was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and the relevant restrictions dictated certain precautions. Another reason behind convenience sampling is the limited cost and timeline for the study. Data were collected with questionnaires from 506 employees working at four and five-star hotels. The suitability of the measurement model was tested with confirmatory factor analysis. The mediation analysis was carried out with process macro, based on the bootstrap method. Consequent to the analyses conducted in line with the purposes of this study, organisational resilience was found to positively impact perceived organisational support and work engagement.

Furthermore, perceived organisational support has a full mediation role in the relationship between organisational resilience and work engagement. The findings of this study theoreticaly provide a framework regarding how organisational resilience improves employees' attitudes towards their jobs. In addition, the results obtained in the study help efficiently manage crises and unexpected events and develop the right policies for employees.