Motivations and commitment to work in the hospitality industry: investigating employee psychology and responsible organizational behaviors

Abstract

Purpose A number of hospitality businesses are understaffed and are experiencing severe labor shortages, in various contexts. In many cases, hotels and restaurants are finding it difficult to retain and recruit motivated employees. In this light, this research uses key constructs related to the self-determination theory and integrates them with a responsible human resources management (HRM) measure, to investigate the antecedents of organizational commitment. The underlying objective of this study is to shed light on employee psychology and on responsible organizational behaviors in the hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were captured through an online questionnaire distributed via popular LinkedIn groups that represent hospitality employees. A composite-based structural equations modeling approach was used to confirm the reliability and validity of the chosen factors and to shed light on the causal paths of this contribution’s proposed model. Findings The results indicate that there are highly significant direct and indirect effects in this study, particularly between extrinsic motivations – organizational commitment and between responsible HRM – organizational commitment. These relationships are mediated by intrinsic motivations. Research limitations/implications This contribution advances a robust responsible organizational behavior model comprising responsible HRM, extrinsic rewards, intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment. Practical implications This research implies that practitioners ought to incentivize and reward hardworking employees, in a commensurate manner, to offer them great working environments as well as appropriate conditions of employment, to enhance their loyalty, minimize turnover rates and to attract promising talent. Originality/value This empirical study incorporates a responsible HRM construct with extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. It confirms that they are significant antecedents of organizational commitment. Unlike previous research, this contribution focuses on employee psychology as well as on strategic organizational behaviors during a time when tourism businesses are experiencing an increase in demand for their services, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. It raises awareness on the industry’s perennial challenges in attracting and retaining employees.