Relationships between human resource management practices, employee satisfaction, service quality, and employee service behavior in the hotel industry

Abstract

The hotel industry is critical in developing the economy. Moreover, it is the largest and most rapidly growing industry in Jordan. Employee satisfaction is a crucial element for the success of any organization, particularly in the hotel industry. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influence of human resource management (HRM) practices since these constructs could influence different outcomes at the workplace, such as employee satisfaction, service quality, and employee service behavior in the hotel industry. The study has undertaken five primary HRM practices – recruitment, capability, compensation, performance appraisal, and training and development (T&D) – to measure their impact on employee satisfaction, service quality, and employee service behavior. Data were collected from 290 employees and 290 customers of Jordan’s hotels across all categories in the four main tourist attractions: Amman, Petra, Aqaba, and the Dead Sea. A quantitative approach was employed using various statistical tools such as mean, tabulation of data, correlation, and ANOVA by SPSS software. The results indicated that HRM practices positively affect service quality, employee service behavior, and employee satisfaction. It was also found that when employees in Jordan’s hotel industry demonstrate excellent service behavior, the customer perceptions of service quality increase. Finally, effective human resource management strategy systematically organizes all individual human resource management measures to directly influence employee satisfaction, service behavior, and service quality in a way that leads hotels to achieve organizational success.