The effects of transformational leadership and HRM practices on employee outcomes and productivity in the Greek hospitality industry during COVID-19
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-08-2021-0360 |
| Published date | 30 December 2022 |
| Date | 30 December 2022 |
| Pages | 653-676 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Panagiotis V. Kloutsiniotis,Dimitrios M. Mihail,Silouani Gounioti |
The effects of transformational
leadership and HRM practices
on employee outcomes and
productivity in the Greek
hospitality industry
during COVID-19
Panagiotis V. Kloutsiniotis
Department of Tourism, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece, and
Dimitrios M. Mihail and Silouani Gounioti
Human Resource Management Lab, Department of Business Administration,
University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece
Abstract
Purpose –The present study investigates the role of “Transformational Leadership (TFL)”on employees’
work engagement and its effect on their “Productivity”and “Extra-Role Customer Service”behaviors. In doing
so, the present study examines the mediating role of two crucial variables, namely the creation of a “Service
Climate”and the role of “Trust”that employees show toward their managers. Last but not least, this research
examines the potential role of High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) as a moderator.
Design/methodology/approach –Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was
used on a sample of 459 customer-contact employees across thirteen 4- and 5-star Greek hotel organizations.
Findings –This study reveals the mechanism through which “TFL”impacts employees’productivity.
Specifically,“TFL”first impacts employees’“Trust”towardtheir managers and helps toward creating a “Social
Climate”. In turn, both “Trust”and “Social Climate”directly impact employees’“Work Engagement”who
respond by showing increased “Productivity”and by exhibiting “Extra-Role Customer Service”behaviors.
Nevertheless, the role of HPWS as a moderator was not confirmed.
Practicalimplications –The present study underscores the need for hotels’management to pay the required
attentionon creating an employment relationship based on “Trust”, as well as on creating a “Service Climate”in
order for their employees to become work engaged and highly productive.
Originality/value –This is among the first studies that examine the “TFL”effects on employee outcomes in
the Tourism and Hospitality sector, during the COVID-19 era.
Keywords Extra-role customer service, HPWS, Productivity, Service climate, Transformational leadership,
Trust, Work engagement
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world rapidly. Indeed, the relevant restrictions
(e.g. lockdowns) have deteriorated enormously not only people’s lives but also the global
economy due to the financial collapse that came along. Of utmost importance, the services
industry has been hit hard, including tourism and hospitality (Goh and Baum, 2021). Data
derived by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO, 2021) statistics are
alarming. Specifically, in the time period between April 2020 and May 2021, the estimated
losses in total export revenues from international tourism were estimated to about 1.3 trillion
US$, not to mention the loss of jobs in the tourism industry and the inevitable shut down of
hotel organizations.
Employee
outcomes and
productivity
653
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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Received 18 August 2021
Revised 14 September 2022
27 November 2022
Accepted 19 December 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 45 No. 3, 2023
pp. 653-676
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-08-2021-0360
All in all, the aforementioned COVID-19 consequences have added immense pressure to
hotels in order to overcome these stressful working conditions for employees (e.g. Goh and
Baum, 2021). Specifically, research shows that employees experience feelings of anxiety and
stress (Mao et al., 2021;Salem et al., 2021;Kloutsiniotis et al., 2022), leading ultimately to
“burnout”(Yang et al., 2021). Hence, although the research so far in the Human Resource
Management (HRM) literature offers a valuable insight with regard to the way through which
an organization can effectively manage its employees in order to promote their well-being and
productivity (e.g. Zacharatos et al., 2005;Ogbonnaya and Messersmith, 2019;Meijerink et al.,
2020), the pandemic has created a totally new environment. Indeed, the recent developments
in the HRM literature underscore the importance of keeping the hospitality industry
sustainable not only during the pandemic but also in the years following (Hao et al., 2020;
Jiang and Wen, 2020;Mao et al., 2021). Nevertheless, although a plethora of studies emerged in
the hospitality research as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic during the past two years
(e.g. Baum et al., 2020;He et al., 2020;Knight et al., 2020;Agarwal, 2021), there is still a gap in
the literature with regard to the valuable contribution of HRM in the hospitality industry
under the newly formed environment.
Taking the previous discussion into consideration, the present study has two main goals.
To begin with, this research focuses on the “black-box”(Kinnie et al., 2005;Messersmith et al.,
2011) issue and the actual process through which it operates (e.g. Boselie et al., 2005). In detail,
one important topic across the HRM literature concerns the impact of its policies and systems
of practices on firm performance, often referred to as “High Performance Work Systems”
(HPWS; Appelbaum et al., 2000). Nevertheless, although the initial HPWS research showed
positive effects on organizational performance (e.g. Huselid, 1995;Delery and Doty, 1996),
there was a need to decipher the actual process through which HPWS affects organizational
performance (e.g. Boselie et al., 2005). This exact process was later characterized as the “black-
box”issue (Messersmith et al., 2011). According to Messersmith et al. (2011), a series of events
takes place. First, these systems of HRM practices impact employee attitudes and behaviors,
who respond –in turn –with extra-role behaviors and increased productivity, affecting
ultimately organizational performance.
Despite the aforementioned developments, another issue came to the surface regarding
the actual mechanism through which HPWS impacts employee outcomes (e.g. van de Voorde
and Beijer, 2015, p. 62; see also Kloutsiniotis and Mihail, 2020a). Although the HPWS research
has made considerable progress throughout the years (e.g. van de Voorde and Beijer, 2015;Fu
et al., 2017;Cooper et al., 2019;Ogbonnaya and Messersmith, 2019;Meijerink et al., 2020), the
relevant research in the Tourism and Hospitality industry falls behind with only few
exceptions (e.g. Sun et al., 2007;Tang and Tang, 2012;Chen et al., 2017;Kloutsiniotis and
Mihail, 2020b). Indeed, despite these theoretical developments, one of the most significant
drawbacks concerns the focus of previous research in the manufacturing sector, neglecting
the overall service one and the tourism and hospitality industry explicitly, with few
exceptions (e.g. Garg and Dhar, 2016;Tuan, 2018). Nevertheless, the need to shift research
toward the hospitality sector can be evident by the following reasons. To begin with, the
relevant findings from the manufacturing sector cannot be generalized to the service one due
to the special characteristics that comprise services (Liao et al., 2009, p. 373). Moreover,
another significant issue that needs to be included concerns the contribution of the service
sector (over 60%) to the “Gross Domestic Product”(GPD) in most countries (Liao et al., 2009,
p. 371). Of utmost importance, however, it goes without saying that the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic have caused devastating consequences to the economies across the
world, whereas the hospitality industry has absorbed the most impact. Therefore, the first
goal of the present research aims to close these gaps.
Moving a step further, another crucial issue that is currently lacking in the HRM literature
concerns the vital role of “Transformational Leadership”(TFL) on employee outcomes and
ER
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