Determinants of Employee Engagement in the South African Hospitality Industry During COVID-19 Lockdown Epoch: Employee Perception

Abstract

Employee engagement has emerged as an important concept in hospitality management as well as in human resources management fields. The purpose of the study was to assess the determinants of employee engagement in the South African hospitality industry. The study was conducted against a backdrop caused by volatile uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environments in which business and hotels in general operate exposing employees in the hotel industry to serve in very difficult conditions due to the nature of the diverse and changing needs of their clients. The study used a sample of 260 employees from 15 hotels within and around eThekwini municipality territorial jurisdiction. A cross-sectional survey was used based on a deductive research approach. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected using a questionnaire. Research findings submits that hotels that put a strong emphasis on cultivating engaged workers reap substantial rewards. Employees who report being engaged at work have been shown to perform better at work, as employee involvement is related to organisational results such as efficiency, organisational citizenship, and overall job performance. The researcher recommends that organisations should examine the possible relationships between engagement and performance-related outcome variables that indicate improving engagement, as these provide a competitive advantage over rivals.

Determinants of employee engagement in public sector organisations: case of Zimbabwe

“…Although the concept of employee engagement (EE) is now well known, what remains gloomy is that human resource management (HRM) practices drive EE and how best this can be measured (Chiwawa and Wissink, 2021). Most studies conducted particularly in developed world remain contextual and mostly failed to link the gap between theory and practice by embedding an integrated system of practices and procedures (Albrecht et al.…”

“…, 2020). Owing to the realisation of the need of a productive workforce, HR development practitioners need to progressively assist in the development of workplace strategies that promote EE (Chiwawa and Wissink, 2021). This current study is important for the development of job interventions aimed at optimising EE for the establishment of a conducive and productive working environment.…”

“…Differences in culture, values, politics, management styles, individual inequalities and the national economy are likely to be the cause of such variances at national levels. As a result, the management of organisational operations must be cognisant of the contributory factors to engagement in the countries in which they operate (Chiwawa and Wissink, 2021). Engagement models are country specific; hence, models that work in one country might not work in another.…”

Emotional labour: The effects of genuine acting on employee performance in the service industry

“…Therefore, businesses try to monitor and control the interactions between their service employees and their clients, resulting in service workers being the target of a great deal of managerial attention. Managerial attempts to motivate service employees for providing quality customer service have been the subject of organisational initiatives in numerous service sector disciplines (Chiwawa & Wissink, 2021;Pugh et al, 2011).…”

“…As customers' perceptions of service quality are influenced by the emotions exhibited by service personnel in service contacts, organisations expect service employees to portray emotions that are desired by the employer, in addition to their job expertise (Chiwawa & Wissink, 2021). As felt emotions differ from those intended by the organisation, it takes effort on the part of the employee to express the appropriate emotions as directed by the organisation.…”