Exploring Followership Resilience in the Hospitality Industry

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to examine the link between followership resilience and organizational sustainability in hospitality. In particular, it explores followers' propensity to seek guidance (low-initiative employees) or take the initiative (high-initiative employees) as well as the tendency to doubt the decisions of supervisors (low-trust employees) or trust superiors' judgments (high-trust employees). A mixed-methods research design is applied, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Empirical data is collected through a combination of exploratory and descriptive research strategies. A 12-item questionnaire reveals the predominant follower propensities. The majority of bottom-level workers indicate low-to-moderate initiative propensity, and the majority of managers show moderate-to-high initiative propensity. Regarding follower trust in superiors, most of the subordinates express low-to-moderate trust propensity. The chapter also identifies advantages and disadvantages of employees with opposing propensities from an organizational sustainability perspective.