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Keywords: Cameroon, Hotel employees, Job outcomes, Job resources, Work engagement
JEL: M12, M31
Abstract
This study develops and tests a research model that investigates work engagement as a mediator of the effects of coworker and supervisor support on career satisfaction, service recovery performance, job performance, and creative performance. Data were obtained from frontline hotel employees with a time lag of one month and their immediate supervisors in Cameroon. The relationships were tested using LISREL 8.30 through structural equation modeling. The results demonstrated a better fit for the fully mediated model when compared to the partially mediated model. The results further revealed that work engagement fully mediated the effects of coworker and supervisor support on the previously mentioned outcomes. Implications of the results and their future research directions are offered.
1 Introduction
In today's competitive market environment, astute hotel managers recognize that delivery of service quality is a must for organizational success and survival. Employees having intense face-to-face or voice-to-voice interactions with cus- tomers play the most critical role in this process (Cheng et al., 2008; Weber and placeCitySparks, 2010; Yavas et al., 2010). Such employees are also among the main actors who can return disgruntled customers to a state of satisfac- tion after a service failure (Yavas et al., 2010). In addition, according to the resource-based view, inimitable human resources (e.g., highly quali.ed frontline employees) are pivotal in service delivery process (Jerman and Zavr.nik, 2006; Karatepe and Aleshinloye, 2009). Under these circumstances, hotel managers are in need of frontline employees who can deliver quality services to customers and deal with customer problems effectively (cf. Awang et al., 2010; Ivankoviè et al., 2010; Yavas et al., 2010).
Work engagement (WE), which refers to "a positive, fuliflling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption"(Schaufeli et al., 2002, p. 74), leads to positive employee outcomes (Bakker and Demerouti, 2008). In Schaufeli et al..s (2002) study, vigor is de.ned as "high levels of en- ergy and mental resilience while working, the willingness to invest efforts in one.s work, and persistence even in the face of diffculties., while dedication refers to "a sense of significance, enthusiasm, inspiration, pride, and challenge.(p. 74). Absorption, which is another dimension of WE, is de.ned as "being fully...