Enhancing hotel employees' well-being and safe behaviors: The influences of physical workload, mental workload, and psychological resilience

Abstract

Research background: Despite the dynamically growing cross-sectional academic studies conducted on various aspects related to physical and mental workloads in the context of workplace safety, there is still room for further in-depth analyses of how these workloads affect employees' behavior and well-being. This phenomenon is of particular interest in the case of hospitality, where hotels should recognize the workloads imposed on their employees, since they are considered the most critical and influential stressors in the workplace. Purpose of the article: Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, our study aims to examine how hotel employees' physical and mental workloads affect their well-being and safe behaviors. The study also investigates how employee well-being and psychological resilience play a role in these patterns. Methods: The study employs an experience-sampling methodology to assess the physical and mental workloads of a group of full-time employees working in luxury hotels in the USA. Findings & value added: The findings derived from Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) reveal that both physical and mental workloads negatively impact overall well-being and safe behaviors. Additionally, physical workload influences mental workload. Also, employee well-being has been identified as a mediating factor in the relationship between workloads, psychological resilience, and safe behaviors. Notably, psychological resilience has not exhibited a moderating effect. This study expands on the COR theory by examining its impact on the hospitality industry. The study has developed and validated a model for assessing hotel employees' physical workload. Moreover, it emphasizes the significance of employees' well-being and psychological resilience in promoting safe behaviors in hotels. Therefore, this model is a significant step forward toward effectively measuring and maintaining the overall well-being and safe behaviors of employees in the hospitality industry. Furthermore, the value of the research is enhanced by surveying hotel employees directly rather than relying on subjective opinions from management about employee involvement in workplace health and safety. This approach avoids the bias often present in management assessments and provides a more accurate depiction of employee participation.