Empowering the Post-Pandemic Hotel Workforce: High Performance Work Systems, Self-Esteem, Trust, and Hotel Employee Well-Being

Abstract

Hotel employees’ well-being is an important topic for hospitality industry after COVID-19 outbreak. Hotels were one of the most severely affected sectors due to COVID-19. There were unprecedented layoffs that impacted hotel employees’ well-being. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of high-performance work systems on hotel employees’ well-being. Moreover, the mediating role of organization-based self-esteem and trust in management are also explored. Data were collected from 581 employees working in hotels in Pakistan. Employees from all levels and departments were selected. Regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Results show that high performance work system practices positively influenced hotel employees’ well-being. Moreover, organization-based self-esteem and trust in management mediated the link between high performance work systems and employees’ well-being. This research is the first of its kind to empirically test the effect of high-performance work systems on hotel employees’ well-being, especially in context of aftermath of COVID-19 outbreak.