Business & Management Studies

Does remaining silent help in coping with workplace incivility among hotel employees? Role of personality

Does remaining silent help in coping with workplace incivility among hotel employees? Role of personality

The findings of the study suggest that workplace incivility both for supervisors and co-workers in hotels was positively related with silence and its dimensions.

Authors

Dayanand Pandey, Professor and Dean, Jindal School of Banking & Finance, O.P Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.

Shalini Srivastava, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Poornima Madan, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Summary

Drawing on the Conservation of Resources theory, the study attempts to examine the relationship between workplace incivility (supervisors and co-workers) and employee silence among the frontline hotel employees. It futher intends to understand the role of the Big five personality as a moderator in strengthening the stated relationship.

Methodology

The data for the study was collected from the frontline employees of the hotels located in the Northern India at three different time intervals. Statistical tools like SPSS 22 and AMOS 22 were utilized to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

The findings of the study suggested that workplace incivility both for supervisors and co-workers was positively related with silence and its dimensions. Furthermore, Big five personality traits i.e. conscientiousness, extroversion, and neuroticism were found to significantly moderate the association between workplace incivility (supervisors and co-workers) and employee silence behaviour.

Practical implications

The present study outcomes encourage organizations to recognize the damaging effect of workplace incivility, compelling them to prevent and stop mistreating employees and curtail silence.

Originality

The contribution of the study is immense in developing the awareness of the harmful effect of workplace incivility from supervisors and co-workers and is the novel research to experimentally probe employee silence. Additionally, the study adds to the literature by taking Big five personality dimensions as a moderator between workplace incivility (supervisors and co-workers) and silence behaviour in the hotel sector in the emerging economies like India.

Published in: Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management

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