Cultivating a Thriving Workforce in Hospitality Organisations - An Empirical Study of Its Antecedents and Consequences

Purpose: This paper focuses on cultivating employees’ experience of thriving at work (TAW) within the context of hospitality organisations. Specifically, it conceptualises and empirically tests a selection of antecedents to employees' TAW, as well as its consequences. Methodology/Approach: The study gathered data from 346 employees working in the hospitality industry. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was utilised with SmartPLS 4 to examine and validate the proposed conceptual framework. Findings: Leadership autonomy support, working as a team, and employee engagement have positive impacts on cultivating employees' TAW. TAW has positive consequences on service quality and organisational attractiveness. Additionally, both work as a team, and employee engagement was found to mediate the relationship between leadership autonomy support and TAW. Research Limitation/Implication: The study is limited to exploring only a selection of antecedents and consequences of TAW. However, the paper contributes theoretically to the field of hospitality research by enhancing our understanding and insights into the concept of TAW, as well as having several practical implications for managers of hospitality organisations. Originality/Value of paper: The study contributes to a relatively new research domain within positive psychology, focusing on employees' TAW.