Inclusive Leadership and Employees’ Workplace Performance: The Case of Five Star Hotels in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This study looks into how employees’ performance at work is affected by inclusive leadership in five-star hotels in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Effective leadership is essential for promoting employee motivation, engagement, and overall organizational performance in the labor-intensive hospitality sector. Using a cross-sectional survey design and a quantitative methodology, this study gathers data from 323 employees who are working in 15 five-star hotels. For this investigation, second order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used. The findings indicate that inclusive leadership significantly enhances workplace performance (β = .771, p < .001) by fostering key leadership attributes such as collaboration (β = 1.340, p < .001), cultural intelligence (β = 1.305, p < .001), awareness of bias (β = .907, p < .001), commitment (β = 1.039, p < .001), and curiosity (β = .808, p < .001). Additionally, inclusive leadership positively influences task performance (β = .655, p < .001), contextual performance (β = .831, p < .001), and adaptive performance (β = 1.000), creating a dynamic and high-performing workforce. There are important theoretical and practical ramifications to the topic. By confirming inclusive leadership as a factor in employee engagement, motivation, and productivity in a culturally diverse workplace, it adds to the body of literature on leadership and hospitality. In order to improve service quality, hotel managers are urged to implement inclusive leadership techniques and create training courses that emphasize creativity, collaboration, and cultural intelligence. Initiatives for leadership development that advance inclusivity and worker well-being should also receive support from policymakers.