Impact of the Working Environment on the Job performance of Operational Level Employees in Hotel Industry

Abstract
Job performance is a significant element in the hotel industry. The organization must be able to provide a safe & comfortable working environment, attract & retain & enhance the performance of existing employees. Therefore, this study aims to identify the impact of working environment factors on job performance. The foremost objective of this study was to identify the relationship between physical environment factors & psychological environment factors with motivation. Furniture, sound, spatial arrangement, temperature & color were identified as physical environment factors while supervisor support & quality of leadership were indicated as psychological environment factors. The study was based on the quantitative research approach & operational level employees in three, four & five-star graded hotels in Western Province, Sri Lanka were investigated using a sample of 200 employees. The convenience sampling method was used to select the representative sample. A self- administered close-ended questionnaire was used to collect primary data from the field. The data were processed and analysed using descriptive analysis & multiple linear regression analysis in SPSS and structural equation modelling in Smart PLS. The findings of the study provided evidence on the impact of the working environment on employees‟ job performance. Findings revealed that furniture, spatial arrangement, temperature, lighting & color as the physical environment factors have a positive effect on employee performance while sound factors hurt employees‟ job performance. Furthermore, supervisor support impacts employees' job performance more than the quality of leadership as psychological environment factors. The finding indicates that motivation as a mediator significantly impacts 40.6% of physical environment factors on the employees‟ job performance while 50% of psychological environment factors impact the job performance of the employees. It indicates that motivation has a more significant impact on the psychological working environment than the physical working environment through the employees' job performances. Based on the findings, the study recommends that hotel management & government or any other authorized parties should design the workplace in a comfortable & attractive way to support employees‟ satisfaction and well- being while enhancing job performances. Keywords: Job performance; Mediator; Motivation; Physical environment factors; Psychological environment factors
Description
Keywords
Human Resource Management, Tourism Management, Hospitality Management, Employees in Hotel Industry
Citation