The Effects of High-Performance Work Practices and Psychological Capital on Hotel Employees’ Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement

The purpose of this thesis is to develop and test a research model that examines the interrelationships of high-performance work practices, psychological capital, work engagement, quitting intentions, creative performance, and extra-role performance. To serve this purpose, data were collected from customer-contact employees and their immediate supervisors in the international five- and four-star hotels in Romania. Data were obtained from customer-contact employees with a time lag of two weeks in three waves. The results reveal that all hypotheses shown in the research model are supported. Specifically, high-performance work practices, as manifested by selective staffing, job security, training, empowerment, rewards, teamwork, and career opportunities, enhance hotel employees’ psychological capital and work engagement. Psychological capital triggers also work engagement. These results show that psychological capital is a mediator in the abovementioned relationships. In addition, both psychological capital and work engagement foster creative and extra-role performances, while they alleviate employees’ intent to quit. Work engagement is a mediator in the relationships given above. The theoretical and practical contributions to the relevant literature are discussed in light of the study findings and recommendations for future research are given. Keywords: Employee outcomes, High-performance work practices, Psychological capital, Romania, Work engagement