On being warm and friendly: the effect of socially responsible human resource management on employee fears of the threats of COVID-19

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the influence of socially- responsible human resource management (SRHRM) on employee fears of external threats during the COVID-19 outbreak, based on social support and event system theories. COVID-19 caused sharp profit declines and bankruptcies of hotels, restaurants and travel agencies. In addition, employees faced threats to their health and job security. How to overcome employee anxieties and fears about the negative impacts of this crisis and promote psychological recovery is worthy of attention from researchers and practitioners. This research investigated the impacts of SRHRM on employee fears through organizational trust, with the COVID-19 pandemic playing a moderating role between SRHRM and employee fears. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested through multiple linear regression analysis based on a survey of 408 employees in hospitality and tourism firms in China. Qualitative data were also gathered through interviews with selected managers. Findings The results showed that SRHRM had a negative influence on employee fears of external threats by enhancing trust in their organizations. In addition, the strength of the COVID-19 pandemic positively moderated the effect of SRHRM on employee fears. When the pandemic strength was more robust, the negative effects of SRHRM on employee fears were more significant. Research limitations/implications This research illustrated the contribution of SRHRM in overcoming employee fears of external threats in the context of COVID-19. It shed light on the organizational contribution of SRHRM to hospitality and tourism employee psychological recovery during the crisis. Originality/value This research explored strategic HRM by examining the effects of SRHRM on employee fears in the midst of a severe crisis, specifically COVID-19. The moderation effect of event strength and mediation effect of organizational trust were tested. It is of great value for hospitality and tourism firms to foster employee psychological recovery during a crisis such as COVID-19.

Well-being and career change intention: COVID-19’s impact on unemployed and furloughed hospitality workers

“…Several conceptual or case studies have examined various aspects of COVID-19's impact, including human resources , crisis management (Knight et al, 2020;Lai and Wong, 2020), marketing (Jiang and Wen, 2020), sustainability (Jones and Comfort, 2020) or the topic of travel restrictions and human rights (Baum and Hai, 2020). A few studies have examined how hospitality leadership can help workers continue to thrive during the pandemic (He et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020). Therefore, this research examines the distressing experience of furloughed and unemployed hospitality workers during the COVID-19 crisis.…”

“…Workforce reduction strategies such as layoffs or furloughs are common practices that were adopted by hospitality businesses during the financial crisis (He et al, 2020); however, hospitality research has paid little attention to assessing the impacts of such workforce reductions. Thus, this research examines the psychological distress experienced by unemployed and furloughed hospitality workers during the COVID-19 crisis and further investigates how this distress affects their career change intention.…”

Updates in service standards in hotels: how COVID-19 changed operations

“…Operators should therefore be expected to plan for contingencies that require additional mitigation efforts and to be able to reinitiate any previously enacted mitigation strategies. Hotel managers must remember the human element of workers who interact directly with guests and the guests who must interact directly with a team member (Baum and Hai, 2020;He et al, 2020). Each individual may have a different level of risk tolerance, and managers should be flexible with those idiosyncratic responses and not stigmatize people who are behaving more cautiously than others.…”

Impacts of customer incivility and abusive supervision on employee performance: a comparative study of the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods

“…First, the economic recession arising from the pandemic has pressurized many organizations to downsize employees or change their work arrangements. As a consequence, many individuals feel anxious about their job security (Filimonau et al 2020 ; He et al 2020 ; Jung et al 2021 ). In addition, telework and social distancing caused by the pandemic render individuals feel lonely and isolated and prevent them from concentrating on their work (Chong et al 2020 ).…”