Transformational leadership and quality of work life: A mediation model of trust climate

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of managers’ transformational leadership on employees’ quality of work life through the mediation effect of firms’ climate of trust in the hospitality industry. The study was conducted with operational employees working in three-star hotels in Bangladesh. Data were gathered from 186 respondents by a structured questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS 21 and SmartPLS 3.0 software. To test the hypothesized model, the study used a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) by SmartPLS 3.0. The results of this study revealed the strong direct effects (p < .05) of managers’ transformational leadership (β = 0.433) and firm’s trust climate (β = 0.183) on the employees’ quality of work life with a variance (R2) of 31.9%, and also the significant impact of managers’ transformational leadership (β = 0.599) on firm’s trust climate with a variance (R2) of 35.9%. The study also exposed a significant mediation effect (p < .05) of firms’ climate of trust (β = 0.112) in the relationship between managers’ transformational leadership and employees’ quality of work life. The findings suggest that a trust climate is such an internal mechanism that can convert transformational leadership practices into employee satisfaction with their professional life, while transformational managers can build the climate as well as enrich people’s lives at work.

Organizational justice and quality of work life in hotels: The mediating effect of trust climate

“…Third, this study found a substantial impact of teams' climate of trust on the hotel operational employees' quality of work life. This finding corroborates the results of prior studies revealing that a workplace with an atmosphere of shared and mutual trust can improve the peace and happiness of people's work lives (Akter et al, 2021;Blomeke et al, 2015;Jiang & Probst, 2015). Finally, the findings revealed a mediation effect of the team's trust climate in the relationship between hotels' organizational justice and the quality of operational employees' work life in the Bangladeshi hotel industry.…”

“…QWL is "employee satisfaction with a variety of needs through resources, activities, and outcomes stemming from participation in the workplace" (Sirgy et al, 2001). They emphasize the significance of the individuals' QWL on their overall (professional and personal) life (Akter et al, 2021). As stated by Razak et al (2016), the continuous implementation of QWL approaches can balance people's personal and professional life, thereby, making them feel happy with their overall life (Sirgy et al, 2001).…”

“…An efficient social exchange generates mutual trust among the parties (Rai, 2015;Sahoo & Sahoo, 2019). In institutions, when people are treated fairly and justly, a high level of mutual trust takes place (Gaudencio et al, 2017;Sahoo & Sahoo, 2019), which helps both managers and employees achieve firm success in a shorter time and more effectively (Akter et al, 2021(Akter et al, , 2023. A trustworthy working environment helps people be trusted by others; thus, it improves the values and qualities of employees' work and working life (Akter et al, 2021;Van der Berg & Martins, 2013).…”

“…In institutions, when people are treated fairly and justly, a high level of mutual trust takes place (Gaudencio et al, 2017;Sahoo & Sahoo, 2019), which helps both managers and employees achieve firm success in a shorter time and more effectively (Akter et al, 2021(Akter et al, , 2023. A trustworthy working environment helps people be trusted by others; thus, it improves the values and qualities of employees' work and working life (Akter et al, 2021;Van der Berg & Martins, 2013). Besides, a trusting climate acts as a crucial factor in improving the level of employee satisfaction (Blömeke et al, 2015;Jiang & Probst, 2015).…”

“…Moreover, a trust climate of a team fosters cognitive exchanges and knowledge-sharing behavior that may encourage social persuasion (Shih et al, 2012), thus the team's climate boosts members' confidence (Carmeli et al, 2012) and improves employee-focused outcomes in the organization (Blomeke et al, 2015;Jiang & Probst, 2015), e.g. employee well-being (Celma et al, 2018;Di Stefano et al, 2018;Poulsen & Ipsen, 2017), and quality of their work life (Akter et al, 2021;Van Der Berg & Martins, 2013). Accordingly, when employees see that all the people related to their jobs) act in a way that makes them feel secure and proud, since other people also feel the same about them, they can enjoy their life at work.…”