Employee Proactivity in Hotels Undergoing Organizational Change and Development
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Ateneo de Manila University Archīum Ateneo Psychology Department Faculty Publications Psychology Department 10-2017 Employee proactivity in hotels undergoing organizational change and development Alfred Presbitero Deakin University Mendiola Teng-Calleja Ateneo de Manila University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/psychology-faculty-pubs Part of the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Presbitero, A., & Teng-Calleja, M. (2017). Employee proactivity in hotels undergoing organizational change and development. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 16(4), 401-421. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology Department at Archīum Ateneo. It has been accepted for inclusion in Psychology Department Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Archīum Ateneo. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism ISSN: 1533-2845 (Print) 1533-2853 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/whrh20 Employee proactivity in hotels undergoing organizational change and development Alfred Presbitero & Mendiola Teng-Calleja To cite this article: Alfred Presbitero & Mendiola Teng-Calleja (2017) Employee proactivity in hotels undergoing organizational change and development, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 16:4, 401-421, DOI: 10.1080/15332845.2017.1266873 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2017.1266873 Published online: 01 Feb 2017. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 438 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 1 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=whrh20 JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN HOSPITALITY & TOURISM 2017, VOL. 16, NO. 4, 401–421 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2017.1266873 Employee proactivity in hotels undergoing organizational change and development Alfred Presbiteroa and Mendiola Teng-Callejab aDepartment of Management, Deakin Business School, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; bDepartment of Psychology, Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines ABSTRACT KEYWORDS Drawing from self-regulation and goal-regulation theories, this Employee proactivity; hotel; study focuses on employee proactivity in the context of a hotel leader vision; organizational that is undergoing change and development. Two hundred climate for innovation; twenty eight employees from a hotel undergoing restructuring organization development and change in Australia took part in this study. A survey instrument was developed and the data obtained from the survey were analyzed. Results show that employee proactive envisioning, employee proactive planning, and employee proactive enacting are positively and significantly interrelated. In addition, results show that organizational climate for innovation and leader vision are positively and significantly related to employee proactive envisioning and serve as situational correlates of employee proactivity. Implications for human resource management, particularly in the hotel industry, are discussed. Introduction Employees in the hotel industry require soft skills, such as communication skills, self-management skills, leadership skills, among others (Weber, Crawford, Lee, & Dennison, 2013). These soft skills are necessary for them to effectively manage the needs and demands of their clients and customers. These soft skills are also impor- tant when the hotel is undergoing substantial organizational change and develop- ment. Organizational change and development has been defined as “a set of behavioral science-based theories, values, strategies, and techniques aimed at the planned change of the organizational work setting for the purpose of enhancing individual development and improving organizational performance, through the alteration of organizational members’ on-the-job behaviors” (Porras & Robertson, 1992, p. 723). In the organizational change and development process, employees are seen as change agents, and as such, they should have the capacity to CONTACT Alfred Presbitero [email protected] Lecturer, Department of Management, Deakin Business School, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, 3125 Melbourne, Australia. *This article has not been published and has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 402 A. PRESBITERO AND M. TENG-CALLEJA strategically manage organizational change at different levels (Barratt-Pugh & Bahn, 2015). Employees through their active participation and involvement can contribute significantly to the success of any change efforts (Greiner, 1967). When employees participate, they tend to be involved and they develop an ownership of the organizational change process (Dunphy & Griffiths, 2002; Emery & Emery, 1993). This ownership then leads to a high level of commitment and engagement allowing employees to persist despite the challenges associated with organization development and change. Openness to change is an employee-level characteristic that contributes to the success of any organizational change initiatives (Chawla & Kelloway, 2004). Open- ness to change suggests receptivity and a welcoming attitude towards change efforts in organizations. Trust is another critical attribute of an employee that is relevant to the organizational change process. Trust allows vulnerability among organizational members which can facilitate the willingness to support whatever course of action is required to reach the change objectives (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995). Another employee-level attribute that can influence and assist the organizational change process is proactivity. Proactivity is defined as “taking initiative in improving current circumstances; it involves challenging the status quo rather than passively adapting to present conditions” (Crant, 2000, p. 436). Parker, Williams, and Turner (2006) asserted that proactivity, as an individual- level construct, is self-initiated and involves future-oriented actions that aim to change and improve oneself, the situation or the context where one is in. Grant and Ashford (2008) further viewed proactivity as a process that involves anticipat- ing, planning, and striving to change. Drawing on self-regulatory theory, Bindl, Parker, Totterdell, and Hagger-Johnson (2012) elaborated on proactivity propos- ing that proactivity involves the mechanisms of proactive envisioning, proactive planning, and proactive enacting. However, to date, very little is known in terms of the relationship between proactive envisioning and proactive planning (both are viewed to be cognitively activated) and proactive enacting (viewed to be behavior- ally manifested). In addition, there is a dearth of empirical investigation focusing on the relationships among proactive processes in the context of hotels undergoing change and development. The purpose of this study was to investigate employee proactivity in the context of hotels undergoing change and development. Organizational change and devel- opment is a complex process that requires active participation and engagement of employees. In addition, organizational change and development requires careful planning and implementation strategies for the desired changes to happen. This study looks into employee attributes particularly proactivity as critical in the change process. In doing so, employees with proactive predispositions can be tapped in taking the lead in any organizational change and development initiatives in the hotel industry. In addition, this study looks into situational variables and investigates how they relate to and influence the proactivity of employees. Know- ing these situational variables can lead in setting an organizational climate that is JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN HOSPITALITY & TOURISM 403 conducive and supportive of proactivity among employees in hotels undergoing change and development. Specifically, this study aims to address the following research objectives: 1. To understand the dynamics of proactivity from the perspective of employ- ees in a hotel undergoing organization development and change. 2. To establish the interrelationships among proactive envisioning, proactive planning and proactive enacting of hotel employees. 3. To identify the situational variables such as leader vision and organizational climate for innovation that relate to employee proactivity in the hotel context. 4. To understand the implications of employee proactivity for human resource management in hotels. Literature review Employee proactivity and organization development and change in hotels Organization development and change in hotels can be challenging. Okumus and Hemmington (1998) found that hotel employees can be resistant to change pre- venting the hotel from continuously improving and developing. There are several reasons why employees become resistant to change, including the uncertainties about the future causing irrational fears (Bovey & Hede, 2001), as well as stress associated with new practices and new ways of doing things (Mulki, Jaramillo, Malholtra, & Locander, 2012). However, hotels need to continuously improve and innovate to keep up with the competition. Hence, proactivity is needed in hotels to improve and change for the better. Proactivity involves taking the initiative to change