The multidimensionality of work well-being in the hospitality industry: employee and management perspective

Abstract

Workplace well-being issues can cause sick leaves and potentially disability pensions, resulting in costs for society. Employee well-being in the hospitality industry consists of multiple aspects and involves balancing one's own resilience, skills, and job demands. Constant rush, pressure, stress, and poor working conditions can lead to employee burnout and sick leaves. The main stakeholders related to work well-being are organizational management, supervisors, and occupational health care. Since the management has a significant impact on employee resilience and well-being at work, it is important to understand if supervisors perceive the overall situation of work well-being in the service industry in the same way as the employees do. The aim was also to explore the problems caused by shift work for employees and how supervisors can contribute to supporting work ability.

The research question was "How is shift work affecting employees' personal lives, and how does the understanding of well-being differ between management and employees?" The research was conducted as a mixed-method study, using a survey for employees and interviews for supervisors as data collection methods. The survey questions were mostly multiple-choice questions to facilitate response, but each question also included an open-ended response option to allow respondents to provide more detailed answers in their own words. A total of 77 participants took part in the study: 71 employees and 6 supervisors