Hospitality Employee Voice via Sustainable Performance Management Empowerment and Ethical Leadership Impact
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Abstract
Amid growing demands for corporate social responsibility in the tourism sector, understanding the factors that encourage employees to communicate constructive ideas and concerns is essential for organizational learning and sustainable hospitality management. This study examines the relationship between Sustainable Performance Management (SPM) and Employee Voice Behavior (EVB), focusing on the mediating role of Psychological Empowerment (PE) and the moderating role of Ethical Leadership (EL). A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted among 300 frontline hotel employees in Greater Bandung, Indonesia, selected through stratified random sampling. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The findings indicate that SPM is positively associated with both PE and EVB, while PE is positively associated with EVB. PE also partially mediates the relationship between SPM and EVB, indicating that psychological empowerment represents one pathway through which sustainable performance management is associated with employee voice. Furthermore, EL is positively associated with EVB but negatively moderates the relationship between PE and EVB. This finding suggests that the positive association between psychological empowerment and employee voice becomes weaker at higher levels of ethical leadership, although the underlying mechanism requires further investigation. The study contributes to sustainable human resource management research by integrating organizational performance practices, employee psychological states, and leadership context into a framework for understanding employee voice in the hospitality industry. The findings highlight the importance of developmental performance management, psychological empowerment, and leadership practices that preserve meaningful opportunities for employee participation.
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