Social evaluations of restaurant managers

• Published in: International journal of contemporary hospitality management 2018-03, Vol.30 (3), p.1827-1844
• Main Authors: Bufquin, Diego, DiPietro, Robin, Orlowski, Marissa, Partlow, Charles
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitudes; Consumers; Customer services; Employee retention; Employee turnover; Employees; Employment; Hospitality industry; Job satisfaction; Leadership; Management styles; Managers; Personality tests; Recruitment; Researchers; Restaurants; Retention; Social perception; Studies; Turnover
• ISSN: 0959-6119; 1757-1049
• DOI: 10.1108/IJCHM-11-2016-0617

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of restaurant managers’ warmth and competence on employees’ turnover intentions mediated by job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The study aims to enhance existing literature related to the influence of social perceptions that casual dining restaurant employees may adopt regarding their restaurant managers. Design/methodology/approach The data came from 781 employees of a large US-based casual dining restaurant franchise group that owned 43 restaurants. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed, followed by multilevel path and post hoc mediation analyses, to assess the effects of the proposed model. Findings Results demonstrated that managers’ warmth and competence represented a single factor, instead of two distinct constructs, thus contradicting several sociopsychological studies. Moreover, managers’ warmth and competence had an indirect influence on employees’ turnover intentions through both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Practical implications Knowing that employees develop improved job attitudes and lower turnover intentions when they evaluate their managers as warm and competent individuals, restaurant operators should focus on both of these social characteristics when designing interviewing processes, management training, and performance appraisal programs. Originality/value By studying a casual dining restaurant franchise group that operates a single brand, thus minimizing variation in policies and procedures, this paper fulfills an identified need to examine two fundamental social dimensions that people often use in professional settings, and which have not been vastly studied in organizational behavior or hospitality literature.