Improving the turnover intention of tourist hotel employees: Transformational leadership, leader-member exchange, and psychological contract breach

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the high turnover intention issue in Taiwan’s tourist hotel industry. Due to a lack of empirical research regarding front-line employees’ psychological contract breach perceptions in tourism literature, this study develops an integrated model to examine the causal relationship among transformational leadership behaviors, leader–member exchange (LMX), psychological contract breach and turnover intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from the 226 frontline employees in Taiwan’s tourist hotel industry were employed to examine the proposed hypotheses by using a series of structural equation modeling analyses.

Findings

Statistic results revealed that transformational leadership behaviors influence LMX and LMX in turn influences psychological contract breach, which consequently leads to lower turnover intention.

Practical implication

The results of this study suggest that hospitality organizations should recruit individuals who have the potential to exhibit transformational leadership skills, along with designing leadership training programs for middle- and high-level managers.

Originality/value

This study provides hospitality organization leaders with the necessary information to formulate a beneficial relationship with their front-line employees, which, in turn, weakens their perception of psychological contract breaches and reduces their willingness to leave the organization.

Citation

Chen, T.-J. and Wu, C.-M. (2017), "Improving the turnover intention of tourist hotel employees: Transformational leadership, leader-member exchange, and psychological contract breach", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 29 No. 7, pp. 1914-1936. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2015-0490