Sense of calling and career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees : Mediation through knowledge sharing with organizational members

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between sense of calling and career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees and to analyze the mediation role of knowledge sharing with organizational members given the rapidly growing academic interest in the meaning of work. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a survey of 357 frontline employees in 12 super-deluxe hotels in Korea, this study performed confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling analysis to test the hypothesis of causal relationships in the research model. Findings – Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), this study shows that sense of calling has a positive and significant effect on the career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees and that the relationship was mediated by active participation in knowledge sharing with supervisors and coworkers. Practical implications – The research result highlights the significance of service providers’ calling orientation on career satisfaction and their pursuit of skills and knowledge for higher personal development and performance to achieve career success. Originality/value – Based on SDT, this study deepens our understanding on the process of how calling orientation leads to career satisfaction and knowledge sharing behavior in organizations.