The effects of work overload and work‐family conflict on job embeddedness and job performance : The mediation of emotional exhaustion

Purpose – The present study seeks to propose and test a research model that investigates emotional exhaustion as a mediator of the effects of work overload, work‐family conflict, and family‐work conflict on job embeddedness and job performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study evaluated the aforementioned relationships using LISREL 8.30 through structural equation modeling (SEM) based on data collected from 110 full‐time frontline hotel employees and their managers in Romania. Findings – The results of SEM suggest that emotional exhaustion functions as a full mediator of the effects of work overload, work‐family conflict, and family‐work conflict on job embeddedness and job performance. Specifically, employees who have heavy workloads and are unable to establish a balance between work (family) and family (work) roles are emotionally exhausted. Such employees in turn are less embedded in their jobs and display poor performance in the service delivery process. Research limitations/implications – In future studies having longitudinal data would be useful for drawing causal inferences among study variables. Employing cross‐cultural research in future studies would also be helpful. Practical implications – Management of the hotels should take decisive steps to establish and maintain a supportive work environment because such an environment would help employees to balance their work (family) and family (work) roles and lead to reduced emotional exhaustion. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to retain high performing employees in the workplace. Hiring individuals who fit well with the job and organizational culture via objective tests and experiential exercises would also be helpful for employee retention. Originality/value – The current study contributes to the existing knowledge base by testing emotional exhaustion as a mediator of the impacts of work overload, work‐family conflict, and family‐work conflict on job embeddedness and job performance through data gathered from frontline hotel employee‐manager dyads in Romania.