Retaining hotel employees as internal customers: Effect of organizational commitment on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of employees

High employee turnover has been a concern of the hotel practitioners and academics. Previous research more focused on reducing employee turnover by improving economic incentives. However, psychological incentives are getting more concerned now. This study aims to analyze the psychological mechanism affecting the attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of employees in hotel sector. This study uses organizational commitment theory and regards the hotel employee as an internal customer to construct and verify a conceptual framework. Several important findings are observed. First, affective, normative, and continuance commitment have apparent and varying effects on the attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of employees. Second, the attitudinal loyalty of employees significantly promotes behavioral loyalty. Third, employee trust and satisfaction in hotel sector are vital antecedents of the three dimensions of organizational commitment. These findings have important implications for managing hotel employee turnover and improving the psychological achievements of employees to consequently enhance attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.