Applied Research Quality Life

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9626-z

The Influence of Hotels High-Commitment HRM

on Job Engagement of Employees: Mediating Effects
of Workplace Happiness and Mental Health

Kwon-Soo Kim 1

Received: 28 May 2017 / Accepted: 3 April 2018

# Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature and The International Society for Quality-
of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) 2018

Abstract The purpose of this study is to propose a human resource management

(HRM) plan to raise the job engagement of hotel employees. High-commitment
HRM, workplace happiness, and mental health were set as the leading variables
influencing job engagement. Workplace happiness and mental health were established
as the variables that mediate the relationship between high-commitment HRM and job
engagement. The samples in the study are defined as employees of 4- or 5-star hotels in
Seoul, South Korea. The results of this study on 308 samples showed that high-
commitment HRM positively affects hotel employees’ happiness, mental health, and
job engagement. Workplace happiness and mental health partially mediate the relation-
ship between high-commitment HRM and job engagement. The research’s design and
results provide the basis for extending the range of the rationale for describing job
engagement from the social exchange theory to the signal theory and the broaden-and-
build theory of positive emotion. They also provide practical implications for raising
the engagement of hotel employees.

Keywords High commitment human resource management . Workplace happiness .

Mental health . Job engagement

Introduction

Advances in science and technology have levelled the quality of physical services such
as at hotel facilities. As the result of this levelling of physical services, the competi-
tiveness of hotels is increasingly influenced by human services. Today, hotel employees

* Kwon-Soo Kim
rlarnjs1@induk.ac.kr

1
Tourism and Service Management, Induck University, 12, Choansan-ro, Nowon-gu,
Seoul 01878, South Korea
 K.-S. Kim

have sufficient abilities to carry out the tasks assigned to them because they come into
society after receiving a high level of education. Nonetheless, there are differences in
the human services, depending on the hotels, because there are differences in the job
engagement of the employees to apply their physical, cognitive, emotional, and mental
energy in performing their duties (Kahn 1990). When employees’ job engagement is
high, their energy, involvement, and efficacy are also high. But if their job engagement
is lacking, their exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness are high (Maslach and Leiter
1997). Therefore, scholars’ interest in job engagement has increased, and studies of the
factors affecting this engagement and the results are being actively conducted.
Previous studies have found that if employees’ engagement for their job is high, then
they have a high level of organizational citizenship behavior (Rich et al. 2010), low
turnover intention (Lu et al. 2016), and high productivity (Leiter and Bakker 2010).
The study of the factors affecting job engagement is divided into organizational factors
and individual factors of the employees. Researchers use different variables depending
on their research purpose. However, except for some studies (Bal and Lang 2015;
Presbitero 2017; Li and Frenkel 2017), few studies have examined the effects of human
resource management systems (HRMS) on job engagement. The HRMS is an impor-
tant factor in job engagement because it is the domain of the HRMS that establishes and
implements each kind of policy so that employees can do their best. Only the effects of
organizational support (Saks 2006), compensation (Saks 2006; Ram and Prabhakar
2011; Karatepe 2013), training (Karatepe 2013), empowerment (Karatepe 2013), and
leadership (Serrano and Reichard 2011), which are the components of HRMS, on job
engagement are partially analyzed. In the past, recruitment, training, evaluation, and
retirement, which are the components of HRM, were simply managed, but recently
they have been integrated and strategically systemized to achieve corporate goals
(Madera et al. 2017). This strategic HRM is called high-performance HRM or high-
commitment HRM. With the emphasis on employees’ attitude and commitment in the
2000s, interest in high-commitment HRM is increasing (Farndale et al. 2011). Many
studies have suggested employment stabilization, selective recruitment, continuous
training and learning, compensation for performance, elimination of the position gap,
information sharing, and participation in decision making as the components of high-
commitment HRM (Pfeffer 1998; Combs et al. 2006; Guthrie 2001; Wright et al. 2005;
Par’e and Tremblay 2007; Zaitouni et al. 2011).
Self-efficacy (Skaalvik and Skaalvik 2014), intrinsic motivation (Choochom 2016),
and organizational-based self-esteem (Mauno et al. 2007) were analyzed as the personal
factors for job engagement. However, in order for these factors to work, it is necessary
to feel happiness at work, which is a positive state of mind about work life
(Sirisunhirun and Dhirathi 2015), and have a healthy mind that guides life indepen-
dently and constructively (Skarpaas et al. 2016). Workplace happiness and mental
health are influenced by HRM because they are affected by job security (Binder and
Coad 2013) and compensation (Sparks et al. 2001). However, there is no empirical
analysis of the effect of workplace happiness and mental health on job engagement, and
the effects of HRMS on workplace happiness and mental health.
Therefore, this study empirically analyzed the relationship between high-
commitment HRM, workplace happiness, mental health, and job engagement and
suggested HRM methods to increase hotel employees’ workplace happiness, mental
health, and job engagement.
The Influence of Hotels High-Commitment HRM on Job Engagement of...

Theoretical Background

High-Commitment HRM

As the competitiveness sources at corporations changed from technology, material

resources, financial resources to human resources with specialized knowledge, skills,
and abilities (Barney 1991), since the 1990s, there has been a lot of research on the
effect of HRMS on business performance and human resources. In the past, HRM
factors such as recruitment, education and training, evaluation, compensation, and
retirement were divided and managed from a micro-perspective. However, since the
1990s, HRM has been linked to management strategies and has systematically inte-
grated each HRM method strategically (Wright and McMahan 1992).
Scholars have studied this strategic HRM, called high-performance HRM and high-
commitment HRM. The research on high-performance HRM, which is the initial form
of strategic HRM research, focuses on the effects of HRMS on business performance.
High-performance HRM has been shown to have a positive effect on the business
economically, not only by increasing the market value of the company (Becker and
Huselid 2006) but also by raising the total asset profit rate (Combs et al. 2006). Since
2000, studies have focused on the high-commitment HRM that sets the outcome
variables as employees’ attitudes and commitment (Paauwe and Boselie 2005; Boxall
and Macky 2009; Farndale et al. 2011). A high-commitment HRM increases the ability,
motivation, and participation opportunities of employees by psychologically linking the
goals of the organization to those of the individuals (Gordard 2001; Truss
2001) is an HRMS that strives to balance the economic and psychological
exchange relations between individuals and organizations (Boon and Kalshoven
2014). The purpose of high-commitment HRM, which pursues the economic effect of
the company by changing the attitude of the employees towards the company positively
and allowing them to engage in their work, is ultimately the same as that of high-
performance HRM.
High-commitment HRM seeks to improve management performance by increasing
employees’ loyalty and commitment. Therefore, in order to succeed in high-
commitment HRM, it is first necessary to make employees feel that they share a
common interest with the organization through job security (Pfeffer 1998). Second,
in order to improve the performance of the organization by enhancing the work
capacity of the employees, selective hiring and continuous training and learning should
be done (Combs et al. 2006). Third, incentive systems linked to business performance
should be implemented in order to increase the employees’ motivation to improve their
performance (Guthrie 2001; Wright et al. 2005). Fourth, in order to improve the
management performance by creating conditions for the employees to demonstrate
their capabilities, it is necessary to resolve the gap between the managers and the
employees, to share information, and to allow the employees to participate in decision
making (Combs et al. 2006; Wright et al. 2005). As mentioned above, employment
stability, selective recruitment, continuous training and learning, compensation for
performance, elimination of positional gap, information sharing, and decision-making
participation are commonly presented by many scholars as the components of the high-
commitment HRM (Pfeffer 1998; Combs et al. 2006; Guthrie 2001; Wright et al. 2005;
Par’e and Tremblay 2007; Zaitouni et al. 2011).
 K.-S. Kim

Workplace Happiness and Mental Health

Happiness, the value that everyone ultimately pursues (Layard 2005), is a psycholog-
ical well-being based on emotional and cognitive appraisal of how life is now (Jalali
and Heidari 2016). Psychological well-being is subjective satisfaction with one’s life,
while experiencing a lot of positive emotions and fewer negative emotions (Diener
1984). In other words, happiness is satisfaction with life and a positive state of mind.
Therefore, workplace happiness can be defined as satisfaction with work life and a
positive mind state. Gender (Hellevik 2003), income (Powdthavee 2010; Kahneman
and Krueger 2006), age (Frijters and Beatton 2012; Hellevik 2003), marital status
(Diener and Biswas-Diener 2008; Eid and Larsen 2008), education level (Ball and
Chernova 2008), occupation (Binder and Coad 2013), and social support (Gallagher
and Vella-Brodrick 2008) were studied as factors affecting happiness. However, re-
search on the effects of HRMS on workplace happiness is hard to find. A happy person
is more likely to understand, sympathize, and consider others (Berscheid 2003). Happy
people feel mentally (Lyubomirsky et al. 2006) and physically (Graham et al. 2004)
healthy compared to those who are not. Therefore, a happy worker can immerse
himself or herself in the organization (Rathi 2011) and recognize his or her authenticity
to the customers (Henning-Thurau et al. 2006).
Workplace happiness also affects mental health (Yiengprugsawan et al. 2012),
allowing people to enjoy life, do activities that are balanced in their daily lives, and
work on their own for restoration (Wright 2014). Mental health is a condition that is not
mentally fragile and can lead to self-sustaining and constructive life (Suldo et al. 2016).
Recent studies on mental health have measured the positive aspects of mental health
from a positive psychological point of view, such as happiness, life satisfaction, self-
fulfillment, and the meaning of life (Keyes 2007). Early studies, however, considered
mental health as unaffected by mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-
compulsive disorder, neurosis, and adaptive disorders (Doi and Minowa 2003). The
mental health problem negatively affects not only physical health (Ohrnberger et al.
2016) but also the stability of social life (Keyes 2007) and family relations (Grant et al.
2008), making it impossible to carry out basic life functions as a human being. The
major factors affecting the mental health of workers are dissatisfaction with a job and
job-related stress. The higher the level of dissatisfaction with job and job stress, the
higher the level of somatization, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder
(Gillispie et al. 2016). Employment instability (Meltzer et al. 2010), job requirements
(Van der Van der Doef and Maes 2010), work control (Joensuu et al. 2012), physical
work environment (Sadatsafavi et al. 2015), working hours (Shirom et al. 2010) and
economic compensation (Sparks et al. 2001) were proven to be the factors that caused
job dissatisfaction and job stress.

Job Engagement

Since Kahn (1990) defined job engagement as the input of physical, cognitive,
emotional, and mental energy in the process of performing his or her duties, many
studies have been conducted. Initial research on job engagement began with the
opposite concept of job burnout, which is a condition of exhaustion, cynicism, and
ineffectiveness, resulting in a lack of engagement for work. On the contrary, job
The Influence of Hotels High-Commitment HRM on Job Engagement of...

engagement has a high level of energy, involvement, and efficacy (Maslach and Leiter
1997). However, Schaufeli et al. (2002) defined job engagement as an independent
concept consisting of vigor, dedication, and absorption without treating it as a concept
opposite to job burnout and developed their scale. Schaufeli and Bakker (2004)
proposed the Job Demands-Resources Model (JD-R Model) by integrating the predic-
tive variables and the results of job engagement and job burnout. Job engagement is a
stable and sustained emotional state (Bakker and Geurts 2004). The employees with
high job engagement are actively learning to solve problems, search for new informa-
tion, understand it, and apply it (Bakker et al. 2012). Therefore, job engagement of the
employees positively affects their productivity, customers’ satisfaction (Leiter and
Bakker 2010), service recovery and creative performances (Karatepe and Olugbade
2016), but negatively affects absence (Karatepe and Olugbade 2016) and turnover
intention (Lu et al. 2016). Self-efficacy (Skaalvik and Skaalvik 2014), intrinsic moti-
vation (Choochom 2016), organizational-based self-esteem (Mauno et al. 2007), orga-
nizational support (Saks 2006), internal and external rewards (Ram and Prabhakar
2011), training and development (Presbitero 2017), selective staffing, job security,
teamwork, career opportunities (Karatepe and Olugbade 2016), empowerment
(Babakus et al. 2017), autonomy, task diversity, feedback (Christian et al. 2011),
individual characteristics, job requirements, and job resources (Bakker and
Demerouti 2007) have positive effects on job engagement.

Empirical Analysis

Research Hypothesis and Model

Since the 1990s, there has been much research on the role of HRMS in achieving
corporate strategic goals from the perspective of strategic HRM (Arthur 1994; Huselid
1995; Delery and Doty 1996; Datta et al. 2005; Collins and Smith 2006; Shaw et al.
2009). In particular, studies after 2000 have focused on high-commitment HRM that
increases the ability, motivation, and participation opportunities of members based on
psychological linkages between organizational and individual goals (Gordard 2001;
Truss 2001; Boxall and Macky 2009; Farndale et al. 2011). For the psychological
linkage between the organization and its members, high-commitment HRM systemat-
ically applies employment stabilization, selective recruitment, continuous training and
learning, compensation for performance, elimination of the position gap, information
sharing, and participation in decision making (Pfeffer 1998; Combs et al. 2006; Guthrie
2001; Wright et al. 2005; Par’e and Tremblay 2007; Zaitouni et al. 2011).
Happiness, which is subjective psychological well-being, is the value that everyone
has ultimately pursued for a long time (Frey and Stutzer 2002; Layard 2005). Today,
because people spend most of their time at work, people’s happiness has much to do
with the happiness they feel at work. The HRMS of the company therefore has a great
influence on the whole lives in the workplace. People who have a stable job (Binder
and Coad 2013) and income level (Powdthavee 2010; Kahneman and Krueger 2006)
are feeling a lot of happiness. Those who receive a lot of social support feel a lot of
happiness as well (Gallagher and Vella-Brodrick 2008). High-commitment HRM
ensures income through job security, selective recruitment, ongoing training, and
 K.-S. Kim

performance-related compensation. High-commitment HRM creates conditions for

employees to feel that they are receiving social support through resolving gaps in
status, sharing information, and participating in decision making. Therefore, it can be
said that high-commitment HRM positively affects workplace happiness.
Mental health is a mental state that can be self-sustaining and constructive in leading
one’s life (Suldo et al. 2016). Satisfaction, self-fulfillment, and satisfaction with life
have a positive impact on mental health, and excessive stress has a negative impact
(Davies 2005). Most people have a job and spend a lot of time at work. Therefore, their
sense of accomplishment, self-realization, and satisfaction are gained through their
work life. However, many other people are stressed at work. Factors that cause stress in
the workplace include job insecurity (Meltzer et al. 2010), high workloads (Van der Van
der Doef and Maes 2010), limited business discretion (Joensuu et al. 2012), and low
wages (Sparks et al. 2001). High-commitment HRM involves creating conditions for
achieving stable income, experiencing achievement and self-realization through em-
ployment stabilization, selective recruitment, continuous training, and performance-
related compensation. High-commitment HRM creates conditions for expanding busi-
ness discretion rights by resolving the position gap, sharing information, and partici-
pating in decision making. Therefore, it can be said that high-commitment HRM
positively affects mental health.
Job engagement is defined as the input of physical, cognitive, emotional, and mental
energy in the process of performing a job (Kahn 1990). Job engagement positively
affects customer satisfaction and organizational productivity (Leiter and Bakker 2010),
and negatively affects turnover intention (Lu et al. 2016). Therefore, many companies
are using HRM to increase the engagement of the employees. Factors influencing the
job engagement of the employees at the organizational level include the support of the
organization and supervisors (Saks 2006), compensation (Ram and Prabhakar 2011),
and autonomy (Christian et al. 2011). High-commitment HRM rewards internally and
externally through job security, selective recruitment, ongoing training, and
performance-related compensation. High-commitment HRM creates conditions to feel
autonomous and receive support from the organization and supervisors through resolv-
ing the position gap, information sharing, and decision-making participation.
Therefore, it can be said that high-commitment HRM positively affects job
engagement.
On a related point, job engagement is influenced by psychological status (Maslach
et al. 2001). Because psychological stability and availability are psychological states
that induce job engagement (Kahn 1990), it is likely that happy and mentally healthy
employees will show engagement in their jobs. A happy person shows a positive
attitude in various aspects such as how to live and act (Berscheid 2003; Lyubomirsky
et al. 2006). From a positive psychological point of view, a person who is mentally
healthy enjoys life and shows a positive attitude in daily activities (Seligman 2002).
Moreover, those who show engagement in the organization are the one’ who have a lot
of positive experiences (Bakker et al. 2012; Huang et al. 2017). Therefore, it can be said
that employees who have a positive experience for happiness and mental health through
high-commitment HRM are likely to show engagement with their jobs.

& Hypothesis 1. Workplace happiness partially mediates the relationship between

high-commitment HRM and job engagement.
The Influence of Hotels High-Commitment HRM on Job Engagement of...

& Hypothesis 2. Mental health partially mediates the relationship between high-
commitment HRM and job engagement (Fig. 1).

Operational Definition of Variables

In this study, high-commitment HRM is defined as HRMS that enhances the ability of
employees and motivates their participation by balancing economic and psychological
exchanges between an organization and its employees. The seven items based on the
seven factors presented by Pfeffer (1998), Combs et al. (2006), Guthrie (2001), Wright
et al. (2005), Par’e and Tremblay (2007), and Zaitouni et al. (2011) were measured on a
five-point scale (1 = not at all and 5 = very much). The seven items for the high-
commitment HRM are as follows:

1. Our company pays very careful attention and makes efforts to select excellent
employees.
2. Even if the company is in trouble, it will be the last resort to lay off employees.
3. Our company continuously provides various education and training programs
related to work.
4. The salary is determined according to the group and personal performance.
5. Employees share overall information on hotel operations.
6. Employees are involved in making decisions about their job and work environment.
7. Our company minimize discrimination between managers and employees based on
equality.

Workplace happiness is defined as satisfaction with job life and positive mind state,
and it consists of two items used in the study of Youssef and Luthans (2007). The first
item measures the degree of happiness in the workplace on the 11-point scale (0 =
extremely unhappy and 10 = very happy). The second item measures the percentage of
total happiness when the total time spent at work is 100%. The first item was multiplied
by 10 to match the second item with the scale.

Fig. 1 Research model

 K.-S. Kim

Mental health is defined as a psychological state that can lead a person into an
independent and constructive life. A general health questionnaire (GHQ) is a
measurement tool that is mainly used in research related to mental health (Doi
and Minowa 2003). Among the items of GHQ-12, four items were selected as appro-
priate for the operational definition of the study and measured by a 5-point scale (1 = not
at all and 5 = very much). The four items for mental health are as follows:

1. I have difficulty concentrating on my work (reverse coding).

2. I am not performing well in a given role (reverse coding).
3. I have difficulty in making a decision (reverse coding).
4. I try to avoid problems (reverse coding).

Job engagement is defined as the input of cognitive, emotional, and mental energy in
the process of performing a job. The four items developed by Saks (2006) based on the
model and the theory of job engagement were measured on a 5-point scale (1 = not at
all and 5 = very much). The four items for job engagement are as follows:

1. Sometimes I am so into my job that I lose track of time.

2. This job is all consuming; I am totally into it.
3. My mind often wanders and I think of other things when doing my job (reverse
coding),
4. I am highly engaged in this job.

Research Methods and Sample Characteristics

The sample for the study is defined as employees of 4- or 5-star hotels in

Seoul, South Korea. The survey was conducted at 11 hotels for 20 days from
October 10–30, 2016. With the help of the HR staff of each hotel, the
questionnaires were distributed and collected by the surveyor when the em-
ployees finished their work. Of the 330 copies of the questionnaire distributed, 312
copies were collected, and 308 copies were used for analysis, after excluding four copies
that were not fully completed.
The demographic characteristics of the 308 samples used in the analysis are shown
in Table 1 as follows: gender, 219 men and 89 women; ages, 88, 137, 70, and 13
samples for age groups of up to 29 years, 30–39 years, 40–49 years, and more than
50 years, respectively; educational status, 34 up to high school graduation, 157 college
graduation, 106 university graduation, and 11 more than graduate school graduation;
marital status, 156 unmarried, 152 married; working department, 51 room, 88 food and
beverage, 87 cooking, 19 sales marking, 37 facility and security, and 26 management;
employment type, 253 full-time, 55 irregular; position, 165 employee, 81 chiefs, 34
assistant managers, 18 managers, 5 deputy general managers, and 5 more than general
manager; monthly income, 65, 121, 53, 37, and 32 samples for monthly income groups
of less than $2000, $2000– $3000, $3000–$4000, $4000–$5000, and more than $5000,
respectively; and employment period, 150, 68, 42, 33, and 15 samples for employment
period groups of up to 5 years, 6–10 years, 11–15 years, 16–20 years, and more than
21 years, respectively.
The Influence of Hotels High-Commitment HRM on Job Engagement of...

Validity and Reliability Analysis of Measurement Tools

To verify the validity of the measurement tools, confirmatory factor analysis was
performed using Amos 16.0. Models with four factors were found to be appropriate:
χ2 = 303.441, df = 113, p < 0.001; CMIN/DF = 2.685; GFI = .900; NFI = .917; and
CFI = .946. All the items were significantly converged to each factor. The standard
factor loadings of high-commitment HRM and mental health items was 0.683 and
0.651, respectively, for one item and higher than 0.7 for all other items. The standard
factor loading of all items of workplace happiness and job engagement was
higher than 0.8. To verify the reliability of the measurement tool, Cronbach’s
alpha value was confirmed using SPSS 18.0. Cronbach’s alpha values were
0.908 for high-commitment HRM, 0.862 for workplace happiness, 0.831 for mental
health, and 0.946 for job engagement. Therefore, the validity and reliability of the
measurement tools were secured.
In order to check the possibility of the common method bias, Harman’s single factor
test was used. An exploratory factor analysis of all items using SPSS 18.0 revealed four
factors explaining 73.728% of the variance in this study’s constructs, with the first
factor explaining 41.668% and the last factor explaining 7.175% of the total variance.
This analysis suggested that this data sample was likely not contaminated by common
method bias (Podsakoff and Organ 1986).

Hypothesis Verification

For correlation and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 18.0, the demographic
variables of the sample were replaced by dummy variables (gender = male dummy,
age = less than 40 years dummy, education status = up to junior college graduation
dummy, marital status = unmarried dummy, working department = customer encounter
department dummy, employment type = full-time dummy, position = up to chief dum-
my, monthly income = less than $3000 dummy, and employment period = less than
11 years dummy). Table 2 shows the results of analyzing the correlation between
demographic characteristics, high-commitment HRM, workplace happiness, mental
health, and job engagement. High-commitment HRM was positively correlated with
workplace happiness (r = 0.341, p < 0.001), mental health (r = 0.224, p < 0.001), and
job engagement (r = 0.542, p < 0.001). Workplace happiness has a positive correlation
with mental health (r = 0.416, p < 0.001) and job engagement (r = 0.382, p < 0.001).
There is also a positive correlation between mental health and job engagement (r =
0.348, p < 0.001).
Table 3 shows the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis to
analyze the relationship between high-commitment HRM, workplace happiness,
and job engagement, using demographic variables as a control variable. The first step is
to analyze the effects of control variables and high-commitment HRM on workplace
happiness (F = 7.580, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.203). High-commitment HRM had a
positive impact on workplace happiness (b = 0.320, t = 5.877, p < 0.001). Second, the
effects of control variables and high-commitment HRM on job engagement were
analyzed (F = 16.702, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.360). High-commitment HRM had a positive
impact on job engagement (b = 0.523, t = 10.719, p < 0.001). Third, the effects of control
variables, high-commitment HRM, and workplace happiness on job engagement were
 K.-S. Kim

Table 1 Characteristics of samples

Variable Frequency Percentage (%)

Gender Male 219 71.1

Female 89 28.9
Age Up to 29 years 88 28.6
30–39 years 137 44.5
40–49 years 70 22.7
50 years or over 13 4.2
Education status High school graduation or lower 34 11.0
Junior college graduation 157 51.0
University graduation 106 34.4
Graduate school graduation 11 3.6
Marital status Unmarried 156 50.6
Married 152 49.4
Working department Room 51 16.6
Food & Beverage 88 28.6
Cooking 87 28.2
Sales marking 19 6.2
Facility & Security 37 12.0
Management 26 8.4
Employment type Full-time 253 82.1
Irregular 55 17.9
Position Employee 165 53.6
Chief 81 26.3
Assistant manager 34 11.0
Manager 18 5.8
Deputy general manager 5 1.6
General manager or over 5 1.6
Monthly income Less than $2000 65 21.1
More than $2000 – Less than $3000 121 39.3
More than $3000 – Less than $4000 53 17.2
More than $4000 – Less than $5000 37 12.0
More than $5000 32 10.4
Employment period 5 years or lower 150 48.7
6–10 years 68 22.1
11–15 years 42 13.6
16–20 years 33 10.7
21 years or over 15 4.9
Total 308 100

analyzed (F = 17.077, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.388). Both high-commitment HRM (b = 0.463,

t = 9.166, p < 0.001) and workplace happiness (b = 188, t = 3.700, p < 0.001) had a
positive impact on job engagement. By the way, the impact of high-commitment
Table 2 Mean, standard deviations, reliabilities, and correlations of the study variables

Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

1 .71 .45 –
2 .73 .44 −.323*** –
3 .62 .49 .091 −.053 1
4 .51 .50 −.414*** .527*** −.023 –
5 .45 .50 −.444*** .168** −.110 .269*** –
6 .82 .38 .283*** −.245*** .054 −.375*** −.259*** –
7 .80 .40 −.302*** .662*** .141* .460*** .146* −.213*** –
8 .60 .49 −.018 .316*** .159** .276*** .001 −.031 .504*** –
9 .71 .46 −.205*** .656*** −.135* .508*** .023 −.300*** .479*** .209*** –
10 3.06 .66 .016 −.076 −.205*** −.102 .089 −.027 −.146* −.047 .032 (.908)
11 53.47 15.58 .039 −.289*** −.052 −.222*** −.011 .003 −.208*** −.157** −.175** .341*** (.862)
12 3.75 .59 .120* −.105 −.045 −.173** .024 −.010 −.061 −.152** −.042 .224*** .416*** (.831)
13 3.49 .92 −.086 −.129* −.172** −.124* .027 −.126* −.183** −.148** −.074 .542*** .382*** .348*** (.946)
The Influence of Hotels High-Commitment HRM on Job Engagement of...

Note1. Variables: 1. Gender (male dummy), 2. Age (less than 40 years dummy), 3. Education status (up to junior college graduation dummy), 4. Marital status (unmarried dummy), 5.
Working department (customer encounter department dummy), 6. Employment type (full-time dummy), 7. Position (up to chief dummy), 8. Monthly income (less than $3000 dummy),
9. Employment period (less than 11 years dummy), 10. High commitment HRM, 11. Workplace happiness, 12, Mental health, 13. Job engagement
Note 2. Reliabilities are reported along the diagonal
Note 3. * < 0.5, ** < 0.01, *** < 0.001
 K.-S. Kim

HRM on job engagement was smaller in the third stage than in the second stage.
Therefore, it has been shown that workplace happiness partially mediates the relation-
ship between high-commitment HRM and job engagement (Baron and Kenny 1986).
And the Sobel test result demonstrated that the indirect effect of high-commitment HRM
on job engagement through workplace happiness (z = 3.111, p ≤ 0.01) was significant
(Soper 2017; Sobel 1982). Hypothesis 1 was verified.
Table 4 shows the results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis to examine
whether mental health is a parameter of the relationship between high-commitment
HRM and job engagement. In the first step, the effects of control variables and high-
commitment HRM on mental health were analyzed (F = 3.803, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.114).
High-commitment HRM had a positive impact on mental health (b = 0.208, t = 3.618,
p < 0.001). Second, the effects of control variables and high commitment HRM on job
engagement were analyzed (F = 16.702, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.360). High commitment
HRM had a positive effect on job engagement (b = 523, t = 10.719, p < 0.001). Third,
the effects of control variables, high-commitment HRM, and mental health on job
engagement were analyzed (F = 19.034, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.414). Both high-commitment
HRM (b = 0.471, t = 9.871, p < 0.001) and mental health (b = 0.248, t = 5.241, p <
0.001) had a positive impact on job engagement. Of note, the effect of high-
commitment HRM on job engagement was smaller in the third stage than in the second
stage. Thus, the relationship between high-commitment HRM and job engagement was
partially mediated by mental health (Baron and Kenny 1986). And the Sobel test result
demonstrated that the indirect effect of high-commitment HRM on job engagement

Table 3 Multiple regression analysis for mediating effect of workplace happiness

Dependent variables

Workplace happiness Job engagement Job engagement

b(SE) t b(SE) t b(SE) t

Control variables
Gender −.070 −1.098 −.164 −2.888** −.151 −2.708**
Age −.255 −3.073** −.013 −.179 .035 .470
Education status .004 .076 −.052 −1.052 −.053 −1.091
Marital status −.107 −1.527 −.081 −1.280 −.060 - .976
Working department −.025 - .415 −.107 −1.972* −.102 −1.924
Employment type −.071 −1.223 −.165 −3.166** −.151 −2.963**
Position .064 .805 −.052 - .730 −.064 - .917
Monthly income −.065 −1.054 −.050 - .907 −.038 - .699
Employment period −.015 - .206 −.093 −1.388 −.091 −1.373
Independent variables
High-commitment HRM .320 5.877*** .523 10.719*** .463 9.166***
Workplace happiness .188 3.700***
F 7.580*** 16.702*** 17.077***
R2 .203 .360 .388

Note 1. * < 0.5, ** < 0.01, *** < 0.001

The Influence of Hotels High-Commitment HRM on Job Engagement of...

through mental health (z = 2.970, p ≤ 0.01) was significant (Soper 2017; Sobel 1982).
Hypothesis 2 was verified.

Discussion

Theoretical Implications

Previous studies have suggested the social exchange theory as a representative theory that
explains job engagement (Kahn 1990; Maslach et al. 2001; Cropanzano and Mitchell
2005; Saks 2006; Presbitero 2017). From the viewpoint of social exchange theory,
employees determine their attitudes and behaviors toward the organization according to
whether self-interest is met through exchanges with the organization. In other words, if
economic benefits and emotional fulfillment are obtained from the organization, em-
ployees feel obligated to reward the organization (Birtch et al. 2016). Conversely, if an
organization does not provide economic benefits and emotional fulfillment, employees
will not put cognitive, emotional, and mental energy into their jobs. Therefore, companies
should strive to give their employees economic benefits and emotional fulfillment so that
they can work with engagement. This study applied a high-commitment HRM as a way
to give hotel employees economic benefits and emotional fulfillment.
HRMS is the hotel policy that is most closely connected with the work life of
employees, and it can be recognized more easily by employees than any other policy.

Table 4 Multiple regression analysis for mediating effect of mental health

Dependent variables

Mental health Job engagement Job engagement

b(SE) t b(SE) t b(SE) t

Control variables
Gender .138 2.062* −.164 −2.888** −.198 −3.615***
Age −.086 - .986 −.013 - .179 .008 .113
Education status −.003 - .048 −.052 −1.052 −.052 −1.083
Marital status −.148 −1.994* −.081 −1.280 −.044 - .725
Working department .080 1.249 −.107 −1.972* −.127 −2.432*
Employment type −.054 - .878 −.165 −3.166** −.151 −3.033**
Position .179 2.123* −.052 - .730 −.097 −1.396
Monthly income −.172 −2.629** −.050 - .907 −.008 - .146
Employment period .044 .551 −.093 −1.388 −.104 −1.616
Independent variables
High-commitment HRM .208 3.618*** .523 10.719*** .471 9.871***
Mental health .248 5.241***
F 3.803*** 16.702*** 19.034***
R2 .114 .360 .414

Note 1. * < 0.5, ** < 0.01, *** < 0.001

 K.-S. Kim

According to signaling theory, people use clues or signals when they do not have
perfect information (Casper and Harris 2008). When employees do not have complete
information about the organization’s intentions, they use the signals provided by the
organization to draw conclusions about the organization’s intent and behavior (Bal and
Lang 2015). Therefore, hotels should apply a HRMS so that employees can make
positive judgments about the intentions and actions of the organization. From this point
of view, a high-commitment HRM can be a tool to increase the positive judgment of
employees and job engagement for hotels. According to the broaden-and-build theory
of positive emotions, positive emotions freely extend the range of thought and action,
leading to open and challenging exploratory activities. In other words, when people feel
positive emotions such as pleasure and happiness, they interact more with others, seek
new experiences, challenge creatively, and help people in need (Fredrickson 2004).
Therefore, positive emotions are important factors for eliciting job engagement. This
study selected workplace happiness with positive emotions. Happiness is one of the
important factors that have a positive impact on mental health (Hackey and Sanders
2003; Keyes 2007). This is because the happy person feels mentally and physically
healthier than the person who does not (Graham et al. 2004; Lyubomirsky et al. 2006).
A mentally healthy person is psychologically stable (Suldo et al. 2016). A person who
is psychologically stable can be enthusiastic about his job (Kahn 1990; Maslach et al.
2001). Therefore, this study selected workplace happiness and mental health as the
parameters of the relationship between high-commitment HRM and job engagement.
In this way, this study set up high-commitment HRM, workplace happiness, and
mental health as the leading variables influencing job engagement and verified the
influential relationship between them. This study also establishes workplace happiness
and mental health as the variables that mediate the relationship between high-
commitment HRM and job engagement, and verifies the relationship between them.
The research design and results of this study provide the basis for extending the range
of the rationale for describing job engagement from the social exchange theory to the
signal theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotion.

Practical Implications

The practical implications for raising the job engagement of hotel employees are as
follows. First, hotels should adopt a high-commitment HRM. The main components of
job engagement are vigor, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli et al. 2002). Vigor is to
maintain a high level of energy while performing work and to have spiritual resilience
to endure hard work and to work hard. Dedication is to give meaning to their
work and to work with enthusiasm, pride, and a sense of challenge. Absorption
is the full concentration of work, a deeply immersed state, a feeling of time passing
quickly, and efforts to perform tasks in a state where it is difficult to think of things
separated from work.
High-commitment HRM is a strategic HRM to increase the ability, participation
motivation, and opportunity of the employees. Thus, high-commitment HRM system-
atically uses HRM methods for selective recruitment, ongoing training and learning,
job security, performance-related compensation, information sharing, decision-making
participation, and the elimination of positional gaps. In order to engage in work, there
must be a belief that an organization does not abandon its employees as needed. In
The Influence of Hotels High-Commitment HRM on Job Engagement of...

other words, employment stabilization must be ensured. Sharing information on overall

management activities and eliminating the gap in status based on equality will make it
possible for employees to actively demonstrate their capabilities. In addition,
performance-related compensation, such as performance-linked incentive system,
should be made in order to motivate employees to perform their jobs (Cadsby et al.
2007). This is because employment stability leads to the engagement of the employees,
but at the same time has negative consequences such as moral hazard. Relatedly,
several studies have shown that individual incentive schemes can interfere with mutual
trust, knowledge sharing, teamwork, and cooperation among members (Collins and
Smith 2006). Therefore, this negative aspect must be taken into consideration in
implementing performance-related compensation policies to increase job engagement.
Employees must have high business capability to be proud of their work and to
challenge difficult things. In order to increase the business capability of the employees,
it is necessary to selectively employ excellent manpower and to develop and provide
continuous training and learning programs.
Second, the hotels should make employees feel happy at work. Those who feel
happiness at work are more enthusiastic about their jobs. When a certain level of
income is guaranteed, happiness at work is high (Powdthavee 2010; Kahneman and
Krueger 2006). A married person is happier at work than a single person (Eid and
Larsen 2008), and a full-time worker is happier at work than a non-regular worker
(Binder and Coad 2013). The higher the level of education (Ball and Chernova 2008)
and social support (Gallagher and Vella-Brodrick 2008), the more people feel happiness
in the workplace. Therefore, in order for employees to feel happiness at work, a certain
level of income must be guaranteed through job-based compensation as well as
employment stability such as the transition of non-regular workers to full-time em-
ployment. The hotels have to expand their childcare policy for the married persons, and
should hire, arrange, and educate the employees in consideration of their educational
level. It is also necessary to create and implement an HRM policy to create an
organizational culture in which employees can support each other.
Third, the hotels should ensure that employees have no problems with their mental
health. A mentally healthy person has a high level of job engagement. A happy person
is mentally healthy. Therefore, for the mental health of the employees, the hotels should
carry out the above-mentioned methods of HRM that can increase the happiness of the
employees. The hotels should stabilize the employment and design the working
environment desirably (Meltzer et al. 2010). It is also necessary to allocate workloads
that match the capabilities of the employees (Van der Van der Doef and Maes 2010) and
make economic compensation based on the workload (Sparks et al. 2001).

Conclusion

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between high-commitment

HRM, workplace happiness, mental health, and job engagement in order to propose an
HRM plan to raise job engagement of hotel employees. The results showed that high-
commitment HRM positively affects hotel employees’ happiness, mental health, and
job engagement. Workplace happiness and mental health partially mediate the relation-
ship between high-commitment HRM and job engagement. These research designs and
 K.-S. Kim

results provide the basis for extending the theoretical scope of job engagement. They
also provide practical implications for raising the engagement of hotel employees.
However, in order to apply the practical implications presented in this study to
HRMS, the following limitations should be considered. This study is based on a sample
of 4- or 5-star hotel employees in Seoul, South Korea. Depending on the location and
grade of the hotels, the capacity and goals of the employees may be different, which
may lead to different results. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement the limitations of
this study by determining a sample considering the location and grade of the hotels in
future studies.

Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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