Transformational leadership and civic virtue behavior: Valuing act of thriving and emotional exhaustion in the hotel industry

Abstract

The study aims to examine the impact of transformational leadership (TL) on employee civic virtue behavior (CVB) by applying social exchange theory. Inconsistent findings from previous studies suggest that the mechanism through which TL contributes to employee's citizenship behaviors is not simple and goes beyond a direct causal relationship. Therefore, the present study introduces two mediators, namely, thriving and emotional exhaustion, to explain the connection between TL and CVB, thus contributing to the literature on civic virtue and leadership. This quantitative study uses a time-lag approach to collect data in two waves at a time interval of three months. The final sample consists of 374 respondents, including employees and their supervisors working in 12 hotels situated in different tourist places in Anhui province of China. Results indicate that TL has a positive impact on CVB. Moreover, emotional exhaustion significantly mediates the link between TL and CVB. Surprisingly, the mediating effect of employee thriving is insignificant in the association between TL and CVB. This research suggests that developing and nurturing a transformational role between managers/supervisors can help in enhancing employees’ CVB. Similarly, transformational leaders can reduce employee emotional exhaustion by strengthening employee citizenship behavior. In this regard, different practical measures (i.e., mindfulness training courses) can be arranged to enhance the emotionally centered self-regulation of employees.