Social Loafing and Job Performance in Hotels: Does Transactional Leadership Matter?

Abstract

Employees are crucial resources for organizations, and their job performance is highly important for their success, especially in the hotel industry. The study investigated the impact of social loafing (SL) on hotel employees' job performance (EJP), considering transactional leadership (TL) as a moderator. A total of 390 responses were gathered from full-time employees employed at 5-star hotels in Egypt. The data was analyzed using PLS-SEM software by WarpPLS 7.0. The study found that a negative effect exists between social loafing and employee job performance. In addition, transactional leadership has a negative effect on SL and a positive effect on EJP. Furthermore, TL has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between SL and EJP, the study indicates that TL weakens the negative relationship between SL and EJP. The study contributes to transactional leadership by recognizing and regulating negative job behaviors in modern organizational contexts, such as levels of workplace social loafing. The study highlights the importance of hotel premises in reducing social loafing in the workplace, highlighting the importance of incorporating ethical concepts with transactional leadership in fostering a healthy environment and improved job performance.