Affiliations: [a] Business Administration Department, Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur, Pakistan
| [b] School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China
| [c] Greenwich University, Karachi, Pakistan
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Gul Afshan, Assistant Professor, Business Administration Department, Sukkur IBA University, Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui Road Sukkur, Pakistan. Tel.: +923233886999; E-mail: gul.afshan@iba-suk.edu.pk; ORCID: 0000-0003-0016-5721.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Given the importance and issues about the hospitality industry, commitment has remained a significant concern for human resource managers and researchers. This paper aims to develop the insights by assessing perceptions of training and work engagement as predictors of commitment among hospitality employees in Pakistan. OBJECTIVE:Following social exchange theory, this study investigated the relationship between five training perceptions: perceived access to training (PAT), motivation to learn (MLT), perceived benefits (PBT), perceived supervisory support (PSST), and coworker support (PCST) and the affective commitment via work engagement. METHOD:Employing survey-based data, this study analyzed 239 responses from the front-line employees in Pakistan’s hospitality industry. RESULTS:Smart-PLS results reveal that only PAT and PCST significantly predicted affective commitment out of five training perceptions. Similarly, work engagement was found to mediate the relationship between training perception and affective commitment except for MLT. The study also found that work engagement had the most substantial mediating effect between PSST and affective commitment. CONCLUSION:Organizations invest a lot of money in training and developing their employees to derive desired organizational outcomes. Therefore, it is important to consider perceptions of training while designing and delivering training. For organizational commitment, it is important that employees feel motivated to contribute to the organization and reciprocate with engagement and commitment with the organization.
Keywords: Training, coworker support, affective commitment, supervisory support
