Can I do my job in peace? Hotel employees’ wellbeing in the face of sexual harassment awareness and organisational commitment

Abstract

Workplace sexual harassment, particularly in hospitality, is a significant issue with many implications. For decades, assessing its scope and impact has drawn the attention of scholars, but some gaps still exist. Based on Rational Choice Theory, this paper explored employee conformance behavior to sexual harassment in relation to organization strategic commitment and employee wellbeing in the global south context. A total of 712 completed questionnaires were collected from Nigeria and Ghana. WarpPLS version 8.0 partial least squares structural equation structural modelling was employed to assess the research model. Results revealed that hotel workers’ behaviors towards awareness and management of sexual harassment are nonlinear and complex. Conformance behavior, despite conceived by employees as an economic coping strategy, proved to be a temporary measure and is disadvantageous to wellbeing. An important managerial implication of this study is the need for education about what sexual harassment is and how it impacts employees’ wellbeing.