Workplace design and well-being: aesthetic perceptions of hotel employees

Ksenia Kirillova, Xiaoxiao Fu and Deniz Kucukusta

The Service Industries Journal, 2020, vol. 40, issue 1-2, 27-49

Abstract: The study recognizes the lack of a clear theoretical and empirical link between employees’ sense of well-being and hotel design aesthetics, although beautiful environments are associated with optimal human functioning. Drawing on conceptual insights from organizational aesthetics and theory of subjective well-being, this quantitative study explored relationships between workplace design aesthetics, hotel employee subjective well-being and the role of contrast of back- vs. front-of-the-house. Based on cross-sectional data collected from 525 operations-level hotel employees in USA, the study found that backstage employees experience less aesthetic pleasure and report lower levels of well-being than frontstage employees. Design characteristics Unity and Variety positively affect the sense of well-being, while Typicality exhibits a U-type relationship with well-being. The effect of Variety is weaker for back-of-the-house employees. This study is the first attempt to empirically and explicitly connect organizational aesthetics to well-being and identifies a novel way to enhance the well-being of the hospitality workforce.

Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1080/02642069.2018.1543411

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The Service Industries Journal is currently edited by Eileen Bridges, Professor Domingo Ribeiro, Ronald Goldsmith, Barry Howcroft and Youjae Yi

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