The effect of inclusive leadership on employee engagement, mediated by psychological safety in the hospitality industry

Purpose This paper assesses the inclusive leadership and employee engagement nexus in the hospitality industry, using psychological safety as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach The study conveniently sampled 247 employees from the hospitality industry in Zimbabwe. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire with the aid of trained research assistants. Descriptive and inferential statistics were generated using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Regression analysis was used. Findings The findings of this study indicate that the predictor variable (inclusive leadership) directly affects the outcome variable (employee engagement) in the presence of the mediator. In addition, these findings depict that the indirect coefficient was partially significant, which shows that psychological safety partially affects employee engagement in the presence of inclusive leadership. Research limitations/implications The study came up with essential conclusions on the link between inclusive leadership and employee engagement in the hospitality industry. However, there is a need to exercise caution when generalising the findings to a different setting. The results represent the opinions of a sample drawn from Zimbabwe, a developing country in Southern Africa. Future research can carry out a comparative study on the same variables in the context of developed and developing countries. Further, future research can execute a longitudinal analysis to better understand if inclusive leadership directly affects employee engagement in the presence of psychological safety. This would help hospitality management to employ relevant leadership strategies that enhance employee engagement. Practical implications This research has pertinent implications for both academics and human resource practitioners. The study results revealed that there is a direct effect on inclusive leadership and employee engagement. Practically, if leaders avail themselves to work with employees and discuss business operations and social issues affecting them, employees will be committed to exerting more energy towards their work and productivity will be improved. Moreover, it is understandable that mistakes always happen, but errors will be minimised and controlled in such an environment. The results also revealed that the connection between inclusive leadership on employee engagement is partly enhanced by the moderator. This may be taken as a good strategy that can be employed by human resources practitioners in the hospitality industry. Originality/value The study significantly contributes to researchers and practitioners because it develops strategies for enhancing employee engagement in the hospitality sector. In addition, there is scant research that explores the mediating relationship of psychological safety between inclusive leadership and employee engagement in developing countries, particularly in the hospitality sector.