How job stress influences employee problem-solving behaviour in hospitality setting: Exploring the critical roles of performance difficulty and empathetic leadership

The current study examines the effect of job stress on frontline employees' customer problem-solving behaviour, drawing from the cognitive activation theory of stress. The study suggests that job stress, directly and indirectly, affects problem-solving behaviour through perceived performance difficulties. Empathetic leadership is proposed as a mitigating contextual factor for the adverse effects of job stress on customer problem-solving behaviours. Data were gathered from 240 customer service employees and supervisors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hospitality industry. SmartPLS and the Hayes Process Macro were employed for data analysis. The study results revealed that job stress significantly affects employees’ ability to solve customer problems, directly and indirectly, via perceived performance difficulties. Interestingly, this impact is diminished when the supervisor demonstrates empathy. The implications of the study findings for management practice and future research are discussed.