Leadership Behaviors and Employee Engagement in the Hospitality Industry in Myanmar

This research investigates leadership behaviors, hotel employee engagement and the impact of leadership behaviors on employee engagement in strongly collectivist country, Myanmar. Quantitative research method was applied. Questionnaires were distributed to the hotel employees in Mandalay, Myanmar, using non-probability convenience sampling method. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression were used to measure the leadership behavior, employee engagement and the impact of leadership behavior on employee engagement. The results show that hotel managers in Myanmar have exercised informing, coaching, supporting team, leading by example, showing effective performance and displaying integrity behaviors. But their employees are only somewhat emotionally, physically, and cognitively engaged. The results also show that displaying integrity, informing, coaching, and supporting teams have positive impact while participative decision making has negative impact on employee engagement. This research findings provide both theoretical and practical implications which are useful for leaders in collectivist cultured countries. The research findings highlight the fact that leaders should display integrity and practice coaching more in a collectivist culture as it can make employees more engaged. Employers can also support managers to exercise these behaviors on a daily basis by redesigning evaluation programs for leaders. This study is also one of the first to investigate the relationship between leadership behavior and employee engagement in the Myanmar hospitality industry. The findings will be useful specially for Myanmar hotels to reduce the risk of employee turnover and keep their employees engaged.