Resilience, Emotional Intelligence and Burnout in Hotel Employees

Hotel business could create economic opportunities and development for the ailing Nigerian economy. However, employees in hotels may be prone to occupational burnout due to high workload, long work hours, and the pressure of balancing quantitative and qualitative customer services, which may adversely affect their productivity. Previous studies on occupational burnout among hotel employees in Nigeria suggested that personal resources such as emotional intelligence and resilience may enhance employees’ ability to cope with work pressure and reduce their vulnerability to burnout. This study, therefore, tested the level at which emotional intelligence and resilience predict occupational burnout and whether gender moderated the relationships. Participants were 431 hotel employees (females 202; males 229) selected from 47 three-star hotels in Ibadan, Nigeria. As shown in the results of the 4-step hierarchical multiple regression, increased levels of resilience and emotional intelligence were related to the reduced level of occupational burnout. Results of moderation test showed that resilience was connected with reduced level of occupational burnout more in males than females. However, emotional intelligence significantly led to a reduction in the level of occupational burnout more in females than males. The practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.