Employee-Centric HPWSs: Building Sustainable Hospitality Through Social Exchange, Empowerment, LMX, and TMX

This study demonstrates that high-performance work systems (HPWSs)—encompassing selective staffing, extensive training, performance incentives, and employee participation—significantly enhance the dimensions of psychological empowerment, including meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact, thereby fully mediating a stronger stay intention. Leader–member exchange (LMX) amplifies both HPWS-to-empowerment and empowerment-to-stay intention pathways via dyadic trust, while team–member exchange (TMX) strengthens initial resource uptake. Theoretically, based on social exchange theory, the results enhance relational exchange frameworks by emphasizing LMX’s superior function over TMX in high-contact situations, positioning empowerment as the critical mechanism connecting HRM practices to loyalty in service sectors. The cornerstones of sustainable hospitality development include employee-centric strategies that foster empowerment through value-aligned jobs, certifications that enhance skills, independent guest service decision-making, and feedback loops that transform HPWSs into long-lasting retention engines by integrating TMX peer networks for cooperative support with LMX through individualized coaching and feedback that fosters trust. By reducing attrition, stabilizing talent pipelines, and stimulating service quality innovation, these tactics promote robust operations and sustained competitiveness.