The effect of illegitimate tasks on hospitality employees’ service performance: a conservation of resources perspective

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influence of illegitimate tasks on frontline hospitality employees’ in-role and extra-role performance via the mediating role of thriving at work and the moderating role of work centrality. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 264 supervisor–subordinate pairs from three hotels in Jiangsu, China and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings: Illegitimate tasks negatively affected hospitality employees’ in-role and extra-role performance by inhibiting thriving at work. In addition, work centrality strengthened the impact of illegitimate tasks on thriving at work and their indirect effect on in-role and extra-role performance via reduced thriving at work. Practical implications: First, managers should avoid assignment of unnecessary tasks. However, many tasks that could be viewed as illegitimate must still be performed; the results demonstrate that managers must be mindful of how such tasks are assigned and to whom, and should take steps to minimize and/or manage potential negative reactions to illegitimate tasks. Originality/value: This study enriches the illegitimate tasks literature by examining its influence on the frontline hospitality employees’ in-role and extra-role performance and highlights a novel mediating mechanism linking illegitimate tasks and employee performance using conservation of resource theory. In addition, this reveals the novel moderating effect of work centrality.