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Top1. Introduction
Organizations find it intriguing to recruit and hire workers with strong social intelligence competencies in addition to technical and cognitive skills in a highly competitive business climate. As a result, the social intelligence (SI) construct is receiving increased attention from academics and researchers in the management area as a key predictor of employee behavior in firms. However, the management literature suffers from a dearth of studies that examine the dimensions of SI and their implications on employee behavior within organizations, such as service employee engagement (SEE) and job satisfaction (JS) (Gini, 2006; Goswami, 2018; Habib et al., 2013). This is despite the vital function that SI contributes to the workplace context.
Organizations prioritize recruiting workers with strong social intelligence alongside technical and cognitive skills in today's competitive business landscape. Consequently, scholars in management are increasingly focusing on social intelligence (SI) as a crucial predictor of employee behavior. Cherniss (2000) asserts that emotional and social skills make up two-thirds of the abilities contributing to enhanced workplace performance. However, there's a notable lack of research in management literature examining the dimensions of social intelligence and their impact on employee behavior, including service employee engagement and job satisfaction (Gini, 2006; Goswami, 2018; Habib et al., 2013). Despite its vital role in the workplace, social intelligence remains underexplored.
Tourism and hospitality are growing into industries that encompass a wide range of sectors, including hotels, restaurants, travel, events, and entertainment. Tourism and hospitality represent two of the primary businesses that KSA Vision 2030 has prioritized since they provide opportunities for investment, creation of jobs, diversification of the country's economic base, and an increase in government revenue sources. They are positioned as major drivers to draw both domestic and foreign tourists and form the basis for the development of a strong tourism industry (Alkhathlan et al., 2020). They contribute 5.3% of the KSA's GDP, and the Kingdom's Vision 2030 aims to increase that percentage to about 10%. The Saudi hotel market is expected to grow at a rate of 41 percent, with expectations for size (in billions of riyals) rising from 65.4 to 92.1 in 2025. The sector is positioned as a key drawer for both local and international travelers, and it provides the framework for the growth of a robust tourism sector (Alkhathlan et al., 2020). According to data from the fourth quarter of 2021, almost one-fifth of the workforce, or 51,632 (9.3%), are Saudi citizens, working in restaurant and hotel operations, making up around one-fifth of the workforce represent 20.8% (Monshaat, 2024). To improve the performance of the Saudi hotel sector, it is necessary to increase job satisfaction. As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of SI in improving JS through SEE.
Holding onto talented personnel is one of the factors that contribute to organizational success. In especially from nations other than the United States, several academic scholars are becoming more and more interested in SEE (Attridge, 2009; Bakker et al., 2008). Employee engagement is one of three strategies for restoring the workplace, according to the Annual Institute of the Employee Assistance Society of North America. In the same vein, Rath & Conchie (2009) found that disengaged workers have a detrimental impact on productivity, costing U.S. businesses approximately $300 billion annually. According to Perrin's Global Workforce Study (Employee Benefits Research Institute, 2024), highly engaged workers are eager to go above and beyond for the benefit of the business. Additionally, disengaged workers who made the decision to retire did not express high levels of JS (Tejpal, 2015). Thus, JS is one of the key effects of SEE.