Are rural accommodation employees able to aspire to transcendent happiness in their work? An exploratory model

The study investigates how organisational culture, internal communication, and employee-centred personnel management relate to employees’ happiness in rural tourism accommodations in Spain, with a focus on the concept of transcendent happiness at work. It responds to sectoral challenges exacerbated by COVID-19, where maintaining a positive climate and commitment is critical in service contexts with intensive human interaction. Unlike conventional corporate happiness approaches centered on harmony between person and organisation, the paper emphasizes transcendent happiness grounded in personal values and moral principles that shape prosocial behaviour and passion at work. The research aims are: (1) to determine which factors of corporate culture (CO), internal communication (IC) and employee-centred personnel management (ECM/EPM) can lead to greater employee happiness (EH/THP), and (2) to explore a model guiding tourism employees toward happiness. Eleven hypotheses are formulated linking prosocial happiness, passion at work, spiritual benefits, personnel management, organisational culture, and internal communication to transcendent happiness and related mediations.

The theoretical framework centers on transcendent happiness, conceptualized as going beyond organisational relations to encompass personal values, morality, and spirituality. Drawing on Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) theory, employees are attracted to and selected by organisations that share their beliefs and values; congruence enhances well-being and happiness. Morality fosters optimism, respect, prosocial behaviour, and passion at work. Transcendent happiness is operationalized in three dimensions: prosocial happiness, passion at work, and spiritual benefits. Hypotheses: H1 Prosocial happiness → THP (+); H2 Passion at work → THP (+); H3 Spiritual benefits → THP (+). Personnel management literature suggests a shift from organisational development to employee development, especially relevant in stressful hospitality contexts, leading to H4 Personnel management → THP (+). Organisational culture embeds patterns and codes of conduct affecting happiness management and service quality; thus, H5 Organisational culture → staff management (+); H7 Organisational culture → THP (+). Internal communication literature links communication quality to satisfaction, branding, and service delivery; informal communication, climate, and feedback shape internal communication outcomes. Hypotheses include H8 Informal communication → THP (+); H9 Organisational climate → internal communication (+); H10 Informal communication feedback → internal communication (+); H11 Informal communication → internal communication (+). The framework posits potential mediating roles of organisational culture and internal communication between personnel management and transcendent happiness.

Design: Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to assess relationships among latent variables using SmartPLS 3 (v26), suitable for composite models in social sciences. Constructs were modeled reflectively; reliability and validity were evaluated via loadings, composite reliability (CR), and average variance extracted (AVE), with discriminant validity assessed using Fornell–Larcker and HTMT. Model fit was checked using SRMR. Population and sampling: Emails were sent to all 17 Spanish tourism regions. Based on INE (2021), the population comprised 11,340 rural hotels. After validation with regional tourism directorates, 623 establishments agreed to participate (Jan–Feb 2022). In March 2022, invitations were sent to managers. Two online sessions in April 2022 refined the instrument using validated scales. Final sample: 443 employees from rural accommodations across Spain. Participant characteristics: 54% men; most aged 40–49; education largely university degrees (46%) with 21% master’s. Age groups included 18–29 (25%), 30–39 (28%), 40–49 (30%), 50–59 (9%), and over 60 (8%). Measures: Latent variables and indicators from validated scales: Transcendent happiness (THP) with subdimensions: THP1 subjective prosociality (Diener et al., 2010), THP2 passion at work (Vallerand et al., 2003), THP3 spiritual well-being; Internal communication (CI) components: satisfaction with feedback (CI1), satisfaction with informal communication (CI2), communication climate (CI3) (e.g., Tkalac Verčič et al., 2009; Gordon & Christensen, 1993); Corporate culture (OC/CC): team and people orientation, innovation, planning; Employee-centred personnel management (GPT/EPM): intrinsic motivation, participation, perceived organisational support (e.g., Martín et al., 2008; Lodahl & Kejnar, 1965; Eisenberger et al., 1986). Measurement model processing: Indicators with loadings < 0.707 were removed (reported as PA4, PA7, THP39, THP40, CI12, CI18). All retained constructs showed CR > 0.70 and AVE ≥ 0.50. Discriminant validity met Fornell–Larcker and HTMT criteria. Model fit: SRMR = 0.076 (< 0.08). Structural model: Significance of paths assessed by bootstrapping; R2 and Q2 were used for explanatory power and predictive relevance. Mediation tests assessed indirect effects of organisational culture and internal communication between personnel management and transcendent happiness.

- Measurement model: All constructs exhibited acceptable reliability and validity (composite reliability > 0.70; AVE ≥ 0.50). Discriminant validity satisfied (Fornell–Larcker; HTMT). Model fit SRMR = 0.076. - Explanatory power and predictive relevance: R2/Q2: Internal communication aggregate (CIA) R2 = 0.416, Q2 = 0.356; Personnel management (GPT) R2 = 0.431, Q2 = 0.287; Transcendent happiness aggregate (THPA) R2 = 0.509, Q2 = 0.419 (reported elsewhere as ~0.518). - Hypothesis testing (path coefficients, t, p): • Prosocial happiness (THP1) → THPA: β ≈ 0.216, t = 2.629, p = 0.009 (significant). • Passion at work (THP2) → THPA: β = 0.339, t = 4.677, p < 0.001 (significant). • Spiritual benefits (THP3) → THPA: β = −0.013, t = 0.166, p = 0.868 (ns). • Personnel management (GPT) → THPA: β = 0.331, t = 5.286, p < 0.001 (significant). • Organisational culture (OC) → GPT: β = 0.535, t = 8.489, p < 0.001 (significant). • Organisational culture (OC) → THPA: β = 0.212, t = 3.187, p = 0.002 (significant). • Internal communication aggregate (CIA) → GPT: β = 0.034, t = 0.617, p = 0.537 (ns). • CIA → THPA: β = 0.093, t = 1.842, p = 0.066 (ns, marginal). • CI1 (feedback satisfaction) → CIA: β = 0.196, t = 2.885, p = 0.004 (significant). • CI2 (informal communication satisfaction) → CIA: β = 0.415, t = 5.013, p < 0.001 (significant). • CI3 (communication climate) → CIA: β = 0.106, t = 1.567, p = 0.118 (ns). - Effect sizes and variance contributions: Organisational culture showed the strongest effects on personnel management (R2 contribution ~0.336) and a smaller but notable effect on happiness. Within internal communication, informal communication contributed most (R2 ≈ 0.259) relative to feedback (≈0.107) and climate (≈0.050). For happiness, passion at work contributed most among THP subdimensions (variance explained ≈0.197). - Mediation: Organisational culture did not mediate the GPT–THPA relationship (indirect effect confidence interval included zero). Internal communication’s indirect pathway via GPT significantly mediated the relationship with THPA (a2 × b2 significant; e.g., b2 CI lower bound > 0). - Summary: Seven hypotheses supported, four rejected. Organisational culture is a central determinant of personnel management and employee happiness; internal communication (especially informal communication and feedback) enhances internal communication quality, which indirectly relates to happiness via personnel management. Spiritual aspects did not significantly predict transcendent happiness in this context.

Findings substantiate the proposed model that employees’ transcendent happiness at work is shaped by organisational and individual-value dimensions. The strong influence of organisational culture on both personnel management and happiness indicates that codes of conduct, team orientation, planning, and innovation establish an environment that supports employee growth and meaning at work. Personnel management practices centered on employee development directly enhance transcendent happiness, aligning with the sector’s need to counter stress and burnout. Internal communication components—particularly informal communication and feedback—improve the internal communication construct, which contributes to better personnel management and, through it, to happiness, evidencing a mediating pathway. At the individual-values level, prosociality and passion at work positively relate to transcendent happiness, whereas spiritual benefits did not show a significant effect in this sample, suggesting that, for rural accommodation employees, day-to-day prosocial engagement and passionate involvement are more salient drivers of happiness than explicitly spiritual experiences. Overall, the results address the research question by identifying concrete organisational levers (culture, communication, employee-centered management) that can foster transcendent happiness in tourism settings and underscore the centrality of culture-supported growth and meaningful work.

This study proposes and tests an exploratory PLS-SEM model of transcendent happiness at work among rural accommodation employees in Spain, integrating organisational culture, internal communication, and employee-centered personnel management with employee prosociality, passion, and spirituality. It contributes to the literature by positioning transcendent happiness as a governance lever and empirically demonstrating the importance of internal communication and passion at work for employees’ transcendent happiness. Practically, managers should: design organisational patterns and codes of conduct that promote values and personal growth; implement HR practices that foster empowerment, recognition, and support; cultivate informal and feedback-rich internal communication; and adopt leadership styles that create positive climates enhancing inner growth and subjective happiness. Service quality and customer perceptions are expected to benefit from these actions. Future research should extend the model across countries and contexts, use longitudinal or experimental designs, and explore additional dimensions of happiness management and HR theories to deepen understanding of transcendent happiness in tourism and related sectors.

- Data collection constraints in rural accommodations operating double shifts complicated focus group organisation. - Cross-sectional design limits causal inference; longitudinal or experimental designs are recommended. - Geographic scope limited to Spain; generalizability may be affected by cultural and socio-economic factors. - Variable selection: other dimensions of happiness management and HR theories could be incorporated in future models.