Developing a work-related well-being framework for generation Z employees in an intelligent environment in Hainan hotels

The concept of employees’ work-related well-being has both positive and negative impacts on employees’ job experience. As Generation Z employees become the dominant hotel workforce, their diverse characteristics significantly influenced their work-related well-being, particularly within the evolving intelligent environments of hotels in Hainan, China. However, lacking a unified definition of work-related wellbeing necessitates the development of a tailored framework for Generation Z hotel employees. This study explores the definition, components, and clusters of work-related well-being for Generation Z employees in Hainan hotels, aiming to develop a comprehensive framework. Utilizing the Delphi method, the study engaged 20 Generation Z hotel employees as respondent samples, conducting four rounds of data collection and analysis to identify, determine, and categorize the definitions, components, and clusters of work-related well-being. The initial round of semi-structured interviews indicated that Generation Z employees' work-related well-being refers to the perceptions and feelings experienced from satisfaction with the workplace, intrinsic motivation with engagement, fulfillment of personal needs, and receiving mental support. Subsequent rounds of questionnaire analysis identified and determined 7 clusters and 52 components of work-related well-being for Generation Z employees in Hainan hotels, with all clusters and components having recognition means between 3.6 and 4.8 and achieving a 70% and above consensus. This led to the development of a work-related well-being framework for Generation Z hotel employees. The framework extends the PERMA model by adding two critical clusters: (1) diverse needs and work-life balance, and (2) hotel environment with artificial intelligence supports. It underscores the unique characteristics of Generation Z employees and the influence of intelligent environments in hotels and addresses gaps in existing work-related wellbeing research. Furthermore, the framework provides a theoretical basis for studying Generation Z employees' work behavior. It offers hotel managers insights to enhance human resource management systems and develop sustainable talent development plans.